AE Monitoring of Diamond Turned Rapidly Soldified Aluminium 443

Abstract

Abstract. The fast replacement of conventional aluminium with rapidly solidified aluminium alloys has become a noticeable trend in the current manufacturing industries involved in the production of optics and optical molding inserts. This is as a result of the improved performance and durability of rapidly solidified aluminium alloys when compared to conventional aluminium. Melt spinning process is vital for manufacturing rapidly solidified aluminium alloys like RSA 905, RSA 6061 and RSA 443 which are common in the industries today. RSA 443 is a newly developed alloy with few research findings and huge research potential. There is no available literature focused on monitoring the machining of RSA 443 alloys. In this research, Acoustic Emission sensing technique was applied to monitor the single point diamond turning of RSA 443 on an ultrahigh precision lathe machine. The machining process was carried out after careful selection of feed, speed and depths of cut. The monitoring process was achieved with a high sampling data acquisition system using different tools while concurrent measurement of the surface roughness and tool wear were initiated after covering a total feed distance of 13km. An increasing trend of raw AE spikes and peak to peak signal were observed with an increase in the surface roughness and tool wear values. Hence, acoustic emission sensing technique proves to be an effective monitoring method for the machining of RSA 443 alloy.

Surface roughness of machined wood and advanced engineering materials and its prediction: A review

“…RSAs with advantages of fewer impurities were developed to overcome the problems with traditional aluminium alloys. As there was no literature about monitoring of machining of RSA 443 alloys, Onwuka et al 25 used acoustic emission sensing, monitored turning of RSA 443, and measured the tool wear and surface roughness. When the tool wear and surface roughness increased, the acoustic emission feature signals also increased, meaning that acoustic emission could be used to monitor the performance of the turning process.…”

“…24,25 RSA alloys have the advantages of fewer impurities and good durability, and hence using them as moulding insert materials has become a trend. 25…”

“…25 To overcome the problems with traditional aluminium alloys, rapidly solidified aluminium (RSA) with enhanced material properties and ultra-fine grain sizes has been developed and available in the market. 24,25 RSA alloys have the advantages of fewer impurities and good durability, and hence using them as moulding insert materials has become a trend. 25 Meanwhile, wood was a most conventional and oldest material, and is widely used nowadays for various applications.…”

“…24,25 RSA alloys have the advantages of fewer impurities and good durability, and hence using them as moulding insert materials has become a trend. 25 Meanwhile, wood was a most conventional and oldest material, and is widely used nowadays for various applications. 26,27 Because of the good machinability and fair cost, wood is a leading material for cabinet and furniture manufacturing.…”

“…24 In addition, the limit of wear resistance of traditional aluminium alloys is a disadvantage for them to be the materials for mould inserts. 25 To overcome the problems with traditional aluminium alloys, rapidly solidified aluminium (RSA) with enhanced material properties and ultra-fine grain sizes has been developed and available in the market. 24,25 RSA alloys have the advantages of fewer impurities and good durability, and hence using them as moulding insert materials has become a trend.…”