Design and fabrication of an aluminium oxide cutting insert with an internal cooling channel

Abstract

This paper presents the design and fabrication of an aluminium oxide cutting insert with an internal cooling channel formed through an additive manufacturing method. The formed insert is subjected to a controlled densification process and analysed through a series of characterisation investigations. The purpose of the study is to develop the design concept and analyse the forming and sintering parameters used in the lithographic ceramic manufacturing process. The results validated the feasibility of the geometrical design, providing the required structural conformity with the integrated internal feature using conditional specifications. It is confirmed that the forming parameters would affect the material properties of the green body. Furthermore, the results indicate that the heating rate and temperature variance of the de-binding and thermal treatment regime influences the microstructural growth kinetics and the quality of the densified insert. Using a novel application of liquid gallium as an internal coolant, experimental results showed a decrease in tool wear difference of 36% at $V_{{\text{c}}}$ = 250 m/min, and 31% in tool wear difference at $V_{{\text{c}}}$ = 900 m/min between cooling and non-cooling conditions. When external cooling was applied, the results showed at $V_{{\text{c}}}$ = 250 m/min, the difference between the tool wear rates with the internal coolant relative to the external coolant was 29%. Increasing to $V_{{\text{c}}}$ = 900 m/min, the results revealed a 16% tool wear difference. The results clearly indicate the potential of liquid gallium as a heat transfer agent in internal cooling applications for cutting inserts, and by extension demonstrable reduction in tool wear.

Keywords

Additive manufacturing (AM) / Aluminium oxide / Cutting insert design / Internal cooling

References

[1] Schwentenwein M, Homa J. Additive manufacturing of dense alumina ceramics. Int J Appl Ceram Technol, 2015, 12(1): 1-7.

[2] Nakazawa K, Ozawa S, Iwata F. Additive manufacturing of metal micro-ring and tube by laser-assisted electrophoretic deposition with laguerre-gaussian beam. Nanomanuf Metrol, 2021, 4(4): 271-277.

[3] Michihata M, Yokei M, Kadoya S, et al. Micro-scale additive manufacturing using the optical potential generated by a Bessel beam. Nanomanuf Metrol, 2020, 3(4): 292-298.

[4] Fang FZ. The three paradigms of manufacturing advancement. J Manuf Syst, 2022, 63: 504-505.

[5] Hinton J, Basu D, Mirgkizoudi M, et al. Hybrid additive manufacturing of precision engineered ceramic components. Rapid Prototype J, 2019, 25(6): 1061-1068.

[6] Yin Z, Huang C, Yuan J, et al. Cutting performance and life prediction of an Al₂O₃/TiC micro-nano-composite ceramic tool when machining austenitic stainless steel. Ceram Int, 2015, 41(5): 7059-7065.

[7] Touggui Y, Belhadi S, Uysal A, et al. A comparative study on performance of cermet and coated carbide inserts in straight turning AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel. Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 2021, 112(1/2): 241-260.

[8] Elkaseer A, Abdelaziz A, Saber M, et al. FEM-based study of precision hard turning of stainless steel 316L. Materials, 2019, 12(16): 2522.

[9] Boothroyd G, Knight WA. Fundamentals of machining and machine tools, 1989, London: Taylor & Francis CRC Press

[10] Riley F. Structural ceramics, fundamentals and case studies, 2009, Cambridge: Cambridge press

[11] Zhuang K, Zhang X, Zhu D, et al. Employing preheating- and cooling-assisted technologies in machining of Inconel 718 with ceramic cutting tools: towards reducing tool wear and improving surface integrity. Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 2015, 80(9/12): 1815-1822.

[12] O’Hara J, Fang F. Advances in micro cutting tool design and fabrication. Int J Extrem Manuf, 2019, 1: 032003.

[13] Cheng K, Niu ZC, Wang RC, et al. Smart cutting tools and smart machining: development approaches, and their implementation and application perspectives. Chin J Mech Eng, 2017, 30(5): 1162-1176.

[14] Fang Z, Obikawa T. Influence of cutting fluid flow on tool wear in high-pressure coolant turning using a novel internally cooled insert. J Manuf Process, 2020, 56: 1114-1125.

[15] Liao Z, Xu D, Axinte D, et al. Novel cutting inserts with multi-channel irrigation at the chip-tool interface: modelling, design and experiments. CIRP Ann, 2020, 69(1): 65-68.

[16] Uhlmann E, Fürstmann P, Roeder M et al (2012) Tool wear behaviour of internally cooled tools at different cooling liquid temperatures. In: The 10th global conference on sustainable manufacturing, Istanbul

[17] Wu T, Li T, Ding X, et al. Design of a modular green closed internal cooling turning tool for applications. Int J Precis Eng Manuf Green Technol, 2018, 5(2): 211-217.

[18] Yao B, Sun W, Chen B, et al. An independent internal cooling system for promoting heat dissipation during dry cutting with numerical and experimental verification. Appl Sci, 2017, 7(4): 332.

[19] Li T, Wu T, Ding X, et al. Experimental study on the performance of an internal cooled turning tool with topological channel. Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 2018, 98(1/4): 479-485.

[20] Shu S, Zhang Y, He Y, et al. Design of a novel turning tool cooled by combining circulating internal cooling with spray cooling for green cutting. J Adv Mech Des Syst, 2021, 15(1): JAMDSM0003.

