Development of Al-SiCp nano composite material and study of its machining process using coated carbide inserts

Abstract

Abstract The current research paper deals with the development of aluminium (Al) and Silicon Carbide (SiCp) nano composite material with the assistant of ultrasonicator. In this fabrication process, Aluminium is considered as matrix and Silicon Carbide nano particle is used as reinforcement. The fabrication work produces three samples by using 1, 1.5 and 2 weight percentages of SiCp nano particle mixing with aluminium metal matrix. From the experimental study and review of literature, it was noted that 2 wt% of SiCp when mixed with aluminium (Al) metal matrix, gives the best sample and suitable for machining operation. The machining of the work sample was conducted in a CNC lathe by coated carbide cutting tool. In this process, Design of Experiment i.e. Taguchi L16 orthogonal array was used for three parameters i.e. feed, depth of cut as well as speed at four different levels. The flank wear of tool and surface roughness of work material was optimized by using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) technique was conducted to find out the wearing status of the cutting tool. The chip morphology study was conducted to find out the ductility and hardness of the work material. The other important technique i.e. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to achieve the most influence parameters for the machining process.