Study on microscale orthogonal cutting phenomenon

–Effects of sharpness of cutting edge on undeformed chip thickness in microscale orthogonal cutting–

Abstract

In this study, visualization devices for microscale orthogonal cutting were developed to observed chip flow in this cutting mode under an optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Experiments were carried out involving cutting aluminum alloy A5052 with sintered carbide and single-crystal diamond tools for OM and SEM observation, respectively. The sharpness of the cutting edge of sintered carbide tools was 7.8, 20, 35, or 45μm, and that of the single-crystal diamond tool was 0.4μm. The effects of cutting edge sharpness on undeformed chip thickness in microscale orthogonal cutting were examined to measure cutting force, chip thickness, roughness of finished surface, etc.