Experimental study of force responses in polycrystalline diamond face turning of rock

Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) cutters, as the most commonly used inserts for rock cutting/drilling processes, are drawing increased attention in manufacturing and petroleum engineering, driven by the necessity to elevate cutter and process performance. The knowledge of the force responses when using PDC cutters under various cutting conditions is an essential prerequisite for achieving this goal. In this paper, an experimental study of the force responses in face turning of rock is analyzed. A rock turning testbed that uses single PDC cutters is developed on a CNC turning center for measuring both thermal and mechanical responses at the rock-cutter interface in real-time. A 7×3×3 full factorial design (rake angle×depth of cut×feedrate) was used for the experimental assessment of the process. A phenomenological force model based on the experimental data and the physics at rock-cutter interface was formulated. In model the actual oblique cutting process in the experiments was approximated by an orthogonal cutting configuration by analyzing force responses in a plane normal to the cutting edge of the PDC cutter.