Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589

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Diamond & Related Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/diamond

Fabrication and performance of CVD diamond cutting tool in micro milling T

of oxygen-free copper
⁎,1
Guolong Zhao , Ziyi Li1, Maoshun Hu, Liang Li, Ning He, Muhammad Jamil
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Helicopter Transmission, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, PR China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond is a promising material to fabricate micro-cutting tools owing to its
CVD diamond ultra-high hardness, Young's modulus, and isotropic characteristics. In this research work, a novel compound
Micro-milling process of laser-induced graphitization coupled with precision grinding, was proposed to fabricate CVD diamond
Diamond-graphite transition micro-milling tool. The diamond-graphite transition behavior and mechanisms were specifically investigated.
Performance
The microstructure of the graphite layer and the graphite-diamond boundary layer were observed with a
scanning electron microscope (SEM) and three-dimensional confocal microscopy. Under laser irradiation, a loose
graphite layer and heat-affected layer (defined as boundary layer) were formed on the CVD diamond matrix.
Findings have depicted that a thermal conduction process dominated diamond-graphite transition. With de-
creasing the laser fluence, the thicknesses of both graphite layer and boundary layer were also reduced. The
diameter, cutting edge radius, and nose radius of the fabricated CVD diamond micro-milling tool were 0.4 mm,
2.3 μm and 2.5 μm, respectively. The performance of the cutting tool was studied with regard to micro-milling of
oxygen-free copper. The performance of the CVD diamond tool was ensured by comparing it with commercially
purchased coated cemented carbide tools under identical machining conditions. The resultant forces, machined
surface quality, burr formation, and tool failures were investigated. The results have indicated that lower re-
sultant forces, less burr formation, and minimum surface roughness (arithmetic average surface roughness Ra of
53 nm) were obtained with the CVD diamond tool. The failure of the CVD diamond tool was characterized by
flaking and flank/rake face wear, while the cemented carbide tool failure was associated with extensive flaking,
coating spalling and flank face wear. The experimental study has shown superior performance of the fabricated
CVD diamond tool as compared to commercially purchased coated cemented carbide tool. This work validates a
feasible fabrication process of CVD diamond micro-milling tool, and a practical micro-machining data using CVD
diamond tool.

1. Introduction
With the development of aerospace, biomedicine, and defense in-
dustry, demand for structural complexity and reliability of micro-ma-
chined parts are facing new challenges [1–5]. Micro-milling technology
has the potential to machine micro-parts with micro-sized features,
arbitrary shape, various materials, acceptable dimensional accuracy,
and surface quality. It has the characteristics of high efficiency, flex-
ibility, precision, and low cost in the processing of super-hard materials
and complex geometry [6–10]. Therefore, it has become a micro-pro-
cessing method with broad application prospects.
The key factors that affect the performance of micro-milling tool are
material and geometry. The cutting performance directly affects the
quality of the machined surfaces of the parts and further influences the
function of the product [11,12]. Nowadays, cemented carbide micro-
milling tools and coated carbide micro-milling tools are accepted in
production and research. Hei et al. [13] have carried out dry cutting
tests of aluminum alloys to verify the cutting performance of the bi-
layer (SiC + diamond) coated tools with uncoated commercial tools. In
their investigation, the surface finish produced by the bi-layer coated
tools exhibited a highly patterned and stable bottom surface with a few
burr formations. The proposed bi-layer coated tool revealed a viable
means of increasing the performance of diamond coatings on cemented
carbide micro-end mills. Aline et al. [14] analyzed the evolution of
wear land of a carbide micro-mill tool coated with TiN when cutting
UNS S32205 duplex stainless steel. The analysis of wear mechanism of

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhaogl@nuaa.edu.cn (G. Zhao).
1
These authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-first authors.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diamond.2019.107589
Received 18 June 2019; Received in revised form 17 September 2019; Accepted 20 October 2019
Available online 23 October 2019
0925-9635/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
G. Zhao, et al.
Nomenclature
CVD chemical vapor deposit
PCD polycrystalline diamond
NPCD nano-polycrystalline diamond
SEM scanning electron microscope
WEDM wire electrical discharge machining
LM laser machining
EDG electrical discharge grinding
Fx cutting force
Fy thrust force
μm/z micrometer per tooth
Ra arithmetic average roughness (center line average)
Sa arithmetic average roughness (area average)
VBmax maximum width of the flank wear land
TiN coated carbide micro-tools has highlighted the nose and flank wear
being more evident due to adhesion, sharp rounding of tool edges after
the first channel machining. Tool wear had caused changes in burrs and
surface roughness of the workpiece. Numerous researchers have opti-
mized the fabrication and machining performance of high-quality
micro-milling tools. However, the problems of excessive wear and
failure of the coated/uncoated cemented carbide tools in the machining
of difficult-to-machine and brittle materials still exist [15]. Yang et al.
