Fabrication and Cutting Performance of CVD Diamond Coated Inserts with Different Coating Thickness in Dry Turning Aluminum Alloy

CVD diamond coated inserts with different coating thickness are fabricated using hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy are introduced to characterize the diamond films. The cutting performance of as-fabricated CVD diamond coated inserts is evaluated in dry turning aluminum alloy. The uncoated WC-Co tool is also adopted in the cutting tests for the sake of comparability. The testing results show that diamond coated tools exhibit much better cutting performance. Coating thickness affects the characteristics of diamond coated cutting tools, the thicker of coating, the more adhesive chips, but the better delamination resistant. The uncoated WC-Co tool suffers adhesive wear for the built-up edge (BUE) breaking.