Title: Machining studies on milling of Al/SiC_p composite

Authors: K. Shekhar Reddy, L. Vijayaraghavan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai – 600 036, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai – 600 036, India

Abstract: The machining of metal matrix composites (MMCs) becomes a very important subject for research because of their wide range of engineering applications. This paper discusses the experimental investigation on the machinability of silicon carbide particulate metal matrix composite during milling using multilayered coated carbide (K10 grade) tools. The influence of machining parameters, namely cutting speed, feed and depth of cut on the flank wear and surface finish criteria were investigated during experimentation. The microstructure of machined surfaces, chip formation and built-up-edge (BUE) at different sets of experiments was examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From the test results and examination of different SEM graphs, suitable range of cutting conditions can be selected for proper machining of Al/SiC_p MMC.

Keywords: aluminium; MMCs; milling; tool wear; surface roughness; scanning electron microscopy; SEM; metal matrix composites; machinability; silicon carbide; cutting speed; feed rate; depth of cut; flank wear; surface finish; surface quality; microstructure; chip formation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMM.2011.038164

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2011 Vol.9 No.1/2, pp.116 - 130

Published online: 30 Dec 2014 *

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