Machinability study of silicon carbide and cenosphere reinforced Al7075 composite using three different tool materials

Abstract

This research conducted a machinability study on Al7075 composite reinforced with nano‐sized (100 nm) silicon carbide and cenosphere (industrial waste) particulates with 1.8 % weight. These composites were fabricated utilizing an ultrasonically assisted stir‐casting setup and scanning electron microscope investigation was conducted to evaluate the dispersion properties of the reinforcement in the matrix phase. During the study, the effect of variation of feed rate, cutting speed and depth of cut on cutting forces and tool tip temperature has been studied. A total of 253 experiments were conducted using three different tool inserts polycrystalline diamond, cermet, and coated carbide under dry cutting conditions. Among the two components of the cutting force, it was noted that the primary cutting force was the largest. A full factorial response surface regression model has been developed and it is found that the regression model can predict cutting force and temperature with fair accuracy.