Cutting performance of micro-textured PCBN tool

Abstract

To study the effect of micro-texture on the cutting performance of polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tools, five types of micro-textures (circular pits, elliptical grooves, transverse grooves, composite grooves, and wavy grooves) were applied to the rake surface of PCBN tools by an optical fiber laser marking machine. Through a combination of three-dimensional cutting simulations and experiments, the influences of micro-texture on chip–tool contact area, cutting force, chip morphology, shear angle, and surface roughness during the cutting process were analyzed. The results indicated that the chip–tool contact area and cutting force of both non-textured and micro-textured tools increased with increasing cutting speed, while the shear angle decreased with increasing cutting speed. The chip–tool contact area and cutting force of the five types of micro-textured tools were smaller than those of the non-textured tool. The chip–tool contact area and cutting force obtained by the wavy-groove micro-textured tool were the smallest. The chip radius produced by the five types of micro-textured tools was smaller than that produced by the non-textured tool, and the chip morphology was more stable. The transverse-groove micro-textured tool had a better chip breaking effect. The chip radius generated by the elliptical-groove micro-textured tool was 0.96 cm, while that generated by the wavy-groove tool varied from 0.55 cm to 1.26 cm. The presence of a micro-texture reduced the surface roughness of the workpiece by 11.73%–56.7%. Under the same cutting conditions, the five types of micro-textured tools gave a smaller chip–tool contact area, cutting force, chip radius, and surface roughness and a larger shear angle than the non-textured tool. In addition, the elliptical-groove and wavy-groove micro-textured tools had better cutting performance.