AN INVESTIGATION OF PCD 1600 GRADE INSERT ON MACHINING Al/SiC/B4C HYBRID COMPOSITES BASED ON THE TAGUCHI TECHNIQUES

Turning is a metal removal process and is important for the final assembly stage prior to application. This paper discusses the influence of machining parameters on turning characteristics of hybrid Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) - (Al356/10SiCp/-5B(4)C). The composites are fabricated using stir casting method. The Taguchi design of experiments and grey relational analyses were employed to analyse the turning characteristics of the composite. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of cutting speed and feed rate on surface finish and power consumed using Poly Crystalline Diamond (PCD) 1600 grade insert. The results reveal that the dependent variables are greatly influenced by the feed rate rather than cutting speed for the composite. The confirmation experiment indicates that there is a good agreement between the estimated value and experimental value of the Grey relational grade.