Investigation of the direction of chip motion in diamond turning

Abstract

Management of the chips generated in diamond turning is often critical since contact between chips and the workpiece can result in superficial damage to the finished surface. Controlling chip motion is not a trivial process as the proper positioning of an oil or an air stream requires an understanding of the dynamics of a diamond turned chip and the machining parameters that affect it. Previous work [1] introduced the chip curvature parameter, χ, which is useful in predicting chip radius of curvature over a wide range of cutting speeds, depths of cut, tool geometries and workpiece material properties. To control chip motion, however, an understanding of the direction chips leave the tool/workpiece interface must also be obtained. Cutting experiments were performed investigating the influence of cutting speed, depth of cut, feed rate, tool path angle, tool geometry and tool orientation on the directional characteristics of the motion of diamond turned chips. Flow angle measurements obtained during cutting were found to remain within ± 10° of predictions from a simple geometrical model originally proposed for conventional machining.