Effect of cutting parameters on machinability characteristics in milling of magnesium alloy with carbide tool

Magnesium alloy has attracted more attentions due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, in process of dry cutting operation, many problems restrict its further development. In this article, the effect of cutting parameters on machinabilities of magnesium alloy is explored under dry milling condition. This research is an attempt to investigate the impact of cutting speed at multiple feed rates on cutting force and surface roughness, while a statistical analysis is adopted to determine the influential intensities accurately. The results showed that cutting force is affected by the positively constant intensity from feed rate and the increasingly negative intensity from cutting speed. In contrast, surface roughness is determined by the gradually increasing negative tendency from feed rate and the positive effect with constant intensity from cutting speed. Within the range of the experiments, feed rate is the leading contribution for cutting force while the cutting speed is the dominant factor for surface roughness according to the absolute intensity values. Meanwhile, the trends of influencing intensities between cutting force and surface roughness are opposite. Besides, it is also found that in milling magnesium alloy, chip morphology is highly sensitive to cutting speed while the chip quality mainly depends on feed rate.