Polycrystalline Diamond Turning of Rock

Abstract

Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) cutters, as the most commonly used inserts for rock cutting/drilling processes, are drawing increased attentions in manufacturing and petroleum engineering driven by the necessity to elevate cutter and process performance. The knowledge of the force response of single PDC cutters under various cutting conditions is an essential prerequisite for achieving this goal. In this paper, an analytical model is derived by extending Nishimatsu’s two-dimensional orthogonal cutting theory for rock cutting to the three-dimensional quasi-orthogonal case. A rock turning testbed that uses single PDC cutters is developed on a CNC turning center for measuring both thermal and mechanical responses at the rock-cutter interface in real-time. The developed testbed is used to perform the experimental validation of a newly proposed force prediction model.