Particle fracture and debonding during orthogonal machining of metal matrix composites

This paper investigates the particle fracture and debonding during machining of metal matrix composite （MMC） due to developed stress and strain, and interaction with moving tool by finite element analysis. The machining zone was divided into three regions： primary, secondary and tertiary deformation zones. The tendency of particles to fracture in each deformation zone was investigated. The findings of this study were also discussed with respect to the experimental results available in the literature. It was found that particles at the cutting path inthe tertiary deformation zone fractured as it interacted with tool. In the secondary deformation zone, particles interacted with other particles as well as cutting tool. This caused debonding and fracture of huge number of particles as those were moving up along the rake face with the chips. No particle fracture was noted at the primary deformation zone. The results obtained from finite element analysis were very similar to those obtained from experimental studies.