Toolig Trends.docVIP

Tooling Trends August 1998/Volume 50/Number 5 By Melissa Kennedy, Contributing Editor Better, faster, harder, and more precise are the omnipresent demands of the metalcutting industry. The goal is to improve efficiency, reduce costs, boost productivity, and minimize cycle times. New materials, advanced coatings, and nontraditional cutting techniques are being developed to yield longer tool life. Cutting tool manufacturers are working with both their customers and with the developers of new, high-performance workpiece materials to develop new tools and the application information that will be needed to optimize machining productivity in the future. Using advanced computing tools like 3-D simulation and finite element analysis (FEA), manufacturers and researchers at university and federal government labs are predicting cutting tool performance and deploying the most suitable tool for an application. The same techniques also are used to measure the effectiveness of various coating processes with various tool materials. Total system design, simulation, and process control are leading the RD efforts for cutting tools. A comprehensive system design in cutting tool technology extends beyond the tool, workpiece material, and machining parameters to include a tool抯 inherent characteristics dependent on its substrate, coatings, and style. For instance, a coating applied to a given substrate may be expected to deliver predefined cutting characteristics when used with a workpiece material. However, once heat and force in a machining operation enter the equation, reactions between the workpiece material, substrate, and coating become unpredictable. Drivers of change in manufacturing, including requirements to reduce fuel consumption, optimize manufacturing processes, and protect the environment, have initiated major and continuing changes in workpiece materials and processes, says Friedrich Momper, technical director, Kennametal Hertel AG, Furth, These changes will require c