Studies on Tool Wear, Cutting Forces and Chip Morphology During High-Speed Milling of Al-Si-Mg- Fe Alloys

This paper investigates the High speed end milling of Al-Si-Mg-Fe alloy for aerospace and automotive industry. High speed machining has received important interest because it leads to an increase of productivity and a better workpiece surface quality. At high cutting speeds, the tool wears increases dramatically due to the high temperature at the tool-workpiece interface. The cutting force depends upon the cutting speeds, depth of cuts and feed rates. The behavior can be attributed to the precipitation hardening in the alloy on account of the formation intermetallic compounds. The cutting force increases with increase in feed rate and depth of cut. The machining parameters with the highest influence on tool wear progress are cutting speed and feed/tooth. Tool wear impairs the surface finish and hence the tool life is reduced. The cutting speed range was up to 1800 m/min. The feed rate used was up to 5000 mm/min. Cutting speeds of up to 1800 m/min are feasible and will greatly improve the milling process productivity and to implement this range of cutting velocity in industrial applications, new cutter designs should be developed.The adhesive tool wear mechanism and adhesion activated surface quality deterioration are revealed. Chip management is indicates that up to a cutting speed of 1800 m/min, a continuous chips are generated and cause surface degradation.