[16] investigated the wear mechanisms of diamond-coated cemented
carbide micro end mills in micro-milling of TiB2-SiC ceramic. The re-
sults showed that the tool wear was dominated by coating spalling,
which resulted in high cutting force and short tool life. Xia et al. [17]
studied the cutting performance of CrTiAlN coated cemented carbide
micro end mills in micro-milling of Ti6Al4V alloy. Tool nose breakage,
coating spalling and adhesive wear were found, which reduced the
surface quality and tool life. Wang et al. [18] investigated the effects of
tool wear on surface topography and chip formation. A novel Ti(C7N3)-
based cermet micro-mill was used in micro-milling of Ti6Al4V alloy.
The results showed that adhesion wear, built-up-edge, and micro-
chipping occurred. As the tool wear progressed, metal debris and plastic
side flow were more severe.
Owing to high hardness, high wear resistance, and high thermal
conductivity, diamond is regarded as one of the most suitable micro-
milling tool materials [19]. Diamond materials commonly used in the
fabrication of micro-milling tools are mainly PCD and CVD diamond
due to high performance in maintaining a sharp cutting edge and re-
ducing the size effect in micro-machining. Suzuki et al. [20] developed
a binderless ultra-hard nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPCD) tool to
machine micro-textures on SiC molds. The cutting performance of a
manufactured tool was compared with a single crystalline diamond at
different cutting conditions. It was demonstrated that SiC molds were
cut in ductile mode and exact textures could be generated by applying
NPCD milling tool. Zhong et al. [21] investigated the machining of the
copper grating by PCD micro-cutting tools that were self-designed and
machined. Since PCD tools have excellent abrasion property and high
binding phase intensity of polycrystalline structure, a complete copper
grating was machined successfully. The width of cut of 7 μm, feed per
tooth of 6 μm and spindle speed of 24,000 rpm were reported as the
optimum combination of the parameters to obtain the highest dimen-
sional accuracy and minimum burr formation. Compared to PCD, CVD
diamond possesses depicted higher hardness and wear resistance
without containing the second phase. These features allow CVD micro-
milling tools to achieve smaller cutting-edge radius to reduce size ef-
fects and extend tool life to reduce the production cost. Jiao et al. [22]
carried out micro fly-cutting of micro-structured riblet surfaces on
Al6082 aluminum plate with CVD diamond tool. It demonstrated that
the CVD diamond tool significantly improved the machining efficiency,
and presented an industrial-feasible approach to machine a large area
2
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
rpm rotations per minute
m/s meter per second
mm/s millimeter per second
mm/min millimeter per minute
mm millimeter
μm micrometer
nm nanometer
J/cm2 joule per square centimeter
W watt
N Newton
ns nanosecond
kHz kilohertz
HV Vickers hardness
eV electron-volt
of micro-structured surfaces. Huo and Cheng [10] conducted experi-
mental investigation on micro-milling of oxygen-free, high-conductivity
copper using tungsten carbide, CVD diamond, and single-crystal dia-
mond micro tools. The results demonstrated that the achievable surface
roughness Ra could reach approximately 10 nm for CVD diamond tool.
The cutting performance of the CVD diamond micro tool was better
than that of the tungsten carbide tool.
Grinding is a primary preparation method to process the diamond
micro-cutting tools owing to high precision and surface quality asso-
ciated with this process. Rabin et al. [23] studied the effect of different
parameters on the grinding process using the Taguchi method and grey
relational analysis. Grinding wheel composed of ceramic as matrix
material and diamond as embedded grains was used. It showed wheel
grain size of 7 μm, feed rate of 0.2 μm and grinding velocity of
19.625 m/s were the optimum cutting conditions to obtain the
minimum cutting-edge radius and the grinding force. Xu et al. [24–26]
investigated grinding CVD diamond with a metal-based corundum
grinding wheel and a variety of additives. It indicated that chemical
reaction between the diamond and metals, such as iron and titanium
would take place. Under a high temperature resulted from high
grinding speed, the diamond reacted with iron and titanium to form
Fe2C and TiC, respectively.
Additionally, the diamond-graphite phase transformation was also
observed during the grinding process. The material removal rate was
dependent on the chemical reaction and the phase transformation.
