Machining of metal matrix composites (MMCs) has been considerably difficult due to the extremely abrasive nature of the reinforcements that causes rapid tool wear and high machining cost. In this study, the effect of T6 heat treatment, cutting parameters and weight fraction of reinforcement on the machinability of 7075Al/Al2O3 composites was investigated because of tool wear. Machining tests were performed on both as-cast and heat treated aluminium matrix composites reinforced with 10% and 25% weight fractions and 16 µm average size of Al2O3 particles by turning process using physical vapour deposition (PVD) coated carbide tool CP500 at different cutting conditions. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also employed to carry out the effects of these parameters on the cutting tool life. It was concluded that in both as-cast and heat treated composites the tool life decreased with increasing the cutting speed, feed rate and weight fraction of particles. However, heat treatment improved significantly the tool life. For the tool life, particle content was found to be the most effective factor followed by heat treatment and cutting speed respectively.
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Metin Kök (2013) studied this question.
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