Study on effects of tool nose radius on the formation mechanism of edge defects during milling SiCp/Al composites

Silicon carbide particulate reinforced aluminum matrix composites (SiCp/Al) have received considerable attention in many engineering applications. However, the existence of dispersing SiC particles leads to particularly vulnerable edge quality of SiCp/Al composites in machining. It is very significant to improve the edge defects of SiCp/Al composites by optimizing the tool geometry. Cutting tool nose radius mainly determines the machining performance. Therefore, the effects of tool nose radius on the chip topography, cutting force, and edge geometry in face and dry milling of 20% SiCp/Al composites were investigated in the current work. Experiments were conducted with tool nose radius of 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mm. The results showed that the shorter and wider chips were found with the increment in tool nose radius. It was also observed that the cutting force increased with the increment in tool nose radius. Based on the material removal mechanism with different tool nose radius, the feature maps of edge defects in SiCp/Al composites were established and studied. It was found that the outer and inner edge quality of the materials was improved with the increase of tool nose radius.