However, due to its low processing efficiency and inability to process
large length-to-diameter micro-milling tools as it can only withstand
the limited grinding force due to the reduction of the size, this method
cannot meet the needs of efficient production. Except for the grinding
process, other machining processes such as wire electrical discharge
machining (WEDM), laser machining (LM) were recently used to fab-
ricate CVD micro-milling tools. Olsen et al. [27] conducted experi-
mental work involving WEDM and electrical discharge grinding (EDG)
of CVD diamond tool blanks. The influence of the operating parameters
such as voltage, current, and off-time on the surface roughness was
studied. With the optimized parameters, a surface roughness Ra of
0.64 μm was obtained with an EDG process. Watanabe et al. [28] de-
veloped a novel method of machining CVD diamond utilizing ultra-
violet (UV) irradiation. For comparison, the conventional machining
process without UV irradiation was also utilized. The results showed
that the material removal rate of the novel method was 4 times higher
than that of the conventional process. In addition, chipping-free sharp
edges of 0.3 μm in radius were formed with the novel method. Laser
processed CVD micro-tool is another viable method. Laser processing
can deliver the required energy precisely to the surface of a given area
on the workpiece for processing, thus achieving better dimensional
accuracy. Moreover, its high material removal rate can significantly
improve production efficiency. Chen et al. [29] investigated the
G. Zhao, et al.
ablation depth and surface roughness of CVD diamond under laser ir-
radiation. Minimum surface roughness and a controlled ablation depth
were achieved on CVD diamond by adjusting laser parameters. How-
ever, graphite was produced on the diamond surface, and a meta-
morphic layer adhering to the diamond substrate was exposed after the
graphite was ablated. Therefore, further processing should be carried
out. Diamond is easily graphitized under the heat of laser irradiation.
Therefore, the combination of high-efficiency processing of laser and
high-quality machining of precision grinding provides a new idea for
the fabrication of CVD micro tools.
Oxygen-free copper is widely used in high energy physics detectors
and optical components due to its low radiation background and high
thermal conductivity [30]. This paper proposes a compound process of
laser-induced diamond graphitization with precision grinding to fabri-
cate the CVD diamond micro-milling tool. A nanosecond pulsed laser
was used as a heat source to induce diamond-graphite phase transfor-
mation. The graphite layer and heat-affected layer were removed by
precision grinding using a ceramic grinding wheel. The graphite layer
was very easy to remove, resulting in a high fabrication efficiency. CVD
diamond micro-milling tools with sharp cutting edge and good tool
surface quality were fabricated. The cutting performance in micro-
milling of oxygen-free copper was carried out. The resultant forces,
machined surface quality, burr formation, and tool wear were in-
vestigated in detail. Up to now, very few micro-milling data related to
CVD diamond micro tools have been reported. The experimental results
in this work provided practical micro-milling data using CVD diamond
micro tool.
2. Experiment procedures
2.1. Fabrication procedures of CVD diamond micro cutting tool
In this work, ground and polished CVD diamond plates with a
thickness of 0.4 mm were used as working blanks of the micro-cutting
tools. The properties of the CVD diamond are described in Table 1.
Firstly, the plate was brazed to a cemented carbide shank in a vacuum,
as shown in Fig. 1. Secondly, the plate was cut with a nanosecond
pulsed laser using a laser fluence of 300 J/cm2 and scanning speed of
0.5 mm/s. All the faces formed after laser cutting were ground with a
diamond wheel. Thirdly, the flank face was processed with a compound
process of laser irradiation and precision grinding, which is introduced
in the following part. Finally, a CVD diamond micro-cutting tool was
fabricated. In micro-milling process, rake face and flank face play es-
sential roles to the machined surface quality. In this work, the polished
face of the CVD diamond plate was used as the rake face of the ultimate
micro cutting tool. Therefore, only the flank face was processed, and no
further process was conducted on the other faces after laser cutting.
The laser-induced graphitization experiments were carried out using
a nanosecond Yb: glass fiber laser (YLP-1/10/20, IPG). It is a pulsed
laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm, the maximum average output
power of 20 W, and pulse width of 100 ns. The laser beam from the laser
generator was conducted to the galvanometric scan mirrors after being
collimated and broadened with a laser beam expander system. After
being reflected by galvanometric scan mirrors, the laser beam was fo-
cused onto the flank face of the micro-cutting tool through a 70 mm
focal length F-Theta lens. The diameter of the laser beam at the focus
plane was approximately 19 μm. The repetition frequency was fixed at
20 kHz, at which the laser had the best performance. In order to in-
vestigate the effects of laser parameters on the characterization of
graphite and graphite-diamond boundary, the fabrication process was
divided into three stages. The laser parameters used in these three
stages were shown in Table 2. The laser fluence is expressed as follows.
Pavg 4Pavg
H= =
FS πFD 2 (1)
where H is laser fluence, Pavg is average laser power, F is laser repetition
3
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
frequency, S is spot area, and D is spot diameter.
