Tool life modeling for evaluating the effects of cutting speed and reinforcements on the machining of particle reinforced metal matrix composites

The wear of cutting tools in the machining of 2024Al alloy composites reinforced with Al(2)O(3) particles using varying sizes and volume fractions of particles up to 23.3vol% was investigated by a turning process using coated carbide tools K10 and TP30 at different cutting speeds. Machining tests were performed with a plan of experiments based on the Taguchi method. The tool life model was developed in terms of cutting speed, size, and volume fraction of particles by multiple linear regressions. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also employed to carry out the effects of these parameters on the cutting tool life. The test results show that the tool life decreases with the increase of cutting speed for both cutting tools K10 and TP30, and the tool life of the K10 tool is significantly longer than that of the TP30 tool. For the tool life, cutting speed is found to be the most effective factor followed by particle content and particle size, respectively. The predicted tool life of cutting tools is found to be in very good agreement with the experimentally observed ones.