Investigation on micro-milling of cemented carbide with ball nose and corner radius diamond-coated end mills

Micro-milling of cemented carbides is a challenging task due to their high hardness, low toughness and high wear resistance. Ensuring good surface quality and dimensional accuracy is crucial for extending parts service life, which in turn enhances economical and environmental sustainability. This paper is mainly focused on evaluating surface formation mechanisms, scale effects, fracture behaviour and chip formation using distinct cemented carbide micro-milling tools with multi-layer diamond HF-CVD. In order to achieve higher precision and more efficient micro-milling operations on WC-15Co and WC-10Co, a systematic experimental approach has been carried out. The influence of cutting parameters, achievable surface quality and defects occurrence were thoroughly examined. Experimental results evidence the influence of operational conditions on the chip formation of cemented carbides as well as an important impact of the utilized cutting tool. Micro-pits, cracks, thin ploughing layer and fractured workpiece edges are amongst the observed surface damage mechanisms. A ductile cutting regime of the high-hardness composite material is confirmed, exhibited by the plastic deformation even when small depths of cut are considered.