Application in milling of coated tools with rounded cutting edges after the film deposition

Sharp cutting edges of coated tools are often rounded to increase their stability. In the described investigations coated cutting edges of cemented carbide inserts were variously rounded by grinding. The coating thickness distributions in the transient region between tool flank and rake were determined by an appropriate evaluation of ball cratering tests using confocal microscopy. The cutting performance of the tools was examined in milling at different cutting speeds and chip lengths, which were adjusted based on FEM calculations. The results demonstrated that even cutting edges with slightly revealed substrate can effectively withstand the cutting loads.