Effects of aging heat treatment on machinability of alumina short fiber reinforced LM 13 aluminum alloy

Abstract

In this paper, the surface integrity (Ra and Rmax) has been investigated with various aging heat treatment and machinability parameters in an aluminum-silicon based (LM-13) MMCs, produced by infiltration method. The composites have been subjected to heat treatment at different temperatures and times which was discussed in detail in an earlier publication (Altunpak and Akbulut, Teknoloji 8(4):331-339, 2005). In the milling of alumina short fiber reinforced LM-13 aluminum alloys, the surface integrity decreased when feed rate increased. It was found that increasing amount of fiber reinforcement and solutionizing temperature has a significant effect on the surface integrity and sub-surface damage of the materials. Increasing the solutionizing temperature and fiber reinforcement produced higher Ra and Rmax values. Microhardness measurement indicated that the sub-surface damage and the hardness increased by increasing the feed rate and fiber content.