Design and fabrication of a new class of cutting tool material using additive manufacturing

Australian manufacturing is undergoing major structural change due to globalisation and changing customer needs. As part of this change, there is a growing recognition that Australian manufacturers need to work smarter and be more innovative in areas such as high value manufacturing. This project aims to make a contribution by breaking away from the constraints and limitations of conventional cutting tool materials, namely, high speed steel (HSS) and cemented carbide, and fabricate new designs of cutting tools using the emerging technology of freeform additive manufacturing.<br><br>The initial work in this thesis is concerned with the fabrication of open cellular architectures in the alloy Ti6Al4V using electron beam melting (EBM) technology. The focus was on their ability to sustain load in compression testing. The potential for improving the load bearing capacity through the exploitation of vapour deposition and infiltration methods was explored with a view to developing a new design of cutting tool. The latter was fabricated in the form of cutting tool inserts using both EBM and selective laser melting (SLM) techniques. The inserts were used in accelerated turning tests to demonstrate, by way of proof of concept, that such new designs of cutting tools could be used to generate chips in machining. Developments of the type outlined in this investigation open the possibility for the exploitation of new purpose built cutting tool technology.