Effect of cutting edge radius in ductile mode cutting of brittle materials

Abstract

In practical application, for high production rate, the undeformed chip thickness is expected to be as large as possible. For ductile mode cutting of brittle materials the undeformed chip thickness has to be smaller than the cutting edge radius. Therefore the cutting edge radius is expected to be as large as possible. In this study, the upper bound of cutting edge radius in the nanoscale ductile mode cutting of silicon wafer is determined through an experimental approach. The effect of cutting edge radius on the subsurface region is also investigated. The tool cutting edge radii used for this purpose are 23, 202, 490, 623, 717 and 807 nm. The results show that the tool cutting edge radius is smaller than 807 nm for ductile mode cutting of silicon wafer.