After laser-induced graphitization at each stage, the samples were
ultrasonically cleaned for 10 min in acetone and absolute ethyl alcohol
to remove the graphite. Subsequently, the flank face of the CVD dia-
mond micro cutting tool was ground with a precision grinding machine
(BJSM1610-108). The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 2(a). The
precision grinding machine had three CNC axes and three non-CNC
axes. Based on the preliminary tests, the optimal grinding parameters,
i.e., grinding speed of 19.63 m/s, feed rate of 0.2 mm/min, and depth of
cut of 1 μm, were employed in this work. A ceramic grinding wheel with
a grain size of 1 μm was used. The outer diameter and thickness of the
grinding wheel were 125 mm and 8 mm, respectively. Due to the low
stiffness of the micro-cutting tool, large grinding force would lead to its
rupture. Therefore, the grinding wheel was titled at 10° to reduce the
contact area between the wheel and flank face of the micro-cutting tool,
as shown in Fig. 2(b).
2.2. Micro-milling experiments
In this work, the micro-milling experiments were performed on a
self-developed three-axis high-precision gantry micromachining
system. The machine bed possesses linear motor drives (x- and y-axis),
and a precision ball screw structure (z-axis) driven by a servo motor.
The positioning accuracy of the machine tool is ± 0.1 μm with a solu-
tion of 100 nm. The experimental process was monitored by a CCD
camera which is connected to computer software. Comparative ex-
periments on the cutting performance of the self-fabricated CVD dia-
mond micro cutting tool and commercially available micro cutting tool
were carried out. The commercially available micro tool used in this
work was two fluted cemented carbide tool coated with a thin layer of
CrTiAlN (MHRH230, NS TOOL). The hardness of the coating was ap-
proximately 3600 HV. The diameter, cutting edge radius, and nose ra-
dius of the cemented carbide tool were 0.5 mm, 2.0 μm and 3.0 μm,
respectively. The workpiece material used in this work was oxygen-free
copper which is widely used in electronic industry and optics. The
specifications of the oxygen-free copper are listed in Table 3. The
spindle speed and depth of cut in all the experiments were set at
20,000 rpm and 5 μm, respectively. The feed per tooth used was varied
from 0.25 μm/z to 5 μm/z. All the experimental runs were conducted by
milling a straight groove of 20 mm length under dry cutting conditions.
In order to reduce the influences of tool wear on experimental results, a
new cutting tool was used for each experimental run.
2.3. Characterization
The microstructure of the CVD diamond micro cutting tool before
and after laser irradiation, the morphology of the micro-cutting tool
and the machined surface, were observed using a scanning electron
microscope (SEM, Hitachi S-4800) and an optical microscope (Leica
DVM5000). The phase composition of the CVD diamond under laser
irradiation, as well as the phase composition of the micro tool after
precision grinding, were analyzed with a Raman spectroscopy (Re-
nishaw inVia). The resultant forces in the precision grinding process
were measured with a piezoelectric dynamometer (9256C1, Kistler),
which is mounted on the table of a machining center named as three-
axis high-precision gantry micromachining system. The milling force
components of cutting force Fx and thrust force Fy at the workpiece,
according to the machine coordinate system, are real-time recorded
down through the Cras data acquisition/analysis software. The absolute
Table 1
Properties of the CVD diamond plate.
Grain size Density Hardness Flexural strength Thermal conductivity
20 μm 3.52 g/cm 3
90 GPa 650 MPa 700 W/(m·K)
G. Zhao, et al. Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Graphitization behavior of CVD diamond under laser irradiation

Diamond is a metastable form of carbon with the characteristic of

sp3 hybridized structure. At high temperatures diamond is sponta-
neously transformed to graphite at high rates even though it is not
noticeable at room temperature. Under laser irradiation, the transfor-
mation from diamond to graphite is manipulated by a thermal-photon
mechanism [31]. The transition of a carbon atom from a diamond state
(sp3 hybridized structure) to a graphite state (sp2 hybridized structure)
is induced not only by high temperature but also by simultaneous ab-
sorption of a laser photon. SEM images on the rake face and flank face
of the CVD diamond tool after laser irradiation using laser fluence of
123.4 J/cm2, scanning speed of 20 mm/s and track displacement of
1 μm, are shown in Fig. 3. As presented in Fig. 3(a), some scratches
were observed on the polished surface of the untreated diamond (zone
A). These scratches were resulted from abrasive wear during polishing
Fig. 1. A CVD diamond plate brazed to a cemented carbide shank. process. However, a large number of protrusions were formed on the
surface (zone B). The microstructure of these protrusions was presented
Table 2 in Fig. 3(b). It can be seen that clusters of particles with a particle size of
Laser parameters used in the three stages of the fabrication process. 1–2 μm were formed.
