Choice of reference surfaces for machined surface roughness in milling of SiC_p/Al composites

In order to choose the appropriate reference surface on the machined surface roughness of SiC_p/Al composites, the cutting experiments of SiC_p/Al composites were carried out, and the machined surface topography was measured by OLS3000 Confocal laser scanning microscope. The 3D measured data of machined surface topography were analyzed by the area power spectrum density. The result shows that the texture of machined surface topography in milling of SiC_p/Al composites is almost isotropic. This is the reason that the values of R_q at different locations on the same machined surface are obviously different. Through the comparison of performance of different filtering methods, the robust least squares reference surface can be used to extract the surface roughness of SiC_p/Al composites effectively.