Study of airborne dust emission and process performance during dry machining of aluminum-silicon alloy with PCD and CVD diamond coated tools

The generation of a fine mist of cutting fluid during conventional wet machining and associated environmental and operator health concerns make environmentally benign machining and manufacturing a major research thrust in the US, Europe, Japan and other parts of the world. Within this context, high speed machining in combination with environmentally benign methods make diamond coated tooling a unique candidate for dry machining. Diamond coating research in the past few decades has resulted in new products and diamond-coated carbide tooling is one of them. Diamond in PCD, CVD thin film (polished and unpolished) and thick-film forms offer unique advantages for dry machining. This paper discusses the correlation between diamond tool morphology, machining parameters, nonferrous workpiece properties and particulate emission in dry machining. These findings provide an important benchmark to gauge the "true" benefit of diamond tools for dry machining.