High temperature deformation mechanisms and constitutive modeling for Al/SiCp/45 metal matrix composites undergoing laser-assisted machining

The material removal mechanism in LAM of Al/SiCp composite. In the present study, material removal mechanisms were inferred from the analysis of the chip and chip root morphology at different cutting conditions, and the shear zone stress was determined by using three dimensional machining theory with a new approach to determining shear angles for saw-tooth chips formed in LAM of Al/SiCp composite. Based on the deformation mechanisms associated with LAM, a constitutive equation which predicted the shear zone stress was proposed, and the effects of operating conditions on the shear zone stress were determined from a systematic experimental study. A comparison of the constitutive equation predictions with the experimental results showed a smaller than the estimated uncertainty (15%) in the stress calculation.