Investigation on diamond tool wear in ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning die steels

This paper presents comprehensive theoretical analyses and experimental investigations for evaluating the ultrasonic vibration-assisted turning (UVAT) of die steels with single-crystal diamond tools. The diamond tool wear was found to rely heavily on the feed rate and the cutting speed while being insensitive to the depth of cut and the tool relief angle under the cutting conditions used in the tests. The tool wear characteristics were further studied based on the observation of wear zone using Raman spectral analysis and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The detection results of the tool worn topography, the phase transformation and the carbon diffusion of diamond crystals revealed that tool wear mainly occurred on the tool flank face due to the graphitization and the diffusion of the diamond tool. Analytical results of the function mechanisms of the ultrasonic turning indicated that the friction force between the tool flank face and the machined surface, which depended mainly on the ratio of the cutting speed and the vibration speed, could be effectively reduced in ultrasonic turning process. The analytical and experimental results indicated that compared with conventional turning (CT), the cutting performance, in terms of the tool life, was markedly improved by applying ultrasonic vibration to the cutting tool.