Development of cBN electroplated end-mill combined cutting and grinding for precision machining of CFRP

Carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) has been applied to various fields because of its excellent mechanical properties. Generally, after fabrication with moulding, CFRP requires additional machining, such as cutting or grinding. As the cutting tool for CFRP, a diamond-coated end-mill with high wear resistance has been developed. However, burr or uncut fibre is easily formed. Meanwhile, in the case when a grinding wheel is used, the machining efficiency is low even though there are sharp edges with burr or uncut fibres. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a versatile tool that can achieve precision machining of CFRP with high efficiency. This study develops a cBN electroplated end-mill that is a combination of a cutting tool and a grinding wheel. This report shows that the developed tool is able to perform high-efficiency cutting like the diamond coated end-mill, and high-precision grinding like a diamond wheel.