Wear of Polycrystalline Diamond Tool in Cutting of Unidirectional SiC Whisker-Reinforced Plastic. Influence of Whisker Orientation and Grain Size of Diamond.

Abstract

This study concerns the cutting process of unidirectional SiC whisker-reinforced plastic composite. The effects of the grain size of the polycrystalline diamond tool and the SiC whisker orientation on tool wear were investigated. The tool with fine grains exhibited higher wear rates. The greatest tool wear occurred with the composite having longitudinal alignment of whiskers. The cutting processes of various orientations of whiskers were observed by SEM at low speed. Moreover, models were proposed for cutting the SiC whisker-plastic composite and for the wear of sintered diamond tools.