Cemented carbide

Cemented carbide is a hard material used extensively in cutting tools for machining, as well
as other industrial applications. It consists of fine particles of carbide cemented into a
composite by a binder metal. Cemented carbides commonly use tungsten carbide (WC),
titanium carbide (TiC), or tantalum carbide (TaC) as the aggregate. Mentions of "carbide" or
"tungsten carbide" in industrial contexts usually refer to these cemented composites.
Most of the time, carbide cutters will leave a better surface finish on the part, and allow faster
machining, than high-speed steel or other tool steels. Carbide tools can withstand higher
temperatures at the cutter-workpiece interface than standard high-speed steel tools (which is a
principal reason for the faster machining). Carbide is usually superior for the cutting of tough
materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel, as well as in situations where other cutting t
A tipped tool generally refers to any cutting tool where the cutting edge consists of a separate
piece of material, either brazed, welded or clamped on to a separate body. Common materials
for tips include tungsten carbide, polycrystalline diamond, and cubic boron nitride.[1] Tools
that are commonly tipped include: milling cutters (endmills, fly cutters), tool bits, and saw
blades. ools would wear away faster, such as high-quantity production runs.
The advantage of tipped tools is only a small insert of the cutting material is needed to
provide the cutting ability. The small size makes manufacturing of the insert easier than
making a solid tool of the same material. This also reduces cost because the tool holder can
be made of a less-expensive and tougher material. In some situations a tipped tool is better
than its solid counterpart because it combines the toughness of the tool holder with the
hardness of the insert.[1]
In other situations this is less than optimal, because the joint between the tool holder and the
insert reduces rigidity.[1] However, these tools may still be used because the overall cost
savings is still greater.

Inserts for metal cutting[edit]

Carbide is more expensive per unit than other typical tool materials, and it is
more brittle, making it susceptible to chipping and breaking. To offset these
problems, the carbide cutting tip itself is often in the form of a small insert for a
larger tipped tool whose shank is made of another material, usually carbon tool
steel. This gives the benefit of using carbide at the cutting interface without the
high cost and brittleness of making the entire tool out of carbide. Most modern
face mills use carbide inserts, as well as many lathe tools and endmills. In recent
decades, though, solid-carbide endmills have also become more commonly used,
wherever the application's characteristics make the pros (such as shorter cycle
times) outweigh the cons (mentioned above).
Insert coatings[edit]

To increase the life of carbide tools, they are sometimes coated. Four such
coatings are TiN (titanium nitride), TiC (titanium carbide), Ti(C)N (titanium
carbide-nitride), and TiAlN (titanium aluminum nitride). (Newer coatings, known
as DLC (Diamond-like carbon) are beginning to surface, enabling the cutting
power of diamond without the unwanted chemical reaction between real
diamond and iron.) Most coatings generally increase a tool's hardness and/or
lubricity. A coating allows the cutting edge of a tool to cleanly pass through the
material without having the material gall (stick) to it. The coating also helps to
decrease the temperature associated with the cutting process and increase the
life of the tool. The coating is usually deposited via thermal CVD and, for certain
applications, with the mechanical PVD method. However, if the deposition is
performed at too high temperature, an eta phase of a Co6W6C tertiary carbide
forms at the interface between the carbide and the cobalt phase, which may lead
to adhesion failure of the coating

Powder Metallurgy
Powder metallurgy (PM) is a term covering a wide range of ways in which
materials or components are made from metal powders. PM processes can avoid,
or greatly reduce, the need to use metal removal processes, thereby drastically
reducing yield losses in manufacture and often resulting in lower costs
Powder metallurgy is also used to make unique materials impossible to melt or
form in other ways. A very important product of this type is tungsten carbide
(WC). WC is used to cut and form other metals and is made from WC particles
bonded with cobalt. It is very widely used in industry for tools of many types and
globally ~50,000t/yr is made by PM. Other products include sintered filters,
porous oil-impregnated bearings, electrical contacts and diamond tools.
Powder Compaction
Any fusible material can be atomized. Several techniques have been developed
which permit large production rates of powdered particles, often with
considerable control over the size ranges of the final grain population. Powders
may be prepared by crushing, grinding, chemical reactions, or electrolytic
deposition.
Powder compaction is the process of compacting metal powder in a die through
the application of high pressures. Typically the tools are held in the vertical
orientation with the punch tool forming the bottom of the cavity. The powder is
then compacted into a shape and then ejected from the die cavity. In a number
of these applications the parts may require very little additional work for their
intended use; making for very cost efficient manufacturing.
Die Pressing
The dominant technology for the forming of products from powder materials, in
terms of both tonnage quantities and numbers of parts produced, is die Pressing.