The Raman spectra of the selected areas in zone A and zone B are
Stage Laser fluence H Scanning speed v Track displacement
presented in Fig. 4. One sharp and strong first-order diamond peak
(J/cm2) (mm/s) TD (μm)
centered at 1332 cm−1 was detected in the Raman spectra of zone A.
Rough machining 123.4 20 1 This is the typical characteristic of sp3 hybridized structure of diamond,
Semi-finishing 88.2 40 2 indicating that only diamond existed and no other phases were present.
Finishing 70.5 80 4
After laser irradiation, two peaks which were centered at 1350 cm−1
and 1580 cm−1 were detected, while the peak of 1332 cm−1 had dis-
appeared. The peak of 1350 cm−1 was also known as D-peak, which
value of the peak value (maximum value) of the milling force signal is
used as the final result in the experimental test. The maximum sampling represented the defect and disorder of carbon atom lattice. The peak of
1580 cm−1 was also known as G-peak, which represented the typical
frequency and threshold force levels were 20 kHz and 0.002 N, re-
spectively. The cutting-edge radius of the fabricated CVD diamond sp2 hybridized structure of graphite. The presence of D and G peaks
micro-cutting tool was measured with a laser scanning microscope reveal that the diamond was transformed to graphite after being laser
(LSM 700). The surface roughness of the micro-cutting tool and the irradiated. It can also be seen from Fig. 3(a) that volume expansion had
machined surface of copper were measured with a three-dimensional occurred because the density of diamond is higher than that of graphite
confocal microscope (Phase Shift Micro XAM-3D). The surface rough- [32].
ness (Ra) was measured near the centerline of the bottom surface by When the CVD diamond was irradiated by laser, only those carbon
selecting six different positions along with feed direction. What needs to atoms that individually absorb photons of energy not lower than the
be noted in particular is that the six selected positions are not uniformly bandgap of the diamond could pass to the graphite state. Otherwise, the
distributed due to instrument positioning errors. In addition, in order to transformation from diamond to graphite was caused by high tem-
reduce the random error in the measurement process, six different perature instead of photon absorption. The laser used in this work was a
positions are measured three times at different feed per tooth. As a nanosecond pulsed laser with a photon energy of 1.17 eV. However, the
result, the average value was taken as the roughness of the machined bandgap of the diamond was 5.45 eV. As a result, the transformation in
surface under this machining parameter. this work was considered as a thermal induction process. The laser
energy absorbed by the diamond was transformed into heat which was
distributed on the surface. When the heat accumulated to a certain
extent, the graphite layer began to appear. In addition, at high tem-
peratures, the graphite would be vaporized or become plasma, then
chemically reacted with oxygen in the air [33]. As a result, a part of the

Fig. 2. The (a) precision grinding machine and (b) experimental setup.

4
G. Zhao, et al.
Table 3
Specifications of the oxygen-free copper.
Density Young's modulus Poisson's ratio
8.96 g/cm 3
128 GPa 0.34
Fig. 3. SEM images on the (a) rake face and (b) flank face of the CVD diamond tool after laser irradiation.
gaseous graphite was deposited to form a loose and porous structure, as
shown in Fig. 3(b).
3.2. Fabrication of CVD diamond micro cutting tool
The laser parameters such as laser fluence had significant effects on
the thickness of the graphite layer and the microstructure of the gra-
phite-diamond boundary. The microstructure of the graphite layer and
boundary, as well as the 3D morphology of the boundary in the rough
machining stage, were shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen from Fig. 5(a) that
a graphite layer was formed after the laser irradiation. The thickness of
the graphite layer was approximately 125 μm. The boundary contour
between the graphite and the diamond was not a straight but an irre-
gular line. The layer between the graphite layer and the diamond ma-
trix was defined as a boundary layer in this work. A peak point and a
valley point can be found on the boundary contour. The distance be-
tween these two points (in the normal direction of flank face) was de-
fined as the thickness of the boundary layer, as described in Fig. 5(a). In
the rough machining stage, the thickness of the boundary layer was
approximately 25 μm, as shown in Fig. 5(a). After ultrasonic cleaning,
the morphology of the boundary was captured, as shown in Fig. 5(b–c).
Plenty of cavities was distributed at the flank face. In this work, the
power density of the nanosecond laser followed Gaussian distribution.
Thus the power density decreased gradually from the center point to the
peripheral zone of the laser spot. With increasing the laser power
Fig. 4. Raman spectra curves (a) and (b) correspond to the selected areas of zone A and B in Fig. 3(a).
