materials Article Machinability Analysis and Optimization in Wire EDM of Medical Grade NiTiNOL Memory Alloy Vinayak N. Kulkarni 1 , V. N. Gaitonde 1,* , S. R. Karnik 2, M. Manjaiah 3 and J. Paulo Davim 4 1 School of Mechanical Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka 580 031, India;
[email protected] 2 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka 580 031, India;
[email protected] 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, Telangana 506 004, India;
[email protected] 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +918362378270 Received: 9 April 2020; Accepted: 7 May 2020; Published: 9 May 2020 Abstract: NiTiNOL (Nickel–Titanium) shape memory alloys (SMAs) are ideal replacements for titanium alloys used in bio-medical applications because of their superior properties like shape memory and super elasticity. The machining of NiTiNOL alloy is challenging, as it is a difficult to cut material. Hence, in the current research the experimental studies on machinability aspects of medical grade NiTiNOL SMA during wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) using zinc coated brass wire as electrode material have been carried out. Pulse time (Ton), pause time (Toff), wire feed (WF), and servo voltage (SV) are chosen as varying input process variables and the effects of their combinational values on output responses such as surface roughness (SR), material removal rate (MRR), and tool wear rate (TWR) are studied through response surface methodology (RSM) based developed models. Modified differential evolution (MDE) optimization technique has been developed and the convergence curve of the same has been compared with the results of differential evolution (DE) technique.