Oil Palm Fiber Composite for Single Point Cutting Tools

Much emphasis has been placed upon vibrations in cutting tools during recent years because many people have recognized that accuracy, surface finish and, last but not least, production costs are considered. Today we use modern instruments and easy available for the investigation of cutting tool vibration. However, in the final analysis, the completed surface itself will return the dynamic behaviour of the cutting tool.

The scope of this project is to replace the conventional material by using composite material. However, a few or no studies were found to compare the material properties when the parts possess constant stiffness. Composite materials based on constant stiffness structures will provide a better comparison of size, weight damping properties etc., for the cutting tool structure manufactured using alternative composite material suggested for it. For this project oil palm reinforced fibre, steel and cast iron structure exhibiting constant stiffness were modelled analytically and calculated mathematically. A beam with rectangular shape has been select for analysis to simulate the machine tool components such as bed, beam and ram. The analytical (FEM) method was used to arrive at the dimensions of the structures which provide same stiffness. The dimensions calculated analytically were confirmed by testing them numerically.

The recent research on high speed precision cutting tools aims at developing an alternative material for the structures which exhibit good damping and stiffness characteristics.