Diamond tool wear when machining Al6061 and 1215 steel

Different rates of wear of diamond tools depend on the physical and chemical nature of the workpiece material. Wear mechanisms for diamond tools can be either abrasive or chemical in nature, or a combination thereof. Differentiating the affects of these wear mechanisms can be accomplished by measuring the wear geometry of the cutting edge as a function of cutting distance. Orthogonal cutting experiments using 6061 aluminum and 1215 steel were conducted to illustrate abrasive and abrasive plus chemical wear, respectively. Wear of the diamond tool was measured using the electron beam induced deposition method. This method provides nanometer resolution images of the tool edge (edge radius and wear land) that can be used to calculate volumetric wear loss and wear rates. A method for determining the Archard wear coefficient for diamond turning based on measured wear and cutting forces is also introduced. Comparisons are made between the tool wear resulting from the two materials, and hypotheses related to the wear mechanism are presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.