Study on Machining Parameters of TiB2 Reinforced Aluminum 6063 Composites

In this experimental study, three TiB2/Al metal matrix composites (MMCs) with 40 μm in mean size were produced using a melt stirring squeeze casting route. Test was carried out to find the parameters influencing surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate (MRR) on machining the TiB2 reinforced Al-6063 composite materials. The orthogonal array, the signal-to-noise ratio, and analysis of variance were employed to study the performance characteristics in turning operations of 5 and 10 wt. % TiB2 particles reinforced aluminum (Al-6063) metal matrix composites. Taguchi method was used to find the optimal cutting factors for surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate (MRR). The factors considered were weight percentage of TiB2, cutting speed, depth of cut and feed rate. The plan for the experiments and analysis was based on the Taguchi L27 orthogonal array with three cutting factors and two carbide tools of K10 and K20 type. The optimal parametric combination for K10 and K20 carbide insert was found to be feed, speed, depth of cut and percentage of TiB2 reinforcement. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results show that feed the most significant process parameter on surface roughness followed by speed/TiB2 reinforcement for both K10 and K20 carbide insert tools. From MRR data also, it is clear that the speed and feed are the most significant parameters followed by the TiB2 filler loading/depth of cut for the two carbide tools. The confirmatory test for the optimal condition yields low Ra value and high MRR value for the K20 type carbide tool.