Oxygen-shielded ultrasonic vibration cutting to suppress the chemical wear of diamond tools

Ultrasonic vibration has been applied to reduce intense chemical tool wear in ultra-precision diamond cutting of steel and other alloys since a few decades ago. But still, its tool wear suppression mechanisms have not been fully understood. In this paper, the effect of oxygen in suppression of diamond tool wear for ultrasonic vibration cutting is investigated. Experimental results show that the wearing rate is reduced by applying oxygen shielding to the cutting zone in comparison with air and argon. Scientific explanations are also provided for the observed phenomenon through low-pressure metal oxidation experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface analyses.