[21] Chen M, Peng R, Zhao L, et al. Effects of minimum quantity lubrication strategy with internal cooling tool on machining performance in turning of nickel-based superalloy GH4169. Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 2022, 118(11/12): 3673-3689.

[22] Singh R, Sharma V. Numerical modelling of residual stresses during orthogonal cutting of Ti6Al4V using internally cooled cutting inserts. J Manuf Process, 2021, 65: 502-511.

[23] Shu S, Ding H, Chen S, et al. Fem-based design and analysis of a smart cutting tool with internal cooling for cutting temperature measurement and control. Appl Mech Mater, 2012, 217(219): 1874-1879.

[24] Isik Y. Using internally cooled cutting tools in the machining of difficult-to-cut materials based on Waspaloy. Adv Mech Eng, 2016, 8(5): 1-8.

[25] Öztürk E, Yıldızlı K, Sağlam F. Investigation on an innovative internally cooled smart cutting tool with the built-in cooling-control system. Arab J Sci Eng, 2021, 46(3): 2397-2411.

[26] Li T, Wu T, Ding X, et al. Design of an internally cooled turning tool based on topology optimization and CFD simulation. Int J Adv Manuf Tech, 2017, 91(1/4): 1327-1337.

[27] Ingraci Neto RR, Scalon VL, Fiocchi AA, et al. Indirect cooling of the cutting tool with a pumped two-phase system in turning of AISI 1045 steel. Int J Adv Manuf Tech, 2016, 87(9/12): 2485-2495.

[28] Uhlmann E, Meier P. Numerical investigation on the process behavior of a closed-loop internal cooling system for turning operations. Procedia CIRP, 2021, 102: 73-78.

[29] Shu SR, Ding H, Chen SJ, et al. Thermal design and analysis of an internally cooled smart cutting tool and its implementation perspectives. Mater Sci Forum, 2014, 770: 120-125.

[30] Alumina datasheet. https://lithoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/20210318_Lithoz_Materialfolder_EN_2021_WEB1.pdf

[31] Zawada-Michalowska M, Pieśko P, Józwik J. Tribological aspects of cutting tool wear during the turning of stainless steels. Materials, 2020, 13(1): 123.

[32] Fang F, Xu F. Recent advances in micro/nano-cutting: effect of tool edge and material properties. Nanomanuf Metrol, 2018, 1(1): 4-31.

[33] Sugihara T, Enomoto T. Performance of cutting tools with dimple textured surfaces: a comparative study of different texture patterns. Precis Eng, 2017, 49: 52-60.

[34] Al-Omari SAB. A numerical study on the use of liquid metals (gallium and mercury) as agents to enhance heat transfer from hot water in a co-flow mini-channel system. Heat Mass Transf, 2012, 48(10): 1735-1744.

[35] Cosoroaba E, Caicedo C, Maharjan L, et al. 3D multiphysics simulation and analysis of a low temperature liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic power generator prototype. Sustain Energy Technol, 2019, 35: 180-188.

[36] de Blas RA, Pfaffinger M, Mitteramskogler G, et al. Lithography-based additive manufacture of ceramic biodevices with design-controlled surface topographies. Int J Adv Manuf Tech, 2017, 88(5/8): 1547-1555.

[37] TPP201.190 | LithaLox HP 500 EN | V 1. https://lithoz.com/en/materials/lithalox-hp500/

[38] Thompson A, Maskery I, Leach RK. X-ray computed tomography for additive manufacturing: a review. Meas Sci Technol, 2016, 27: 072001.

[39] George Furukawa T, Thomas Douglas B, Robert McCoskey E, et al. Thermal properties of aluminum oxide from 0 to 1200 K. J Res Natl Bur Stand, 1956.

[40] Ożóg P, Blugan G, Kata D, et al. Influence of the printing parameters on the quality of alumina ceramics shaped by UV-LCM technology. J Ceram Sci Technol, 2019, 10(2): 1-10.

[41] Shuai X, Zeng Y, Li P, et al. Fabrication of fine and complex lattice structure Al₂O₃ ceramic by digital light processing 3D printing technology. J Mater Sci, 2020, 55(16): 6771-6782.

[42] Hofer AK, Kraleva I, Bermejo R. Additive manufacturing of highly textured alumina ceramics. Open Ceram, 2021, 5: 100085.

[43] Rahaman MN. Sintering of ceramics, 2008, Florida: CRC Press

[44] Chen Y, Peng X, Kong L, et al. Defect inspection technologies for additive manufacturing. Int J Extrem Manuf, 2021, 3: 022002.

[45] Rafferty A, Woods T, Conway A, et al. An investigation of open, interconnected porosity in 3D-printed alumina. Ceram Mod Technol, 2019, 1(2): 145-151.

[46] Altun AA, Prochaska T, Konegger T, et al. Dense, strong, and precise silicon nitride-based ceramic parts by lithography-based ceramic manufacturing. Appl Sci, 2020, 10(3): 996.

[47] Sobhani S, Allan S, Muhunthan P, et al. Additive manufacturing of tailored macroporous ceramic structures for high-temperature applications. Adv Eng Mater, 2020, 22(8): 2000158.

Funding

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)(15/RP/B3208)

University College Dublin