Cutting edge preparation of monolithic ceramic milling tools

Due to international competition, continuous increases in productivity, product quality and reduction of production costs are required. Especially, the development of milling tools made of innovative cutting materials and application-specific tool geometries for the machining of brittle materials are in focus to overcome these challenges. One approach to improve the performance and the tool behaviour concerning milling of graphite is the use of monolithic ceramic milling tools. Unfortunately, the high brittleness of the ceramic leads to breakouts on the cutting edge during the grinding process. This results in an increased maximum chipping of the cutting edge, which has a significant influence on the milling process. To improve the breakout behaviour, a cutting edge preparation with the immersed tumbling process was applied. To enable a process reliable cutting edge preparation, a suitable lapping medium, the influence of the processing time as well as the depth of imme rsion were investigated. Besides the maximum chipping of the cutting edge, the rounded cutting edge radius was also analysed. The results show that a process reliable cutting edge preparation of monolithic ceramic milling tools with a maximum chipping of the cutting edge RS,max ⤠3 µm and a rounded cutting edge radius of rβ ⤠7 µm could be realised. In future investigations, the experimental applicability of monolithic ceramic milling tools will be proved.