Research on the Machining Performance of SiC/Al Composites Utilizing the BEAM Process

The Blasting Erosion Arc Machining (BEAM) process was applied to improve the machining efficiency of SiC/Al composites. A set of experiments were conducted on 20 vol% SiC/Al composites to find out the relationship between the parameters and machining performance. Results revealed that when the peak current was 500 A, the material removal rate (MRR) could be greater than 8,200 mm³/min and the tool wear ratio (TWR) was about 2%. Besides, the influence of polarity on the surface properties was also studied by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and metalloscope. It disclosed that machining with a large peak current and a negative BEAM is suitable for bulk mass material removal, while the surface quality could be improved by applying the positive BEAM. Finally, a machined sample demonstrated the fesibility of BEAM for the machining of SiC/Al materials.