A theoretical and experimental investigation of surface generation in diamond turning of an A16061/SiCp metal matrix composite

In this paper, the surface generation in ultra-precision diamond turning of Al6061/15SiC(p) metal-matrix composites was investigated based on differen t analytical approaches which include parametric analysis, cutting mechanic analysis, finite element method (FEM) analysis and power spectrum analysis . Parametric analysis was performed to explore the in situ inter-relationsh ips between the process parameters and the surface roughness. The surface p roperties of the diamond turned surface were extracted and analyzed by the power spectrum analysis of the surface roughness profiles. Different surfac e generation mechanisms were deduced based on the cutting mechanics and FEM analysis. The results of the theoretical analyses were verified through a series of cutting tests conducted under various cutting conditions and a go od correlation between the theoretical and experimental results was obtaine d. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.