Ceramic Machining Evaluation
Abstract
The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's (RDECOM) Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center's (AMRDEC) Manufacturing Science and Technology Division (MS&T) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is engaged in a Ceramic Manufacturing Technology Program (CMTP). The objective of this effort is to assess current and newly developed ceramic machining technologies and to perform initial evaluation of various machining parameters and tooling. The light weight of ceramic materials and their outstanding resistance to wear and high temperatures make them increasingly preferred for industrial applications. However, machining ceramics is very costly and time consuming. Grinding, with its high cost and low volume material removal rate (MRR), is still the most common method used to finish machine sintered (fired) ceramic components. New machining methods must be evaluated to produce ceramic components in a more timely, cost-effective manner. The accompanying table of NCDMM test results shows that machining ceramic material in the presintered "bisque" state using Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) tools produced a higher MRR (up to 250 or 1000 times greater if compared to grinding, depending on endmill size used) than machining sintered ceramics using other methods. Therefore, to minimize the time and cost associated with finish machining after sintering, ceramic materials should be machined in the bisque state with PCD tooling whenever possible.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 24, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA481793
Entities
Organizations
- National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining