Ultra–Precision Turning of Electroless–Nickel: Effect of Phosphorus Contents, Depth–of–cut and Rake Angle

This paper reports the effects of phosphorus content of electroless-nickel (EN) plating, depth-of-cuts and rake angles on the performance of diamond cutting tool in terms of tool wear, surface roughness and surface appearance during ultra-precision machining of EN-plated die materials for very long cutting distance (200 km). Experimental results showed that machining EN with higher phosphorous content will lead to lower tool wear, lower surface roughness and better surface appearance. The effects of depth-of-cuts are not conclusive in all aspects except for the observation of higher cutting tool wear for lower depth-of-cut. Better machining performance was found for the cutting tools of 0° and −15° rake angles