An innovative experimental study examining the impact of feed and spindle speed on the surface roughness of the drilled holes of an Al6061 hybrid composite containing 15% weight fractions of silicon carbide and fly ash and contrasting the results with as-

Abstract

Aim: This research aims at the investigation of the feed and spindle speed effects on the drilled holes for its surface roughness in an reinforced aluminium hybrid metal matrix composite (MMC) with a 15% weight fraction reinforcement composed of silicon carbide and fly ash of 7.5% each, fabricated using the stir casting method under controlled process parameters and compare results with pure as-cast Aluminium 6061. Materials and Methods: Samples of dimensions 150mm x 150mm and thickness 10mm are prepared under Identical conditions adhering to standards. For g power calculations (threshold level: 0.20, confidence interval: 80%) gives a sample size of 39. Tests were taken on samples from the experimental group (AHMMC) and control group (As-cast AL6061) in 3 trials. On each sample, 13 holes with 13 different combinations of feed and spindle speed derived using the RSM method are drilled using an uncoated HSS drill bit of 10mm diameter. Results: The surface roughness values are taken on 3 different locations in the cylindrical inner surface of a hole. On experimentation and analyzing the results by One-way ANOVA using SPSS software, it is observed that there is a significant reduction of 42% in the surface roughness of the AHMMC with a significance level of 0.001 (p<0.05). Conclusion: With the limitations of this study, it is revealed that AHMMC with a 15% weight fraction of SiC+Fly ash exhibited lower surface roughness when compared to As-cast AL6061.