Accelerated Method of Cutting Tool Quality Estimation During Milling Process of Inconel 718 Alloy

Cutting tool wear is a natural consequence of the engagement of cutting tool and workpiece. This phenomenon can progress in a slower or quicker rate and can be attributed to various reasons, such as abrasion, adhesion, chemical reaction, thermal or mechanical phenomena, depending on machining conditions and material properties of cutting tool and workpiece. As the replacement of worn tools is directly related to the cost of machining processes, it is important to select favorable process parameters in order to avoid high wear rates, especially when machining hard-to-cut materials. The experimental determination of tool wear during machining of various materials is a costly and time-consuming process, as it requires carrying out experiments at several cutting speeds until a tool failure criterion is reached each time. In the present work, a novel method for conducting tool wear experiments at various cutting speeds at a single experiment is proposed and applied to a case of milling an Inconel 718 workpiece. Experiments were performed for three different cutting tools and for cutting speeds in the range of 90-170 m/min, at constant feed rate, axial and radial depth of cut values. The results indicate that the proposed methodology can successfully provide an indication of the performance of various cutting tool types during machining of hard-to-cut materials.