Experimental Investigation of the Machinability of Polystyrene Reinforced with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

摘要

The micromachining of single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composite is studied in this paper. Polystyrene was used as the polymer matrix material, and CNT loading of 0.2% by weight is used to synthesize the composite. The composite was processed using a solution processing method. Micro endmilling experiments were conducted to compare measured forces, chip morphologies, surface finishes, and burr formations between plain polystyrene and CNT composite. Micro milling experiments were conducted at a wide range of feed rates to investigate the composite's behavior during machining at both the plowing- and shearing-dominant regimes. Use of CNTs as reinforcements seems to decrease the minimum chip thickness, which is favorable in micromachining because it results in less plowing and burr formations.