Investigation on Al-SiC-MWCNT Metal Matrix Composite Using Solid Lubricant, Ceramic Coated and Cryogenic Cutting Conditions in Turning Process

Machining with clean and ecofriendly is current objective in manufacturing industries. Researchers are focusing on textured cutting tool inserts for a rake face coupled with solid lubrication to enhance a clean approach in machining. But there are a few issues with solid lubricants, such as supply methodology and durability at high temperatures. To avoid this issue, two different approaches are attempted. The first approach is textured cutting inserts are coated with titanium nitride (TiN) ceramic elements and the second one is cryogenic treatment. Micro hole pattern texturing on rake face is introduced. Textures are introduced using Electrical Discharge Drilling (EDD) to improve the dimensional accuracy of micro hole. Al based Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) with Multiwalled Carbon Nano Tube (MWCNT) is used as workpiece material. The machining performances are studied with the input process parameters of machining speed, feed rate and depth of cut. surface roughness and power consumption are considered as output parameters. The result is that machining performance is improved with cryogenically treated cutting inserts than ceramic coated and solid lubricant filled textured tool inserts as 7%-10% of surface roughness reduction and 9% to 20% power consumption reduction using textured inserts with cryogenically treated. The limitations of solid lubrication are eliminated by cryogenically treated cutting inserts and TiN ceramic coated tool. The cryogenically treated tool inserts exhibit enhanced hardness and strength. This research work promotes dry machining effectively with the help of cryogenically treated textured tool.