Investigations on morphology and material removal rate of various MMCs using CO2 laser technique

Abstract

The efficient machining of metal matrix composite becomes important factor with respect to the high strength and hardness properties. The presented research work observes the influence of CO2 laser processing parameters on various metal matrix composite materials in terms of material removal rate (MRR). A comparison has been explored between various composite materials such as silicon carbide (SiC), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) metal matrix composites for MRR. This results in novel research in context of MRR that examines the microstructure of machined work material. In the present study, to determine MRR various weighing evaluations and topography of machined surface were studied. The results indicated that the focal position, cutting speed and reinforced particles are the significant parameters for MRR. The morphological and metallurgical changes such as formation of recast layer have been analyzed using scanning electron microscope. The chemical composition of machined work materials and formation of new compound have been identified using EDS/XRD technique.