Advances in Sciences and Technology (Dec 2020)

Effectiveness of Diamond Blades in the Turning of Aluminium Composites

  • Paweł Karolczak,
  • Marek Kołodziej,
  • Maciej Kowalski

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12913/22998624/127436
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 4
pp. 262 – 272

Abstract

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Owing to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio aluminium composite materials are very readily used in the construction of means of transport. Parts made of such materials must be characterized by high reliability and workmanship. Hence machining is the predominant method of manufacturing parts from composites. The problem with the turning, milling and drilling of ceramic-reinforced composites is the abrasive action of the reinforcement, resulting in heavy wear of the blades and so in lower surface quality and dimensional-shape accuracy and higher manufacturing costs. A solution to this problem can be blades made of superhard materials or properly matched conditions of machining with sintered carbide blades. This paper presents the results of turning tests carried out on an aluminium composite material reinforced with long ceramic fibres. An uncoated sintered carbide blade is compared with a diamond coated blade and a polycrystalline diamond blade. Post-turning surface roughness and machining forces were selected as the main indicators of cutting ability. The effect of the blades on the forming chips is shown and the higher resistance of the polycrystalline diamond blades to the abrasive action of the reinforcing fibres is confirmed by microscopic photographs. Besides the confirmation of the higher durability of the diamond blades, conditions in which when using these blades one can achieve better machining effects than the ones achievable by the compared tools are defined. Moreover, it is shown that by properly matching machining parameters and aiding machining with oil mist lubrication it is possible to obtain excellent surface quality by means of carbide blades. The minimum quantity lubrication also increases the life of the blades.

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