UC Berkeley Consortium on Deburring and Edge Finishing Title Advancing Cutting Technology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7hd8r1ft Authors Byrne, G. Dornfeld, David Denkena, B. Publication Date 2003 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Advancing Cutting Technology G. Byrne1 (1), D. Dornfeld2 (1), B. Denkena3 1 University College Dublin, Ireland 2 University of California, Berkeley, USA 3 University of Hannover, Germany Abstract This paper reviews some of the main developments in cutting technology since the foundation of CIRP over fifty years ago. Material removal processes can take place at considerably higher performance levels 3 in the range up to Qw = 150 - 1500 cm /min for most workpiece materials at cutting speeds up to some 8.000 m/min. Dry or near dry cutting is finding widespread application. The superhard cutting tool materi- als embody hardness levels in the range 3000 – 9000 HV with toughness levels exceeding 1000 MPa. Coated tool materials offer the opportunity to fine tune the cutting tool to the material being machined. Machining accuracies down to 10 µm can now be achieved for conventional cutting processes with CNC machine tools, whilst ultraprecision cutting can operate in the range < 0.1µm. The main technological developments associated with the cutting tool and tool materials, the workpiece materials, the machine tool, the process conditions and the manufacturing environment which have led to this advancement are given detailed consideration in this paper. The basis for a roadmap of future development of cutting tech- nology is provided. Keywords: Cutting, Material Removal, Process Development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS geometrie”. In a further presentation by OPITZ, the doc- The authors are grateful to the following persons for their toral work of SALJÉ was presented on external cylindrical contributions to the preparation of this paper: grinding. Wheel speeds of vs = 32 m/s and depths of cut as low as 6 µm were utilised. At that time considerable Professor Taylan Altan, The Ohio State University, USA, work was in progress on the development of dynamome- Professor Ekkart Brinksmeier, University of Bremen, Ger- ters for force measurement arising in machining proc- many, Professor John Corbett, Cranfield University, UK, esses and this paper reports on a state of the art grinding Professor Fritz Klocke WZL, Aachen University, Germany, dynamometer. BICKEL (ETH Zürich) addressed the issue Professor T. Moriwaki, Kobe University, Japan, Professor of two dimensional heat flow in the vicinity of the cutting John Sutherland ,University of Michigan, USA, Professor edge while EUGÈNE presented micrographs of chip roots Rafi Wertheim, Iscar Ltd., Israel, Professor Scott Smith, at magnifications of x70 and x60. Clearly, the heritage of University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, Professor the Scientific Committee “Cutting” [STC”C”] within the Matt Davies, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, CIRP community is very strong. USA, Professor Kees van Luttervelt, Delft University of Technology, Holland, Alex Corcoran and Garret Having achieved strong technical competence during 50 O’Donnell, University College Dublin, Ireland, Professor years of remarkable technological development, it is now Eckart Uhlmann, Technical University Berlin, Germany, appropriate to consider the future needs of production Professor Klaus Weinert, University of Dortmund, Ger- engineering from the perspective of cutting technologies. many. There is a need to re-examine the spectrum of cutting technologies so as to ensure that the balance of CIRP activities is attuned to the real needs of modern manufac- 1 BACKGROUND turing industry. It is deemed to be very important that Since the foundation of CIRP in 1950, the Scientific Tech- manufacturing engineering and then by implication cutting nical Committee for Cutting [STC “C”] has been highly technologies be considered from the holistic perspective. active in pioneering the development of all aspects of the Cutting technology is multidisciplinary with economics cutting process [1]. Central to the work has been the com- playing an increasingly important role. Recent studies [1] plete analysis of the tool/workpiece engagement including came to the conclusion that there should be a strong the chip formation mechanisms, the investigation of the integration of technologies and management using infor- fundamental wear mechanisms and life of the cutting tool mation technologies (IT), for example, integration of the and the analysis and characterisation of the machined process planning and production planning, simulation of surface and surface layer. This analysis has not just been manufacturing systems, agile manufacturing, fast