Investigation of cBN Electroplated End-Mill Shape for CFRP Machining

Abstract

Currently, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are being increasingly adopted in various fields. Thus, machining CFRP with high accuracy and high efficiency is required. In addition, machining stack materials composed of CFRP and titanium alloys is required. Therefore, in this study, a novel end-mill electroplated with a cubic boron nitride (cBN) abrasive, which has high thermal resistance, is proposed. In order to evaluate the influence of the base metal shape of the proposed end-mill on the machining process, several cBN-electroplated end-mills with different rake angles or chamfers were fabricated and used to cut CFRP. In addition, in order to evaluate the abrasive shape, a blocky abrasive was also electroplated on the end-mill. The results indicate that the negative rake angle is useful to restrain the progression of tool wear. However, in order to obtain the element of cutting and grinding, it is required that the rake angle should be positive. Moreover, the reasonable width of chamfer is effective for restraining the increase in CFRP temperature. Further, a sharp shaped abrasive can more effectively generate a CFRP with a sharp edge compared with a blocky shape abrasive.