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
Specific heat capacity Thermal conductivity Coefficient of expansion
385.5 J/(kg·K) 393.6 W/(m·K) 16.5 × 10−6/K
density, the thickness of the induced graphite also increased. As a re-
sult, the thickness of graphite at the spot center was larger than that at
the peripheral zone. After ultrasonic cleaning, the graphite was re-
moved, resulting in the cavities.
In the final step of the rough machining stage, the boundary layer
was removed by the precision grinding process. Subsequently, the flank
face was irradiated by the laser using parameters of the semi-finishing
stage, as shown in Table 2. The microscope images of the graphite layer
and the boundary in the semi-finishing stage are presented in Fig. 6.
The thickness of the graphite layer was approximately 23 μm, as shown
in Fig. 6(a). After ultrasonic cleaning, the morphology of the boundary
was captured, as shown in Fig. 6(b–c). No obvious cavity was found on
the boundary, indicating that the relatively lower laser fluence had
resulted in a lesser number of defects on the boundary.
The morphology of the graphite layer captured after laser irradia-
tion in the finishing stage is shown in Fig. 7(a). At the finishing stage, a
relatively lower laser fluence was used, resulting in a thin graphite
layer. The thickness of the graphite layer was only 8 μm. The mor-
phology of the flank face and cutting edge after precision grinding is
shown in Fig. 7(b). No obvious chipping or flaking was observed on the
cutting edge. In addition, no obvious cavity or crack was observed on
the flank face. The surface roughness Sa of the flank face was 0.177 μm.
The CVD diamond micro-cutting tool fabricated by the compound
process of laser-induced graphitization and precision grinding was
shown in Fig. 8. The diameter, cutting edge radius and nose radius of
5
G. Zhao, et al.
Fig. 5. Microscope images of (a) the rake face and (b–c) boundary of the CVD diamond after laser irradiation in the rough machining stage.
the cutting tool were 0.4 mm, 2.3 μm and 2.5 μm, respectively.
3.3. Cutting performance of the CVD diamond micro-milling tool
In order to investigate the cutting performance of the fabricated
CVD diamond micro-cutting tools, micro-milling experiments were
performed on oxygen-free copper. The effects of feed per tooth on the
resultant forces, machined surface quality, burr formation, and tool
wear were studied. For comparison, micro-milling experiments using
the cemented carbide micro-milling tool were also conducted under the
same cutting conditions.
The resultant forces as a function of feed per tooth are shown in
Fig. 9. In this work, the Fx and Fy are cutting and thrust force, respec-
tively. It was found that the feed per tooth had a significant influence on
the resultant forces. For both of the CVD diamond and cemented car-
bide micro-milling tools, the resultant forces firstly decreased and
subsequently increased with increasing the feed per tooth. Under the
same feed per tooth, the cutting force and thrust force were lower for
the CVD diamond tool. Compared to the CVD tool, although cemented
carbide tool had a cutting edge radius that is slightly smaller than the
CVD tool before the cutting experiment, its ability to withstand the
wear was poor, and it was no longer sharp quickly, then a large re-
sultant force was generated. At the same time, the cemented carbide
tool is more likely to wear when subjected to larger resultant forces, in
turn, resulting in increasing cutting temperature and a decline of the
quality of machined surface. This indicated that the cutting perfor-
mance of the fabricated CVD diamond tool was better than that of the
cemented carbide tool. When using the CVD diamond tool, the resultant
forces at the feed per tooth of 0.25 μm/z were higher than those at the
feed per tooth of 0.5 μm/z. This observation resulted due to the size
effect, which is a unique property of the micro-milling process. At a low
feed per tooth, the ratio of undeformed chip thickness to cutting edge
radius was small, leading to occurrence of micro-plowing. During
plowing, no material was removed and the workpiece material was
deformed elastically or plastically. As a result, the resultant forces in-
creased. As the feed per tooth increased, the size effect was weakened,
resulting in a decrease in the resultant forces [34]. When the feed per
tooth was higher than 1 μm/z, the resultant forces increased gradually
with increasing the feed per tooth. A similar trend is also observed in
Fig. 6. Microscope images of (a) the rake face and (b–c) boundary of the CVD diamond after laser irradiation in the semi-finishing stage.
6
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
macro-milling process.
The surface roughness of the bottom surface varied with the feed per
tooth, as shown in Fig. 10. Similar to the resultant force, the surface
roughness decreased firstly and increased subsequently with an in-
crease in the feed per tooth. When using the CVD diamond tool, the
minimum surface roughness Ra of 53 nm was obtained at the feed per
tooth of 1 μm/z. When using the cemented carbide tool, the minimum
surface roughness Ra of 69 nm was obtained at the feed per tooth of
2 μm/z. When the feed per tooth was smaller than 1.5 μm/z, the
roughness of the surface machined with CVD diamond tool was lower
than that machined with cemented carbide tool. However, the opposite
trend was observed when the feed per tooth was larger than 1.5 μm/z.
