Analyzing the performance of diamond-coated micro end mills

A method is presented to improve the tool life and cutting performance of 300 μm diameter tungsten carbide (WC) micro end mills by applying thin (<300 nm) fine-grained diamond (FGD) and nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) coatings using the hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HF-CVD) process. The performance of the diamond-coated tools has been evaluated by comparing their performance in dry slot milling of 6061-T6 aluminum against uncoated WC micro end mills. Tool wear, coating integrity, and chip morphology were characterized using SEM and white light interferometry. The initial test results show a dramatic improvement in the tool integrity (i.e., corners not breaking off), a lower wear rate, no observable adhesion of aluminum to the diamond-coated tool, and a significant reduction in the cutting forces (>50%). Reduction of the cutting forces is attributed to the low friction and adhesion of the diamond coating. However, approximately 80% of the tools coated with the larger FGD coatings failed during testing due to delamination. Additional machining benefits were attained for the NCD films, which was obtained by using a higher nucleation density seeding process for diamond growth. This process allowed for thinner, smaller grained diamond coatings to be deposited on the micro end mills, and enabled continued operation of the tool even after the integrity of the diamond coating had been compromised. As opposed to the FGD-coated end mills, only 40% of the NCD-tools experienced delamination issues.