Study on effect of vibration amplitude on cutting performance of SiCp/Al composites during ultrasonic vibration–assisted milling

• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-019-04796-7
• Publication Date: 2019-12-17T13:02:47Z
• Authors: Qiulin Niu; Lu Jing; Chunhao Wang; Shujian Li; Xinyi Qiu; Changping Li; Daohui Xiang
• Keywords: Machinability

Silicon carbide particulate reinforced aluminum (SiCp/Al) matrix composites play an important role in aviation, aerospace, electronics, automobile, and other fields due to their outstanding mechanical properties. However, the existence of reinforcing SiC particles leads to poor cutting performance, terrible surface quality, and severe tool wear of SiCp/Al composites. In this study, a series of experiments were carried out with an ultrasonic vibration–assisted milling (UVAM) experimental device to study the effect of amplitude on the machinability of 20% SiCp/Al composites from four aspects: cutting force, surface roughness, surface morphology, and chip morphology. The results showed that it had a great influence on cutting force, surface roughness, surface morphology, and chips when the amplitude increased to 3 μm. The surface of workpiece material deteriorated rapidly and presented the fragmentation. In addition, a large number of micro-cracks and particle bulges appeared on the machined surface. It was suggested that the amplitude below 5 μm had a negative impact on the milling surface quality of 20% SiCp/Al composites, and the amplitude of 3 μm was considered as a critical value.