Milling characteristics of SiCp/2024Al composites thin-walled part based on movable auxiliary support

Due to milling force and milling heat, thin-walled parts are highly susceptible to deformation and even scrap. In this paper, a method of milling thin-walled part based on the movable auxiliary support was proposed. The ABAQUS software was employed to simulate the milling of thin-walled SiCp/2024Al composite part, while the movement of the auxiliary support was simulated using the secondary development subroutine VDLOAD. The influences of the magnitude and area of the movable auxiliary support on the surface temperature, deformation, and residual stress of the workpiece were investigated by single factor method. The results showed that, with the increasing of the magnitude and area of the movable auxiliary support, both surface temperature and deformation of the thin-walled part decrease. The tensile residual stress decreases and gradually changes to compressive residual stress. Interestingly, when the magnitude exceeds 20 MPa or the area exceeds 100 mm2, the deformation of the thin-walled part continues to decrease, but the middle of the thin-walled part is concave toward the milling cutter. It is worth noting that the effect of area on the residual stress does not show a clear regularity. Thus, the reasonable auxiliary support can reduce deformation and stability in the milling of thin-walled parts and the results of the study can provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the milling process of thin-walled parts.