HIGH-SPEED TURNING EXPERIMENTS ON METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

The hard abrasive ceramic component which increases the mechanical cha racteristics of metal matrix composites (MMC) causes quick wear and pr emature tool failure in the machining operations. The aim of the paper is to compare the behaviour of high rake angle carbide tools with the ir diamond coated versions in high-speed machining of an Al2O3Al 6061 MMC. The influence of the cutting parameters, in particular cutting fe ed and speed, on tool wear and surface finish has been investigated. T he higher abrasion resistance of the coatings results in increased too l life performances and different chip formation mechanisms. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.