EFFECT OF DIAMOND TOOL SHARPNESS ON MINIMUM CUTTING THICKNESS AND CUTTING SURFACE INTEGRITY IN ULTRAPRECISION MACHINING

The diamond tool sharpness is a primary factor affecting the cutting d eformation and the machined surface quality in diamond cutting process . In this paper, the relationship between the cutting edge radius and the minimum cutting thickness was analyzed. Cutting tests of aluminium alloys with two diamond tools of different sharpness were performed i n order to investigate the effect of cutting edge sharpness on the mac hined surface integrity. Experimental results show that the surface ro ughness, microhardness, residual stress and the dislocation density of the machined surface layer vary with the cutting edge radius.