Assessment of Tool Wear and Surface Integrity in Ductile Cutting Using a Developed Tool

Machined parts of aluminum alloys are used in a wide range of engineering applications, such as automobile parts. Many types of tool wear may occur during machining of these alloys, which reduces tool life. Therefore, it is beneficial to undertake comprehensive studies to improve tool life (reduce tool wear) in machining aluminum alloys. In the present study, the micro-textured cutting tool's performance is compared to the non-textured tool with chip breaker (and without chip breaker) when used cutting fluid under different cooling-lubrication methods. A literature review denoted that no experimental work is available for a comparison study between texture and chip breaker performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were utilized to analyze the workpiece's surface. Although many scholars have stated that the chip breaker has a good effect on cutting performance, this research showed that the chip breaker has no positive effect on reducing tool wear in aluminum machining. Nonetheless, the SEM images denote a maximum of 30% and 36% improvement in surface quality and tool life, respectively, a considerable decrease in adhesion, abrasion, and breakage wear, and a drastic reduction in the density of defective regions in the workpiece surface when the optimum micro-textured tool was used.