This indicated that the fabricated CVD diamond tool had better per-
formance to overcome size effect.
The evolution of slot bottom topography with increasing the feed
per tooth from 0.25 μm/z to 5 μm/z when using the CVD diamond tool
is demonstrated in Fig. 11. At the feed per tooth of 0.25 μm/z, the
bottom surface was rough with obvious burrs as denoted by the red
circles. The appearance of burrs further validated the existence of size
effect during the micro-milling process. The workpiece material was
deformed plastically because of the micro-plowing, resulting in plastic
side flow. As a result, the burrs were formed and adhered to the bottom
surface, as shown in Fig. 11(a). When the feed per tooth was increased
to 1 μm/z, the size effect was weakened, and no distinct burr was ob-
served, resulting in a smooth surface. However, the tooth pass marks
were also found, as shown in Fig. 11(b). With further increase of feed
per tooth to 5 μm/z, the tooth pass marks became more apparent. As
described in Fig. 11(c), the distance between six neighboring marks in
the radial direction was 30 μm. Therefore, the distance between the two
neighboring marks was 5 μm, which was the same as the feed distance
of the tool per revolution. As a result, surface roughness Ra increased.
This was similar to the macro-milling process in which the surface
roughness decreased with increasing the feed per tooth. Except for the
tooth pass marks, a small amount of burrs was also formed as denoted
by the red circles shown in Fig. 11(c). Burrs were also formed on the top
of the slots as shown in Fig. 12. When the feed per tooth was 0.25 μm/z,
top burrs were formed on the slots machined with both the CVD dia-
mond and cemented carbide tools as shown in Fig. 12(a–b). The max-
imum burr widths of the CVD diamond tool and the cemented carbide
G. Zhao, et al.
Fig. 7. Morphology of (a) the rake face after laser irradiation in the finishing stage and (b) the cutting edge after precision grinding.
Fig. 8. Morphology of the (a) CVD diamond cutting tool and (b) tool nose.
Fig. 9. Resultant forces at different feed per tooth.
tool were 15 μm and 38 μm, respectively. With increasing the feed per
tooth to 1 μm/z, the top burr width on the slot machined with CVD
diamond tool reduced significantly. However, the top burr width on the
slot machined with cemented carbide tool increased to 50 μm. One of
the reasons is the errors of the spindle runout, manufacturing and
clamping of the tool are comparable to the cutting parameters in micro-
milling. The chip thickness is modified due to the dynamic run-out
which affects the cutting forces and the stability. Compared with
macro-milling, burr formation in micro-milling was much more difficult
to remove because of the downscaled size of the machined features. The
results indicated that the CVD diamond cutting tool can effectively
suppress the generation of burrs in micro-milling of oxygen-free copper.
In order to investigate the tool failure mechanisms, micro-milling of
oxygen-free copper was carried out at the spindle speed, feed per tooth
7
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
Fig. 10. Surface roughness at different feed per tooth.
and depth of cut of 20,000 rpm, 2 μm/z and 5 μm, respectively. The
wear patterns of the CVD diamond tool and cemented carbide tool after
1500 mm of micro-milling are shown in Figs. 13 and 14, respectively. In
conventional macroscale milling, tool wear modes are common phe-
nomena of crater wear on the rake face, nose radius wear, or the most
critical mode of tool wear is flank wear. The modes of tool wear for
micro-milling tool can be different because of the micro size of the
micro-milling tool and the size effect caused by the size reduction [35].
In cutting non-difficult-to-cut materials, the main wear mechanism may
be friction and wear caused by chips and adhesion. Flaking was found
on the minor cutting edges of both the CVD diamond tool and cemented
carbide tool. Flaking was located near the tool nose. It was conjectured
that the flaking had happened due to chip clogging. During the micro-
milling process, a thin layer of workpiece material was removed by the
main cutting edge in form of chip. In this work, there was no
G. Zhao, et al. Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589

Fig. 11. Topography of the bottom surface at feed per tooth of (a) 0.25 μm/z, (b) 1 μm/z and (c) 5 μm/z.

Fig. 12. Top burrs on the machined slots at feed per tooth of (a–b) 0.25 μm/z and (c–d) 1 μm/z.

Fig. 13. Wear patterns of the CVD diamond tool after 1500 mm of micro-milling.

compressed air or other equipment was used to remove the chip in time.