redesign performed from a materials science perspective, but also of new products, modelling of manufacturing equipment from the perspectives of the energy balance and dynamic performance, including the human operator, functional behaviour. product analysis, virtual machining and inspection algo- rithms etc. The key change drivers in the case of cutting It is most interesting to review the first available Annals of technology include: diminishing component size, en- CIRP Volume I, 1952 which reports on the Assemblée hanced surface quality, tighter tolerances and manufactur- Générale De Louvain, 1952 [2] organised by PETERS. ing accuracies, reduced costs, diminished component NICOLAU presented on the subject “Position du probléme weight and reduced batch sizes (Figure 1). de la qualification des aberrations microgéométriques des surfaces de pieces mecaniques”. OPITZ presented on These change drivers have a direct influence on the pri- “Eine Zusammenfassung über die Deformation des Spa- mary inputs to the cutting process namely the cutting tool nes und den Verschleiss der Werkzeuge” and KIENZLE and tool material, the workpiece material and the cutting on “Bemerkung zu den Grundbegriffen der Oberflächen- fluid. Each of these inputs are given detailed treatment in Hard-metal Silicon the paper (sections 2, 3 and 4 respectively). Steel, Non-ferrous metals, Ceramic, Silicon Etching Glass, Polymers µm Laser machining 5 LIGA Metals, Micro-machining Ceramic, 1 Polymers 10 Non-ferrous metals, Polymer, Electric Discharge Infrared Crystals 25 Machining Grinding Structure Dimensions Hard-metal, Steel, Steel, Non-ferrous Ceramic, 50 metals Glass Geometry-Variation Planar Freeform 200 100 50 25 10nm 5 Surface Quality Ra Figure 3: Micromachining relative to other machining processes [IPT-Aachen]. In parallel with the achievement of increased manufactur- ing accuracy there has been significant development in Figure 1: Primary aspects associated with advancing the reduction of the size of engineering components. cutting technology. Figure 4 shows the historical development in the weight reduction of the ABS system for automotive application. In These inputs go to the machine tool, which in parallel with the period 1989 to 2001, the weight has reduced from 6.2 cutting technology has also been the subject of enormous kg to 1.8 kg. One of the important issues associated with development since the early days of CIRP (summarised in miniature components is that the surface area to volume section 5). SPUR [1] notes that the foundation of CIRP ratio increases. This being the case, the surface and its concurred with the early development of NC control for integrity takes on increasing importance. machine tools. Central to the whole issue of cutting tech- nology is the performance capability and control of the manufacturing system. The ability to predict and evaluate cutting performance is addressed in section 6 of the pa- 6 per. The curves presented by [3] and updated recently by kg 6.2 kg McKeown [4] in Figure 2 (in simplified form) trace the development in manufacturing capability in terms of achievable machining accuracy since the 1940’s. Today, Weight 3 ultra-precision machine tools under computer control can 3.8 kg position the tool relative to the workpiece to a resolution 1989 and positioning accuracy in the order of 1nm. Figure 2 2.6 kg shows that the achievable machining accuracy includes 2.5 kg the use of not only cutting tools and abrasive techniques 1.8 kg but also energy beam processes such as ion beam and 0 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 electron beam machining, plus scanning probe techniques for surface measurement and molecular manipulation [4]. Figure 4: Weight reduction of the ABS system [Source: Figure 3 shows the capability of micromachining relative to Bosch]. other processes such as laser machining, EDM, grinding and the LIGA process. It can be seen that Ra values in One of the key inputs to the cutting process is the cutting the range down to almost 5 nm can be attained for fea- tool. When CIRP was founded, the range of cutting tool tures down to 1µm. For the case of “normal machining” materials available was restricted primarily to: tool steels, e.g. CNC turning and milling machines, accuracies of 10 high speed steel, stellite and tungsten carbide with ce- to 100 µm can be achieved (Figure 2). ramic materials coming on stream. For economic manu- facture, the throughput time is the critical issue and the development of cutting tool materials has permitted a Machine Tools & Equipment significant increase not just of cutting speed but also of Turning & Milling Machines 100 Grinding Machines feedrates. Normal Machining CNC Machines 10 m Unit material cost of 140 mm µ Lapping, Honing, Boring mm useful useable area 101.6 mm