EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS, MATERIAL REMOVAL RATE IN TURNING OF SILICON CARBIDE PARTICULATE REINFORCED ALUMINUM MATRIX COMPOSITES

Abstract

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) have emerged as a significant leading material in composite materials in recent trends in research as well as in several application sectors, and particle reinforced aluminum MMCs have drawn significant interest due to their superior engineering features. In this study, the effect of process parameters (speed, feed rate, depth of cut) on turning of Sic particulate reinforced aluminum matrix composite was investigated.27 samples (3 types,9 specimens in each were prepared by varying weight percentages (4%,8%,12%) of sic using stir casting technique. The machining test was performed on a CNC lathe machine using the provided machining parameters of speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and their selected levels. The effect of the process parameters on Surface roughness and material removal rate was investigated. A model was developed utilizing DOE in Minitab 18.1 to analyze the effect of the process parameters on the machining performance measures. The major objective of this investigation is to perform the experiments by considering various variables and their levels, using TAGUCHI and ANOVA, and then assessing the findings. Based on the obtained results surface roughness was greatly affected by feed rate followed by the depth of cut and speed and lower surface roughness was optimized in the 10th run at a feed rate of 0.15rev/min, depth of cut at 0.5mm, and speed at 500 rpm. While material removal rates were greatly affected by speed followed by the depth of cut and feed rate and the greater material removal rate was optimized in the 27th run and speed at 700 rpm, depth at 1.0mm, and feed at 0.25 rev/min.