Tool LifeTool MaterialsTool GeometryCutting Fluids

Two principal aspects: Tool material Tool geometry

Fracture failure Cutting force becomes excessive and/or dynamic, leading to brittle fractureTemperature failure Cutting temperature is too high for the tool material Gradual wear Gradual wearing of the cutting tool

Fracture and temperature failures are premature failures Gradual wear is preferred because it leads to the longest possible use of the tool Gradual wear occurs at two locations on a tool: Crater wear occurs on top rake faceFlank wear occurs on flank (side of tool)

Diagram of worn cutting tool, showing the principal locations and types of wear that occur.Tool Wear

Crater wear, (above), and flank wear (right) on a cemented carbide tool, as seen through a toolmaker's microscope

Tool wear as a function of cutting time. Flank wear (FW) is used here as the measure of tool wear. Crater wear follows a similar growth curve.Tool Wear vs. Time

Effect of cutting speed on tool flank wear (FW) for three cutting speeds, using a tool life criterion of 0.50 mm flank wear.Effect of Cutting Speed

Natural loglog plot of cutting speed vs tool life.Tool Life vs. Cutting Speed

Relationship is credited to F. W. Taylor where v = cutting speed; T = tool life; and n and C are parameters that depend on feed, depth of cut, work material, tooling material, and the tool life criterion used n is the slope of the plot C is the intercept on the speed axis at one minute tool life

Complete failure of cutting edge Visual inspection of flank wear (or crater wear) by the machine operatorFingernail test across cutting edgeChanges in sound emitted from operationChips become ribbon-like, stringy, and difficult to dispose offDegradation of surface finishIncreased powerWorkpiece countCumulative cutting time

Tool failure modes identify the important properties that a tool material should possess: Toughness to avoid fracture failureHot hardness ability to retain hardness at high temperatures Wear resistance hardness is the most important property to resist abrasion

400600200900600300Ft/MinTool Tip Temperatute vs Cutting Speed

Typical hot hardness relationships for selected tool materials. Plain carbon steel shows a rapid loss of hardness as temperature increases. High speed steel is substantially better, while cemented carbides and ceramics are significantly harder at elevated temperatures.Hot Hardness

Tool material n C (m/min) C (ft/min)

High speed steel:Non-steel work0.125 120 350Steel work0.125 70 200Cemented carbideNon-steel work 0.25 900 2700Steel work 0.25 500 1500CeramicSteel work 0.6 3000 10,000

Highly alloyed tool steel capable of maintaining hardness at elevated temperatures better than high carbon and low alloy steels One of the most important cutting tool materialsEspecially suited to applications involving complicated tool geometries, such as drills, taps, milling cutters, and broachesTwo basic types (AISI)Tungstentype, designated T grades Molybdenumtype, designated Mgrades

Typical alloying ingredients:Tungsten and/or MolybdenumChromium and VanadiumCarbon, of courseCobalt in some gradesTypical composition (Grade T1):18% W, 4% Cr, 1% V, and 0.9% C

Class of hard tool material based on tungsten carbide (WC) using powder metallurgy techniques with cobalt (Co) as the binderTwo basic types:Nonsteel cutting grades - only WCCoSteel cutting grades - TiC and TaC added to WCCo

High compressive strength but lowtomoderate tensile strengthHigh hardness (90 to 95 HRc)Good hot hardnessGood wear resistanceHigh thermal conductivityHigh elastic modulus 600 x 103 MPaToughness lower than high speed steel

Used for nonferrous metals and gray cast ironProperties determined by grain size and cobalt contentAs grain size increases, hardness and hot hardness decrease, but toughness increases As cobalt content increases, toughness improves at the expense of hardness and wear resistance

Used for low carbon, stainless, and other alloy steelsTiC and/or TaC are substituted for some of the WC Composition increases crater wear resistance for steel cuttingBut adversely affects flank wear resistance for nonsteel cutting applications

Combinations of TiC, TiN, and titanium carbonitride (TiCN), with nickel and/or molybdenum as binders. Some chemistries are more complexApplications: high speed finishing and semifinishing of steels, stainless steels, and cast irons Higher speeds and lower feeds than steelcutting carbide grades Better finish achieved, often eliminating need for grinding

Cemented carbide insert coated with one or more thin layers of wear resistant materials, such as TiC, TiN, and/or Al2O3 Coating applied by chemical vapor deposition or physical vapor deposition Coating thickness = 2.5 13 m (0.0001 to 0.0005 in)Applications: cast irons and steels in turning and milling operationsBest applied at high speeds where dynamic force and thermal shock are minimal

Photomicrograph of cross section of multiple coatings on cemented carbide tool

Primarily finegrained Al2O3, pressed and sintered at high pressures and temperatures into insert form with no binderApplications: high speed turning of cast iron and steel Not recommended for heavy interrupted cuts (e.g. rough milling) due to low toughnessAl2O3 also widely used as an abrasive in grinding

Sintered polycrystalline diamond (SPD) - fabricated by sintering very finegrained diamond crystals under high temperatures and pressures into desired shape with little or no binderUsually applied as coating (0.5 mm thick) on WC-Co insertApplications: high speed machining of nonferrous metals and abrasive nonmetals such as fiberglass, graphite, and woodNot for steel cutting

Next to diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN) is hardest material knownFabrication into cutting tool inserts same as SPD: coatings on WCCo inserts Applications: machining steel and nickelbased alloys SPD and CBN tools are expensive

Two categories: Single point tools Used for turning, boring, shaping, and planingMultiple cutting edge tools Used for drilling, reaming, tapping, milling, broaching, and sawing

The "business end" of a twist drill has two cutting edgesThe included angle of the point on a conventional twist drill is 118Margins are the outside tip of the flutes and are always ground to the drill diameter

An essential feature of drilling is the variation in cutting speed along the cutting edge. The speed is maximum at the periphery, which generates the cylindrical surface, and approaches zero near the center-line of the drill where the cutting edge is blended to a chisel shape. Drills are slender, highly stressed tools, the flutes of which have to be carefully designed to permit chip flow while maintaining adequate strength.

