Carbide end mills for processing superalloys to extend tool life

Excellent performance in the cutting machining of superalloys.

An end mill that can cut at a speed unimaginable from conventional carbide end mills is developing ceramic end mills. The ceramics with excellent heat resistance are used as the base material, and they are excellent in the machining of superalloys such as INCONEL®. When machining a superalloy with a carbide end mill, it is necessary to suppress the heat of cutting to extend the life of the tool, and the cutting speed is usually set to about 70 m/min. However, the ceramic end mill softens the material to be cut by cutting heat, so the cutting speed is set at 500 m/min or more. "Using heat to soften superalloys" sounds contradictory, but even in superalloys, the endurance and tensile strength decrease in the temperature range of about 1,000 °C, and the cutting process becomes easy. For cemented carbide end mills, it is a temperature zone that is impossible to machine at all. For ceramic end mills, it is not a problem. It is worthwhile to look at the situation where the cutting heat is raised to the limit and the red chips are processed while being processed.

Excellent performance in terms of efficiency and tool life.

The processing pattern of the ceramic end mill is not so much a "cutting" as it is a "melting". Although the superalloy is processed in a processing form unimaginable in a cemented carbide end mill, there is almost no obvious damage to the tip of the tool after processing, and the welding phenomenon is rare. As described above, since a ceramic having excellent heat resistance is used as a base material, it is characterized in that thermal damage does not occur even in a processed form in which high cutting heat is generated. Comparing with the carbide end mill for comparison and life assessment, the gap is clear at a glance. Carbide end mills are broken at the beginning of the cut, while ceramic end mills can cut to about 35m. When using carbide end mills, it is impossible to achieve high depth of cut and high feed conditions. It is possible to use ceramic end mills. From the viewpoint of efficiency, the advantages are still obvious. All of the above are advantages of ceramic end mills, but one problem limits their use in processing equipment. In order to obtain a high cutting heat during machining, it is necessary to increase the cutting speed, and therefore a machine tool having a spindle with a high rotational speed specification is required. When sufficient cutting heat is not obtained, the material to be cut is not softened, abnormal wear and chipping to occur, and the original performance cannot be exhibited. A ceramic end mill that performs excellently in the processing of superalloys. To maximize its performance, the machine must also have high performance.

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