Simulation and Experimental Study on Single Point Cutting SiCp/Al Composites with Different Volume Fractions

SiCp/Al composites are composed of SiC particles and aluminum alloy matrix with great performance differences. The cutting process is complex, and there are many factors affecting the processing quality, and the material simulation modeling is difficult. In this paper, a parametric modeling method of SiCp/ Al composites was proposed considering the random distribution of particles, particle size, volume fraction and other factors. The removal process, cutting force, surface morphology and damage of SiCp/Al composites with different volume fractions were studied and verified by experiments. The simulation analysis and experimental results show that the parametric modeling is effective. SiCp/ Al composites are characterized by severe surface damage, high cutting force, surface defects covered by substrate coating, and small actual cutting depth. The processing quality of SiCp/Al composites cannot be evaluated by surface roughness alone. SiCp/Al with large particle size and high volume fraction has lower cutting force, lower specific grinding energy, worse surface quality, smaller actual cutting depth, more serious coating phenomenon and easier coating falling off. SiC particle size has an important influence on surface damage, cutting force and specific grinding energy. This paper can provide some references for the surface removal characteristics research and engineering application of SiCp/Al composite.