Machinability of expanded low-cost granular clay reinforced metallic syntactic foams with cnc slot milling: Cutting force, surface quality and chip morphology analysis

The interest in metal foams and syntactic metal foams has recently increased in various fields such as automotive, aviation, construction, aerospace, medical, air conditioning and rail systems. These foams are solution to many problems and an alternative to traditional materials and designs. The primary reason for this preference is their light weight and strong behavior and attracts attention with its impact damping ability, heat conduction, resistance to chemical reactions and in some cases economic advantage. As it attracts attention in many areas and in response to many needs, researches are also increasing in this field of investigation. In this study, the milling of AA7075 metal matrix expanded clay reinforced syntactic metal foam produced by cold chamber die casting method was investigated and milling was carried out at cutting speeds of 240 mm/min, 480 mm/min and 720 mm/min and depths of cut of 1 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm. The axial forces Fx and Fy on the cutting tool at each cutting speed and depth of cut were measured with a dynamometer, and the forces Ft and Fr were obtained depending on the rotation angle. In addition, the chip wastes generated after milling were also analyzed and interpreted. In the light of this information, in addition to the manufacturing methods of syntactic metal foams, an idea on the machinability and ideal parameters of the manufactured syntactic metal foam was formed.