Experimental Study of Surface Integrity During Turning of Al-Si-B4C Particulate Composites Developed Through Stir Casting

Abstract

This investigation deals with the development of  a composite material which will be used as an alternative for the high temperature automotive applications. The presently used material is aluminum Silicon alloy. There are many limitations in terms of heat conducting capacity, surface roughness, wear rate, hardness, fatigue etc. A new composite material was developed with Aluminum, Silicon as the base alloy. Boron carbide of two different particle sizes viz 24 microns and 63 microns is added as reinforcement individually.  Boron carbide one of the known hardest substances, was added to increase the hardness of the material. Boron–carbon being a harder material finds extensive application in tank armor, bulletproof vests, and numerous industrial applications.  The composite was developed using stir casting method and machined in CNC machine. With three different variables such as speed, feed and depth of cut, the specimen is machined for the estimation of material removal rate and Surface roughness. Making one variable as constant and varying other two, twenty seven machining were done. For each machining, corresponding surface roughness and metal removal rate are calculated. Surface roughness of the composite was measured using Surf-coder. The metal removal rate during machining is measured by finding out the machining time respect to the feed, speed and depth of cut . Using analysis of variance the optimum speed, feed, and depth of cut are found.  ..