Wear of rotary carbide tools in machining of Al/SiCp composites

Abstract

With the projected widespread application of Metal Matrix Composites, it is necessary to develop an appropriate technology for their efficient and cost-effective machining. This paper deals with the study of feasibility of rotary carbide tools in the intermittent machining of Al/SiCp composites. A rotary tool holder was designed and fabricated for this work. Experiments were designed using Taguchi Methods to analyse the influence of various factors and their interactions on the flank wear of rotary carbide tools during machining. A tool-life model describing the effect of process, tool and material dependent parameter on the magnitude of flank wear of a rotary carbide tool is proposed.