Fast ED-milling of high volume fraction Al/SiCp metal matrix composites

This work introduces a fast ED-milling approach for machining of complex and precise geometries on high vol.% Al/SiC MMCs. It aims to overcome the issues of severe tool wear and low overall machining efficiency while conducting conventional milling. The material removal mechanism of this specific machining scheme is investigated through discharge phenomena observation and metallurgical analyzation, thereby, discharge current regulation methods for finishing and roughing were developed accordingly to further promote the material removal. Machining tests verify that, as compared to die-sinking EDM, the proposed method guarantees rather higher machining efficiency and satisfactory surface quality in machining of various cavities.