As a result, the chip would fall between the minor cutting edge and the
bottom surface, leading to chip clogging. This would result in high
cutting force and flaking of the cutting edge. In addition, the clogged
chip would be plastically deformed under the squeeze of minor cutting
edge, leading to adhesion of material on the bottom surface. Besides,
due to the irregularity of the contact surfaces, plowing, rubbing, or
grinding takes place in micro/nanoscale to form friction by elastic-
plastic deformation. Hence, the phenomenon of the flaking of the minor
cutting edge and the wear of the minor flank face are further
aggravated. The same phenomenon was observed when the feed per
tooth was 1 μm/z, as shown in Fig. 12(c–d).
For CVD diamond tool, the tool nose radius increased from 2.5 μm
to 3.6 μm during the micro-milling run. No apparent defect was found
on the major cutting edge, as shown in Fig. 13(a). However, for the
cemented carbide tool, the tool nose radius increased from 3 μm to
14 μm during the run. Flaking was also found on the tool nose, as shown
in Fig. 14(a). In addition, a large area of the coating had fallen off from
both the rake face and minor flank face. Coating spalling resulted from
severe friction between the workpiece and the cutting tool. The severe

8
G. Zhao, et al.
Fig. 14. Wear patterns of the cemented carbide tool after 1500 mm of micro-milling.
Fig. 15. Resultant forces at different length of cutting.
friction also led to a high cutting force. The resultant forces measured at
the different values of milling length are shown in Fig. 15. It was seen
that at the milling length of 1500 mm, both the cutting force (Fx) and
thrust force (Fy) were relatively high. When the stress on the coating
exceeded the bonding strength of the coating and cemented carbide
matrix, coating spalling took place.
As shown in Fig. 13(b), tool wear took place on both the rake face
and the minor flank face. In conventional milling, the tool side edge is
primarily involved in cutting, typically forming a stable wear zone at
the edge of the side flank of the minor flank face. However, in micro-
milling process, the depth of cut is small and comparable to the tip
radius. Tool wear is mainly concentrated on the tip of the tool. Com-
pared to cemented carbide tool, the higher thermal conductivity of the
CVD tool allows the cutting heat to be quickly conducted out of the
cutting edge, reducing thermal damage of the tool and thermal de-
formation of the workpiece. In micro-milling, the elastic recovery of the
bottom surface induced the minor flank face wear. In addition, the
clogged chips would also cause wear on the minor flank face. The width
of the flank wear land on the CVD diamond tool was small. The max-
imum width of the flank wear land (VBmax) on the minor flank face was
3 μm. However, for the cemented carbide tool, severe tool wear was
observed, as shown in Fig. 14(b). The maximum width of the flank wear
land (VBmax) on the minor flank face was approximately 50 μm. This
indicated that under the same cutting conditions, the fabricated CVD
diamond tool had longer tool life than the cemented carbide tool. The
cutting force and thrust force measured at different lengths of cuts are
shown in Fig. 15. Both Fx and Fy increased gradually with increasing the
length of cut. At the same length, the resultant force of the CVD dia-
mond tool was lower than that of the cemented carbide tool. The re-
latively low cutting force led to a low wear rate, leading to longer tool
9
Diamond & Related Materials 100 (2019) 107589
life.
4. Conclusions
(1) A compound process of laser-induced graphitization and precision
grinding was proposed to fabricate a CVD diamond micro-cutting
tool. Under laser irradiation, a loose graphite layer which was easy
to be removed was formed. A graphite-diamond boundary layer
which was the heat-affected layer was formed simultaneously. The
diamond-graphite transition was dominated by a thermal induction
process.
(2) From rough to finish machining stage, the thicknesses of the gra-
phite layer and boundary layer were reduced with a decrease in
laser fluence, which ultimately reduced the boundary layer defects.
CVD diamond micro-milling tool with diameter, cutting edge radius
and nose radius of 0.4 mm, 2.3 μm and 2.5 μm respectively, was
fabricated with the compound process. The surface roughness Sa of
the flank face was 0.177 μm.
(3) The cutting performance of the fabricated CVD diamond tool was
compared with that of the commercial coated cemented carbide
tool in micro-milling of oxygen-free copper. Under the same cutting
conditions, the resultant forces and surface roughness when using
the CVD diamond tool were found to be lower than those when
using the cemented carbide tool. Failure of the CVD diamond tool
was characterized by flaking and flank/rake face wear, while the
failure of the cemented carbide tool happened due to flaking,
coating spalling and flank face wear. In a nutshell, the overall
cutting performance of the fabricated CVD diamond tool was better
than that of the commercial coated cemented carbide tool.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China [grant numbers 51705249, 51575268]; the
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [grant number
BK20160792]; and the Aeronautical Science Foundation of China
[grant number 2017ZE52047]. The authors are grateful to Dr. Asif Iqbal
from the University of Brunei Darussalam for the great help with im-
provement of the English language and grammar.
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