There are mechanical, servo-electrical and hydraulic presses available in the

market, whereby the biggest powder throughput is processed by hydraulic
presses. This forming technology involves a production cycle comprising:
1. Filling a die cavity with a known volume of the powder feedstock, delivered
from a fill shoe
2. Compaction of the powder within the die with punches to form the
compact. Generally, compaction pressure is applied through punches from
both ends of the toolset in order to reduce the level of density gradient
within the compact.
3. Ejection of the compact from the die, using the lower punch(es)
respectively withdrawal of the die
4. Removal of the compact from the upper face of the die using the fill shoe
in the fill stage of the next cycle or an automation system/robot.
This cycle offers a readily automated and high production rate process.
Sintering
Sintering is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by
heat and/or pressure without melting it to the point of liquefaction.
Sintering happens naturally in mineral deposits or as a manufacturing process
used with metals, ceramics, plastics, and other materials. The atoms in the
materials diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles
together and creating one solid piece. Because the sintering temperature does
not have to reach the melting point of the material, sintering is often chosen as
the shaping process for materials with extremely high melting points such as
tungsten and molybdenum. The study of sintering in metallurgy powder-related
processes is known as powder metallurgy. An example of sintering can be
observed when ice cubes in a glass of water adhere to each other, which is
driven by the temperature difference between the water and the ice. Examples
of pressure-driven sintering are the compacting of snowfall to a glacier, or the
forming of a hard snowball by pressing loose snow together.
Advantages[edit]
Particular advantages of the powder technology include:
1. Very high levels of purity and uniformity in starting materials
2. Preservation of purity, due to the simpler subsequent fabrication process
(fewer steps) that it makes possible
3. Stabilization of the details of repetitive operations, by control of grain size
during the input stages
4. Absence of binding contact between segregated powder particles or
"inclusions" (called stringering) as often occurs in melting processes

5. No deformation needed to produce directional elongation of grains

6. Capability to produce materials of controlled, uniform porosity.
7. Capability to produce nearly net-shaped objects.
8. Capability to produce materials which cannot be produced by any other
technology.
9. Capability to fabricate high-strength material like turbine blades.
10.After sintering the mechanical strength to handling becomes higher
Grinding
Grinding practice is a large and diverse area of manufacturing and toolmaking. It
can produce very fine finishes and very accurate dimensions; yet in mass
production contexts it can also rough out large volumes of metal quite rapidly. It
is usually better suited to the machining of very hard materials than is "regular"
machining (that is, cutting larger chips with cutting tools such as tool bits or
milling cutters), and until recent decades it was the only practical way to
machine such materials as hardened steels. Compared to "regular" machining, it
is usually better suited to taking very shallow cuts, such as reducing a shafts
diameter by half a thousandth of an inch or 12.7 m.
Grinding is a subset of cutting, as grinding is a true metal-cutting process. Each
grain of abrasive functions as a microscopic single-point cutting edge (although
of high negative rake angle), and shears a tiny chip that is analogous to what
would conventionally be called a "cut" chip (turning, milling, drilling, tapping,
etc.). However, among people who work in the machining fields, the term cutting
is often understood to refer to the macroscopic cutting operations, and grinding
is often mentally categorized as a "separate" process. This is why the terms are
usually used in separately in shop-floor practice.

Grinding wheel
A grinding wheel is an expendable wheel used for various grinding and abrasive
machining operations. It is generally made from a matrix of coarse abrasive
particles pressed and bonded together to form a solid, circular shape, various
profiles and cross sections are available depending on the intended usage for the
wheel. Grinding wheels may also be made from a solid steel or aluminium disc
with particles bonded to the surface.
Lubrication
The use of fluids in a grinding process is necessary to cool and lubricate the
wheel and workpiece as well as remove the chips produced in the grinding
process. The most common grinding fluids are water-soluble chemical fluids,
water-soluble oils, synthetic oils, and petroleum-based oils. It is imperative that

the fluid be applied directly to the cutting area to prevent the fluid being blown
away from the piece due to rapid rotation of the wheel.
Work
Material

Cutting Fluid

Applicat
ion

Aluminum Light-duty oil

Flood

Brass

Light-duty oil

Flood

Cast Iron

Heavy-duty emulsifiable oil, light-duty chemical oil,

synthetic oil

Flood

Mild Steel

Heavy-duty water-soluble oil

Flood

Stainless
Steel

Heavy-duty emulsifiable oil, heavy-duty chemical oil,

synthetic oil

Flood

Plastics

Water-soluble oil, dry, heavy-duty emulsifiable oil, dry,

light-duty chemical oil, synthetic oil

Flood

Lapping(top & bottom)

