SURFACE ROUGHNESS PARAMETERS OPTIMIZATION IN MACHINING A356/SiC/20 p METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES BY PCD TOOL USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY AND DESIRABILITY FUNCTION

The paper presents the experimental investigation on machining of fabricated silicon carbide particle reinforced aluminium metal matrix (A356/SiC/20p) composites by poly crystalline diamond (PCD) inserts. Experiments were conducted on lathe at various cutting conditions. The parameters considered for the experiments were cutting speed, feed and depth of cut. The response considered for the analysis was surface roughness. An empirical model has been developed for predicting the surface roughness in machining of A356/SiC/20p composites. Response surface regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are used in order to study the effects of machining parameters. Optimum machining condition for minimizing the surface roughness is determined using desirability function approach. The influences of different parameters in machining Al/SiC particulate composite have been analyzed in detail.