Composite materials based on various fillers and fibres bonded together wit
h either plastic or metal matrices are becoming increasingly important in t
he aerospace and automotive industries. Glass, carbon fibre, and aramid fib
re composites are now well accepted. For situations where higher strengths
are required, metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are being developed. These mat
erials are usually based on aluminium or titanium alloys stiffened with cer
amic particles, such as silicon carbide, or fibres such as alumina. While t
hese materials exhibit very useful mechanical and thermal properties, they
are extremely abrasive and have proved difficult to machine. This paper qua
ntifies the performance of PCD tooling on two types of MMC and makes machin
ing parameter recommendations. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.