Machining process such as milling receives less attention in the study of machinability of composites due to its interrupted cutting and the complexity of the process. In the present study, A356 aluminium alloy powder reinforced with 10 volume % SiC particles of various sizes (1,12.5 and 25 µm) were synthesized by vacuum hot pressing method and the effect of particle size on the composites were analysed for its mechanical properties and machinability. End milling of these composites were carried out and the surface roughness and resultant cutting force were analysed with the change of machining parameters and varying SiC particle sizes. The minimum cutting force and surface roughness were obtained for a finer particle (1 µm) reinforced composite with higher cutting speed, low feed and depth of cut.
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Jayakumar et al. (2012) studied this question.