Wear of HFACVD Diamond Coated Tools in Turning of MMC

HFACVD (Hot Filament Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition) is a typical technology which permits the coating of soft materials with hard or super hard layers which lead to ultra wear resistant tools. Typical tools obtained with this technology are based on a diamond layer. Unfortunately, these tools are not suitable for machining of ferrous alloys due to chemical issues, yet their use is very promising in the machining of composites based on aluminium matrix and reinforced with alumina or silicon carbide. In this paper HFACVD diamond coated, WC and PCD tools are used in turning of Al₂O₃/Al composites until they are completely worn out. The results show that the diamond tools can be competitive with both the WC and PCD ones in the industrial applications.