Chip removalFlutes must provide sufficient clearance to allow chips to be extracted from bottom of hole during the cutting operationFriction makes matters worseRubbing between outside diameter of drill bit and newly formed hole Delivery of cutting fluid to drill point to reduce friction and heat is difficult because chips are flowing in opposite direction

Any liquid or gas applied directly to machining operation to improve cutting performance Two main problems addressed by cutting fluids: Heat generation at shear and friction zones Friction at toolchip and toolwork interfacesOther functions and benefits:Wash away chips (e.g., grinding and milling)Reduce temperature of workpart for easier handlingImprove dimensional stability of workpart

Cutting fluids can be classified according to function:Coolants - designed to reduce effects of heat in machiningLubricants - designed to reduce toolchip and toolwork friction

Water used as base in coolanttype cutting fluidsMost effective at high cutting speeds where heat generation and high temperatures are problems Most effective on tool materials that are most susceptible to temperature failures (e.g., HSS)

Usually oilbased fluidsMost effective at lower cutting speedsAlso reduce temperature in the operation

No cutting fluid is usedAvoids problems of cutting fluid contamination, disposal, and filtrationProblems with dry machining:Overheating of toolOperating at lower cutting speeds and production rates to prolong tool lifeAbsence of chip removal benefits of cutting fluids in grinding and milling

Gear cutting is the process of creating a gear. The most common processes include hobbing, broaching, and machining; other processes include shaping, forging, extruding, casting, and powder metallurgy.Hobbing is a machining process for making gears, on a hobbing machine, The teeth or splines are progressively cut into the workpiece by a series of cuts made by a cutting tool called a hob. Compared to other gear forming processes it is relatively inexpensive but still quite accurate, thus it is used for a broad range of parts and quantities

The two shafts are rotated at a proportional ratio, which determines the number of teeth on the blank; for example, if the gear ratio is 40:1 the hob rotates 40 times to each turn of the blankThe hob is then fed up into workpiece until the correct tooth depth is obtained. Finally the hob is fed into the workpiece parallel to the blank's axis of rotation

Hobbing uses a hobbing machine with two non-parallel spindles, one mounted with a blank workpiece and the other with the hob. The angle between the hob's spindle and the workpiece's spindle varies, depending on the type of product being produced. If a spur gear is being produced, then the hob is angled equal to the helix angle of the hob; if a helical gear is being produced then the angle must be increased by the same amount as the helix angle of the helical gear

The hob is the cutter used to cut the teeth into the workpiece. It is cylindrical in shape with helical cutting teeth. These teeth have grooves that run the length of the hob, which aid in cutting and chip removal.The cross-sectional shape of the hob teeth are almost the same shape as teeth of a rack gear that would be used with the finished product

**Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a variety of vacuum deposition and is a general term used to describe any of a variety of methods to deposit thin films by the condensation of a vaporized form of the material onto various surfaces (e.g., onto semiconductor wafers). The coating method involves purely physical processes such as high temperature vacuum evaporation or plasma sputter bombardment

In a typical CVD (Chemical vapor deposition) process, the wafer (substrate) is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposit*Sintered -> Formed into a mass by heat and pressure*Diamond succumbs to graphitization, which means that it will change its crystal structure to graphite crystal structure at 250C in the presence of a catalyst metal such as carbon steel*Back rake angle (BR) is the angle between the cutting face of the tool and the shank, measured parallel to the side of the shank. The angle is positive if, as shown in Fig. 7, it slopes from the cutting point downward toward the shank, and negative if it slopes upward toward the shankSide rake angle (SR) is the angle between the cutting face of the tool and the shank, measured perpendicular to the side of the shank. The angle is positive if, as shown in Fig. 7(c), it slopes downward away from the cutting edge to the opposite side of the shank, and negative if it slopes upward.Front Clearance angle is the angle between the flank face of the tool and a line drawn from the cutting edge perpendicular to the base of the shank.Side clearance angle is the angle between the side flank immediately below the side cutting edge and a line drawn through the side cutting edge perpendicular to the base of the toolEnd cutting-edge angle (ECEA) is the angle between the end cutting edge of the tool and a line perpendicular to the side of the shank.Side cutting-edge angle (SCEA), also called lead angle, is the angle between the side cutting edge and the projected side of the shank.Nose radius (NR) is the radius on the tool between the end and the side cutting edges*Drill is called Twist Drill because it cuts because of twisting action.The rake angle being controlled by the helix angle of the drillFor a drill to bore true and on location it is absolutely imperative that the margin and the point be ground concentric and be on centerThe land is the portion relieved from the margin. Without this relief there would be a great deal of friction created during the drilling processAs the lips are being formed in the sharpening process to the desired angle at the very tip the "chisel point," is formed.General purpose drills normally have the chisel point. The big disadvantage here is that this point does not penetrate well at the start and has a tendency to wobble. To eliminate this wobble a center drill (below) is used to start the hole or a drill bushing to guide the drill

***Coolants possess low viscosity as compared to lubricants*2. Hobbing machine is a special type of milling machine.*1. Note that the previous example only holds true for a single threaded hob; if the hob has multiple threads then the speed ratio must be multiplied by the number of threads on the hob.**There are slight changes to the shape for generating purposes, such as extending the hob's tooth length to create a clearance in the gear's roots

*