Statistical analysis of cutting forces in the milling of titanium alloys with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tools

Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) is one of the popular materials in industry because of its superior mechanical properties. With the hardness of up to 8000HV and the thermal conductivity of 360 W/mk, PCD can be used to machine hard-to-machine materials. This paper introduces the statistical analysis of cutting forces in the milling of Titanium alloys with small PCD tools. Nine customized PCD tools with different tool geometries were fabricated by changing the front angle, clearance angle and cutting edge angle. Cutting experiments were carried out and cutting forces were recorded with a DAQ system. Through statistical analysis it was found that clearance angle affected cutting forces more significantly than the other parameters