Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is an expensive composite which has become valuable material as the demand for this composite increased in the industries. It is suitable to be used in automotive, aerospace, and aircraft because of its properties which is stronger than steel and also stiffer than titanium while retaining its lighter weight. However machining of CFRP is a mess to machinist due to its nature which is abrasive. The paper presents the wear mechanism on solid carbide cutting tool during milling CFRP. The wear mechanism is observed under dry and chilled air machining. The machining parameters tested were at cutting speed of 200 m/min with constant feed rate and depth of cut. For both dry and chilled air machining, it is observed that carbide cutting tool experienced abrasive wear which has been influenced by abrasive powdering chips and fibers during milling CFRP. Under microscope and scanning electron microscope, the abrasive wear is represented by shiny and polish area on the cutting tool respectively. This abrasive wear is observed higher under dry machining compared to the chilled air machining which was due to the heat generated during machining. Thus, chilled air has a potential of improving machinability of CFRP by using solid carbide cutting tool.

A carbide cutting tool is widely used in machining process due to its availability and being cheaper than a better performance cutting tool, such as cubic boron nitride. The carbide cutting tool also has substantial hardness and toughness that is suitable to be applied in intermittent cutting. This paper presents the case study of a wear mechanism experienced on the cutting edge of the coated and uncoated carbide tools in turning and milling processes. The wear mechanisms of carbide cutting tools were investigated in machining Inconel 718, titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V extra-low interstitial, and aluminum metal matrix composite (AlSi/AlN MMC) at their high cutting speed regime. The tools failed primarily due to wear on the flank and rake faces. The failure mode of the carbide cutting tools was similar regardless of the machining operations and coating is believed to enhance the tool life, but once removed, the tool fails similar to that with the uncoated tool.

The aim of the present investigation is to identify the wear mechanisms of multilayer coated carbide tool under different machining conditions during turning of hardened AISI 4340 steel. The chemical vapor deposited multilayer coated (TiN/MT TiC,N/Al2O3) carbide tool was used. The worn surfaces of the cutting tools were examined under digital optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and elemental analysis. The investigation results showed a strong correlation between the cutting conditions and tool wear. The cutting speed and feed rate ensure the dominant effects on the tool wear followed by the depth of cut and also the progress of tool wear were verified under different intervals of time. The flank and rake faces of the cutting tool were severely gouged by the hard particles of workpiece material exhibited abrasive wear phenomenon. Intermittently, chipping at cutting edge, notching and catastrophic failure modes were observed in continuous machining.