Development of a cutting tool with micro structured surface

Abstract

Improvement of lubricity between tool and chip or workpiece is essential for obtaining good cutting performances. In particular, the achievement of high lubricity is required in minimal quantity lubrication (MQL) cutting. MQL cuttings, however, have problems relating to low lubricity or low stability and, as a result, the introduction to practical cutting industry is limited. Then we examined intermittent cutting -face milling- experiments for aluminum alloy under flood fluid supply in order to clarify the problems. As the result, it was confirmed that the lubricity between tool and chip deteriorates as cutting probresses, namely, with longer cutting length. Then, to overcome the above problem, cutting tools with micro structured surface, that is, micro grooves were developed in the hopes that the grooves play the role as retainer of cutting fluid. A series of cutting experiments revealed that the cutting shear angle became larger and the cutting force became lower, as compared with the conventional cutting tool without micro grooves. This demonstrated that the micro grooves brought low friction to cutting tool surface. Furthermore, it was found that the newly developed cutting tool was effective for maintaining good lubricity in MQL cutting.