Method of grooving superalloys and cutting insert therefor
AssigneeIscar, Ltd.
InventorsPatrick Deschenaux, Kurt Brenner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of grooving a work-piece of superalloy uses a grooving cutting insert at least partially covered with a Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) layer and having one or more interior ducts formed therein which open out to the insert's rake face at one or more corresponding openings. One or more coolant fluid streams, conveyed via these interior ducts at a pressure of no less than 200 bars, are directed upwardly and outwardly toward an interaction area between a cutting edge of the cutting insert and the work-piece, to thereby limit lengths of work-piece chips created during the grooving operation. The openings of the cutting insert's interior ducts may be located between 0.5-3.0 mm from the insert's cutting edge.
Claims13
A method of grooving a superalloy work-piece (24), the method comprising:
- grooving the work-piece (24) to form a groove using a cutting tool configured to hold a cutting insert having a front cutting edge (14) which defines a groove width and a side edge (19) formed on either side of the front cutting edge and extending rearwardly therefrom, with the front cutting edge and both side edges entering the groove during said grooving, the cutting insert (12) at least partially covered with a Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) layer (13);
- and
- directing one or more coolant fluid streams towards an underside of work-piece chips (28) formed during grooving, the one or more coolant fluid streams being directed via one or more respective interior ducts (18) formed in the cutting insert (12), the interior ducts (18) opening out to a rake face (16) of the cutting insert (12) in respective one or more openings (26), and being directed upwardly and outwardly toward an interaction area (22) between the front cutting edge (14) of the cutting insert (12) and the work-piece (24);
- wherein:
- the rake face (16) of the cutting insert is devoid of chip forming structures;
- the one or more coolant fluid streams are directed at a pressure of no less than 200 bars so as to limit lengths of work-piece chips (28) formed in the interaction area (22);
- and
- the work-piece chips (28) break and detach from the work-piece (24) due to the one or more coolant fluid streams impacting the underside of the work-piece chips (28) as the latter are formed during grooving operations.
A grooving cutting insert (12) for grooving superalloys, comprising:
- a cutting portion (21) connected to an elongated body portion (22), the cutting portion being wider than the body portion, in a top view of the cutting portion;
- a front cutting edge (14) defining a groove width and a side edge (19) formed on either side of the front cutting edge (14) and extending rearwardly therefrom, the front cutting edge and both side edges configured to enter a groove during a grooving operation;
- a layer (13) of Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) covering at least a portion of the cutting insert (12);
- and
- one or more interior ducts (18) formed inside the cutting insert (12), extending upwardly and outwardly from a general bottom portion of the cutting insert (12), and opening into a rake face (16) of the cutting insert (12), forming one or more respective openings (26) in the rake face (16);
- wherein:
- the rake surface is devoid of chip forming structures;
- and
- the distance of respective centers of the openings (26) from the front cutting edge (14) of the cutting insert (12) range between 0.5 and 3 millimeters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.