An improved approach to tool life promotion concerning cutting edge microgeometry

Abstract The severe wear of cemented carbide tool can lead to problems such as short tool life and poor part surface integrity. Fortunately, it has been found that the tool wear may be reduced by modifying the cutting edge microgeometry. However, there is a few studies that offer specific instructions for this modification. In addition, it is costly to realize this for machining tools through merely experiments. Therefore, in this paper, an improved approach is proposed by combining the finite-element (FE) simulation method with a user-defined wear rate model. To achieve this, a new wear rate model was proposed at first, regarding the wear mechanisms of the carbide tool during machining of Inconel 718 alloy. Then, four sets of carefully designed cutting tests and FE simulations were carried out to calibrate and verify the new model. At last, extensive FE simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of tool edge microgeometry on tool life. The simulated results indicate that the tool life increases with the increase of the form factor K within a given range. This finding on optimized tool edge was further verified by performing a group of cylindrical turning experiments. The experimental measurements reveal that the tool life has increased by 24% and 50% maximum when increasing K from 0.9 to 2.8 under the two given cutting conditions.