Cutting force–based analysis and correlative observations on the tool wear in diamond turning of single-crystal silicon

Abstract

The condition of a cutting tool is an important factor to ultraprecision machining processes. Tool wear has a strong influence on the cutting forces, resulting in poor surface roughness and dimensional tolerance of the workpiece, particularly in ultraprecision machining hard brittle materials. This article presents a cutting force–based analysis and correlative observations on diamond tool wear in machining of single-crystal silicon. The Daubechies wavelet (dB3, level 4) was employed to correlate standard deviation of magnitude on the decomposed cutting and radial forces with initial diamond tool wear. Moreover, the flank wear and the micro-fracture were observed using scanning electron microscopy on the respective flank face and rake face of the diamond cutting tool used. No crater wear was detected on the rake face of the diamond tool until cutting distance of up to 9 km.