Process Behaviour of Super-hard Cutting Materials for Machining Mineral Cast

Abstract

Increasing requirements on the economic and energy efficiency as well as the machining accuracy of manufacturing processes lead to the use of innovative materials and production technologies. By deploying mineral casting as a construction material for machine beds the primary energy demand and manufacturing costs on the one hand can be reduced significantly. On the other hand the mechanical and thermal properties of mineral cast allow for an increase in process reliability and productivity of highly dynamic manufacturing processes. However, the hardness and wear resistance of the quartzitic aggregates in the compound have an adverse effect on the machinability of mineral cast with geometrically defined cutting edges. High alternating mechanical loads and abrasive tool wear lead to short tool life and high manufacturing costs. Nevertheless, machining of mineral cast with geometrically defined cutting edges represents a key driver for the design and manufacturing of mineral cast components according to customer specific requirements. The Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management (IWF) at the Technische Universität Berlin performed comprehensive cutting tests to analyze the general performance behavior of super-hard cutting materials in machining mineral cast. The studies show that the choice of cutting materials, the tool geometry and the process parameters strongly affect the process reliability of mineral cast machining. First requirements of a process-oriented tool design for the efficient machining of mineral cast have been developed.