Some Investigations on Drilling of Aluminium Based Metal Matrix Composites

In this study, Drilling is a metal removal process and is important for the final fabrication stage prior to application. This paper discusses the influence of cutting parameters on drilling characteristics of metal matrix composites (MMCs) �Al6061/SiC320grit. The composites are fabricated using stir casting method. In order to determine the mechanical properties of the produced composites, hardness and tensile tests were performed. Moreover, the effects of the machining parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate, particle fraction and cutting-tool material, and of their interactions on the thrust force and cutting torque were determined by means of Taguchi experimental design. In addition the drilling parameters were optimized in terms of cutting forces (thrust force and torque). Furthermore, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to obtain the degree of the effect of the parameters. Therefore, the most influential control factor for the cutting forces was found to be the particle fraction and feed rate. According to the experimental results, the thrust force and cutting torque increased significantly with increasing the feed rate or the particle content. On the other hand, the influence of the drill-bit material and the interactions of the factors for the cutting forces were quite low.