Performance of laser surface textured high speed steel cutting tool in machining of Al7075-T6 aerospace alloy

Texturing the rake face of the cutting tools has recently emerged as a promising and environment friendly method for reducing friction during machining. Laser surface texturing has been the most commonly used method for fabricating textures on the cutting tool. This paper reports the experimental study of fabricating an array of micro scale dimples on the rake face of high speed steel cutting tool using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The effect of the laser parameters like wavelength and fluence on the dimensions and form of individual dimples were studied. Analysis of results show that uniform circular shaped dimples with very little spatter can be obtained using low fluence levels at wavelength of 355 nm. An array of micro scale dimples were then fabricated on the cutting tool using the optimized parameter levels. A very low textured area density was used in order to understand the process of chip flow over the textures and study the effect of machining on individual dimples. This textured cutting tool was then used in orthogonal dry machining of Al7075-T6 aerospace alloy and compared with the performance of conventional tools. Use of textured cutting tools resulted in reduction of both cutting and thrust forces. The tool-chip contact length is also less in the case of textured tool. The results show that textured high speed steel tools can significantly improve the metal cutting process while dry machining ductile workpieces.