Effects of High–Speed Machining on Surface Integrity of Aluminum, Reinforced by Composite Rods

This paper tries to study the surface characteristics of a new architecturally designed discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA), undergone milling process in two different conditions of high and low cutting speed. Because of the material’s architecture, the tool passes on the pure matrix and composite reinforcements intermittently. Machining tests were performed on a vertical CNC milling machine using PVD coated inserts at different cutting speeds ranging from 250 to 1200 m/min. The experiments all carried out under dry condition. As was supposed, surface roughness decreased as the cutting speed increased. The images taken under the microscope revealed that the surfaces machined under high speed condition has more preserved their characteristics than one cut in conventional speed process.

Keywords:

High-speed machining , surface integrity , metal matrix composites