Effects of cutting conditions on roughness machined surface of aluminum alloys

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on orthogonal low speed cutting of aluminum alloys to discuss the effects of cutting conditions such as tool dimensions (rake angle, clearance angle, radius of curvature at tool tip, roughness of rake surface, etc.), depth of cut and cutting speed on roughness of machined surface with respect to plastic flow of the material near the tool tip.The results obtained were summarized as follows:(1) It was found that roughness of machined surface was improved under the conditions of releasing chip flow; for example, increase of rake angle or smooth finishing of rake face.(2) The clearance angle seemed to have no great effect on chip flow, but its increase had effect on the decrease of burnishing, by which the roughness of machined surface was slightly improved.(3) The increase in radius of curvature at the tool tip released the chip flow when the chip thickness was small, and brought about the improvement in roughness of machined surface; however, these effect were varied according to the depth of cut.(4) When the compressibility of chips was gradually increased with the increase in depth of cut or cutting speed, the speed of chip flow was decreased, which brought about the lowering in roughness of machined surface.