A cutting force prediction dynamic model for side milling of ceramic matrix composites C/SiC based on rotary ultrasonic machining

Ceramic matrix composites, carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix (C/SiC), have significant potential in aerospace applications due to their special properties like low density, high specific strength, superior wear resistance, high temperature resistance, and having excellent structural along with tribological properties. However, the application of these composites has been hindered seriously because of their poor machining characteristics. There are many issues in machining of such composites due to inhomogeneous, anisotropic, and varying thermal properties of these composites. In this research, a dynamic cutting force model for side milling of C/SiC composites based on rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) was developed. The cutting force was evaluated under cylindrical coordinate system and decomposed it into three meta-forces (fiber cutting force and substance cutting force which further sub-divided into ploughing force and frictional force). The experiments were conducted in two groups to determine parameters k and C0 for cutting force model. The developed cutting force model then validated through further experiments. By comparison of the experimental and simulation data of the cutting force, it was found that the errors are below 10 % in most of the sets of parameters. The variation found is due to the heterogeneity and other material properties of C/SiC composites. The relationship of cutting force and process parameters like spindle speed, feed rate, and cutting width has been investigated. The cutting width was found as the main parameter to link the cutting forces and the processing parameters together. The novel cutting force dynamic model developed in this paper is robust, and it can be applied to predict the cutting force and optimization of the process.