Effect of Turning Parameters and Reinforcement on the Surface Roughness of Hybrid Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite

Abstract

Since last two decades, technology has changed rapidly in each industry from consumer goods to aerospace. To quench the thrust of technology advancement of industries, the research community has to develop the novel materials. As a part of the ongoing process of material development and machinability study, present work was carried out to find out the effect of various cutting parameters on surface roughness and machining time of aluminium Hybrid Metal Matrix Composites (AHMMCs). In this study, pure aluminium was used as a matrix material while; B4C, Mg, Ti and Graphite were used as reinforcement. It was observed that 2202 RPM spindle speed, 0.18 mm/rev feed rate and 1.1 mm depth of cut are the optimum turning parameters with PCD insert. While machining of same composites using carbide insert, optimum spindle speed, feed rate and depth of cut are 2091 RPM, 0.19 mm/rev and 1.1 mm respectively. Moreover, PCD insert provides better surface finish compared to carbide coated insert for same cutting conditions. Moreover, the effect of reinforcement particles presence on the surface finish was also investigated and it was concluded that reinforcement presence reduces the surface roughness considerably. Particularly presence of Mg and graphite reduces surface finish significantly.