Developments in applications of PCD tooling

Composite materials based on various fillers and fibres bonded together with either plastic or metal matrices are becoming increasingly important in the aerospace and automotive industries. Glass, carbon fibre, and aramid fibre composites are now well accepted. For situations where higher strengths are required, metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are being developed. These materials are usually based on aluminium or titanium alloys stiffened with ceramic particles, such as silicon carbide, or fibres such as alumina. While these materials exhibit very useful mechanical and thermal properties, they are extremely abrasive and have proved difficult to machine. This paper quantifies the performance of PCD tooling on two types of MMC and makes machining parameter recommendations.