FEM analysis in high speed machining of aluminium alloy (Al7075-0) using polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and cemented carbide (K10) cutting tools

The purpose of this paper is to study the thermal and mechanical behaviour in machining of aluminium alloys (Al 7075-0) using PCD (polycrystalline diamond) and K10 (cemented carbide) tools and to make a comparison between the performances of both tools. The study was made using a commercial finite element software. This software has a user friendly interface and can output several results including cutting forces, temperature, pressure, von Mises stress, maximum shear stress, plastic strain, and plastic strain rate which were the objectives of this study. By analysing the simulations, it was concluded that the polycrystalline tool has a superior performance in terms of cutting and feed forces and temperature when compared to the cemented carbide tool.