Simulation of temperature distribution and discharge crater of SiCp/Al composites in a single-pulsed arc discharge

SiC_p/Al composites are difficult-to-cut materials. In recent years, electrical arc discharge machining has been developed to improve the machinability of these materials. However, there is a big challenge to build a satisfactory heat transfer model of SiC_p/Al composites in the arc machining. This is not only because of the material property difference between the reinforcement and matrix material but also because of the micro-dimension SiC reinforcements. This paper established a new heat conduction simulation model considering the SiC particle-Al matrix interface and the phase change effects in a single-pulsed arc discharge of SiC_p/Al composites. A novel SiC particle-Al matrix cell geometric model was designed firstly. Then, the temperature distribution at a different depth from the workpiece surface was analyzed, the influence of sic volume fraction on temperature field was studied, and the contribution of the interface thermal resistance and latent heat were explained. To demonstrate the validity of the new numerical model, comparisons and verifications were employed. Finally, the method of improving the model was proposed and the machining mechanism of arc discharge of SiC_p/Al matrix materials was discussed. It was found that high temperature is prone to concentrate on the surface layers of the workpiece especially when the SiC fraction is high, also, the temperature fluctuates respectively at the evaporation point of aluminum and SiC, and the SiC-Al resistance has less influence on temperature distribution compared to latent heat, etc. The model build in this work improves the simulation accuracy observably compared to the previous model, and the simulation work will help to acquire a detailed mechanism of material removal of SiC_p/Al composites in the arc discharge machining.