Tool wear during high-speed milling of wood-plastic composites

Abstract

A high-speed milling test was performed with a self-developed wood-plastic composite using uncoated and coated carbide cutting tools. The nose width was used to represent the tool wear. An advanced tool measurement system was adopted to measure the wear of each tool. The influence of some cutting parameters, including spindle speed, feed rate, axial cutting depth, and radial cutting depth, on the tool wear was analyzed using a single factor test method. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the wear morphology on the rake and clearance face of the tool before and after the tool was worn. The results showed that the tool nose width increased with increased axial cutting depths or spindle speeds, while the radial depth under the condition of the same cutting length decreased with an increase in the feed rate. Moreover, the main form of tool wear was abrasive wear and coating peel-off when the wood-plastic composites were machined with high-speed milling.