Lapping is a machining process, in which two surfaces are rubbed together with
an abrasive between them, by hand movement or using a machine.
lapping (traditionally called grinding), involves rubbing a brittle material such as
glass against a surface such as iron or glass itself (also known as the "lap" or
grinding tool) with an abrasive such as aluminum oxide, jeweller's rouge,
optician's rouge, emery, silicon carbide, diamond, etc., between them. This
produces microscopic conchoidal fractures as the abrasive rolls about between
the two surfaces and removes material from both.
Ultrasonic cleaning
An ultrasonic cleaning is a process that uses ultrasound (usually from 20400
kHz) and an appropriate cleaning solvent (sometimes ordinary tap water) to
clean items. The ultrasound can be used with just water, but use of a solvent
appropriate for the item to be cleaned along with the soiling enhances the effect.
Cleaning normally lasts between three and six minutes, but can also exceed 20
minutes, depending on the object to be cleaned. [1]
Ultrasonic cleaners are used to clean many different types of objects, including
jewellery, lenses and other optical parts, watches, dental and surgical
instruments, tools, coins, fountain pens, golf clubs, fishing reels, window blinds,
firearms, musical instruments, industrial parts and electronic equipment. They
are used in many jewellery workshops, watchmakers' establishments, and
electronic repair workshops

Ultrasonic cleaning uses cavitation bubbles induced by high frequency pressure

(sound) waves to agitate a liquid. The agitation produces high forces on
contaminants adhering to substrates like metals, plastics, glass, rubber, and
ceramics. This action also penetrates blind holes, cracks, and recesses. The
intention is to thoroughly remove all traces of contamination tightly adhering or
embedded onto solid surfaces. Water or solvents can be used, depending on the
type of contamination and the workpiece. Contaminants can include dust, dirt,
oil, pigments, rust, grease, algae, fungus, bacteria, lime scale, polishing
compounds, flux agents, fingerprints, soot wax and mold release agents,
biological soil like blood, and so on. Ultrasonic cleaning can be used for a wide
range of workpiece shapes, sizes and materials, and may not require the part to
be disassembled prior to cleaning.[4] Objects must not be allowed to rest on the
bottom of the device during the cleaning process, because that will prevent
cavitation from taking place on the part of the object not in contact with solvent
Cleaning solution
Ultrasonic activity (cavitation) helps the solution to do its job; plain water would
not normally be effective. The cleaning solution contains ingredients designed to
make ultrasonic cleaning more effective. For example, reduction of surface
tension increases cavitation levels, so the solution contains a good wetting agent
(surfactant). Aqueous cleaning solutions contain detergents, wetting agents and
other components, and have a large influence on the cleaning process. Correct
composition of the solution is very dependent upon the item cleaned. Solutions
are mostly used warm, at about 5065 C (122149 F), however, in medical
applications it is generally accepted that cleaning should be at temperatures
below 45 C (113 F) to prevent protein coagulation.
Water-based solutions are more limited in their ability to remove contaminants
by chemical action alone than solvent solutions; e.g. for delicate parts covered
with thick grease. The effort required to design an effective aqueous-cleaning
system for a particular purpose is much greater than for a solvent system.
Some machines (which are not unduly large) are integrated with vapour
degreasing machines using hydrocarbon cleaning fluids: Three tanks are used in
a cascade. The lower tank containing dirty fluid is heated causing the fluid to
evaporate. At the top of the machine there is a refrigeration coil. Fluid condenses
on the coil and falls into the upper tank. The upper tank eventually overflows and
clean fluid runs into the work tank where the cleaning takes place. Purchase
price is higher than simpler machines, but such machines are economical in the
long run. The same fluid can be reused many times, minimising wastage and
pollution.
Aluminium Oxide
Aluminium oxide is used for its hardness and strength. It is widely used as an
abrasive, including as a much less expensive substitute for industrial diamond.
Many types of sandpaper use aluminium oxide crystals. In addition, its low heat
retention and low specific heat make it widely used in grinding operations,

particularly cutoff tools. As the powdery abrasive mineral aloxite, it is a major

component, along with silica, of the cue tip "chalk" used in billiards. Aluminium
oxide powder is used in some CD/DVD polishing and scratch-repair kits. Its
polishing qualities are also behind its use in toothpaste. Aluminium oxide can be
grown as a coating on aluminium by anodising or by plasma electrolytic oxidation
(see the "Properties" above). Both its hardness (9 on the Mohs scale of mineral
hardness) and abrasive characteristics originate from the high strength of
aluminium oxide.