COMPOSITES MACHINING
New Solutions for Machining Advanced Composites A new generation of cutting tools from Iscar Metals Inc. (Ar- lington, TX) is tailored specifi cally for machining all types of ad- vanced composites. The new breed of carbon fi ber-reinforced plastics/laminates are lighter and stronger than ever and elevate performance levels in applications ranging from downhill skis and tennis rackets to military aircraft and automobiles. Although composites technology is helping automakers reach their light- weighting goals faster, as a workpiece material composites have raised fabrication challenges, especially machining. Iscar offers a wide selection of PCD drilling and milling cutters for a wide range of composite-specifi c industry ap- plications. “There are drills suited for thicker materials with aluminum on the bottom, as well as for thinner materials with the CFRP on the bottom,” said Pat Cline, national product manager-drilling. “There are combination drill-coun- tersinks and drill-reamers, slotting cutters and combination mill/drill cutters. The bottom line is that possibly for the fi rst time since reinforced composites came on the scene, you
Exopro Aero-D-Ream diamond-coated drill/reamer achieves extended tool life for machining materials like carbon fi ber, glass fi ber, CFRP/Nomex honeycomb, GFRP/Nomex honey- comb, CFRP/Al honeycomb, Al/Al honeycomb, and carbon/ carbon combinations.
can fi nd a no-compromise tool for any conceivable com- posite machining task,” said Cline. According to Iscar, the current cutting tool material of choice for composites is a solid-carbide shank with thin PCD coatings, brazed-in PCD inserts or PCD veins at the cutting edge. The solid carbide shank provides the rigidity and dimensional accu- racy necessary to maintain close tolerances on size and location as well as smooth surfaces. Solid carbide also makes it possible to start with an optimal cutting geometry that minimizes cutting forces, heat, uncut fi bers, cups, fuzz and burrs while control- ling chips. The thin PCD coating (or insert) provides the wear resistance at the cutting edge to maintain that optimal geom- etry over long service intervals. Thin PCD coatings deliver the wear resistance of diamond while preserving the ideal cutting geometry machined into the carbide shank. By contrast, CVD (chemical vapor deposition) inevitably creates a thicker diamond layer that may detract from optimal geometry. One recent innovation for composites and stack drilling is Is-
car’s new head for the Multi-Master line, which provides the abil- ity to mount a variety of changeable heads on one shank quickly and easily. “The novel new head comprises PCD cutting edges and composite-optimized geometries for performing roughing, semi-fi nishing, and fi nishing operations in sequence. This geom-
78
AdvancedManufacturing.org | February 2017
Photo courtesy OSG USA Inc.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
