Investigation of machining quality indicators and effect of tool geometry parameters during the machining of difficult-to-machine metal

Producing high-quality surfaces from hard and brittle metals presents a formidable challenge that calls for a meticulous machining strategy and an effective cutting tool. The mechanism of tool failure, chip formation behavior, and micro-morphology of the machined surface are crucial factors in determining a correlation between the used parameters and the machined surface quality. Among the metrics employed to assess the effectiveness of the tool. However, the determination of optimum machining parameters requires the repetition of precise experimental investigations with every change in the cutting conditions. The current research work proposes a set of suggestions for choosing the optimal tool parameters based on the micro-morphological characteristics of the tool and the machining performance indicators. A WC-Co ball end mill tool was used for the machining of an H13 tool steel workpiece to establish the relationship between changes in tool geometrical parameters and the machining performance indicators. Tool geometry with a rake angle of 3°, a clearance angle of 10°, and a helix angle of 32° was found to have the least wear band length at 56 μm. Moreover, the impact of tool geometry on the quality of the surface produced through machining was also investigated.