This paper explores the influence of micro textures on cutting performance of polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tools from two aspects, that is, tool wear and machined surface roughness. By designing micro-hole textures with different forms and scales on the rake face of tools when PCBN tools turn hardened steel GCr15, and combining finite element analysis (FEA) technology and cutting experiments, the cutting performance of micro-textured tools is simulated and analyzed. This paper analyses the influence of micro textures on tool wear and machined surface roughness by analyzing cutting force, Mises stress and maximum shear stress of tool surface. Results of finite element analysis (FEA) and cutting experiments show that the reasonable micro-hole textures can significantly alleviate tool wear and improve machined surface quality when compared with the non-textured tools. Besides, the size of micro-hole textures on the rake face play an important role in reducing the cutting force and tool wear. This is mainly because micro-hole textures can reduce cutting force and improve tool surface stress. Finally, by designing reasonable micro-hole textures on the rake face, the problems of bad roughness of machined workpiece and severe tool wear of PCBN tools in cutting GCr15 material are solved. Consequently, the paper shows that micro-hole textures have a positive effect on improving the cutting performance of tool.

An enhanced dung beetle optimization algorithm (EDBO) is proposed for nonlinear optimization problems with multiple constraints in manufacturing. Firstly, the dung beetle rolling phase is improved by removing the worst value interference and coupling the current solution with the optimal solution to each other, while retaining the advantages of the original formulation. Subsequently, to address the problem that the dung beetle dancing phase focuses only on the information of the current solution, which leads to the overly stochastic and inefficient exploration of the problem space, the globally optimal solution is introduced to steer the dung beetle, and a stochastic factor is added to the optimal solution. Finally, the dung beetle foraging phase introduces the Jacobi curve to further enhance the algorithm’s ability to jump out of the local optimum and avoid the phenomenon of premature convergence. The performance of EDBO in optimization is tested using the CEC2017 function set, and the significance of the algorithm is verified by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the Friedman test. The experimental results show that EDBO has strong optimization-seeking accuracy and optimization-seeking stability. By solving four engineering optimization problems of varying degrees, EDBO has proven to have good adaptability and robustness.

This paper applies micro textures to the rake face of PCBN (Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride) tools, including three types of micro textures that are microgroove textures vertical to the cutting edge, microgroove textures parallel to the cutting edge, and microhole textures. In this paper, the effects of different cutting speeds on the surface quality of hardened bearing steel GCr15 by dry turning with non-texture PCBN tools and micro-texture PCBN tools are studied, and the surface roughness values obtained by different micro textures were compared and analyzed. The results showed that, compared to that of non-texture tools, the influence degree of the micro-texture tools on the machined surface roughness was different. The microhole texture and vertical microgroove texture were able to effectively reduce the surface roughness of the workpiece, and microhole texture had the best effective influence on surface roughness, but the parallel microgroove texture increased surface roughness. The influence of cutting speeds on surface roughness was different due to different types of micro textures. The influence of micro textures on surface roughness has huge potential for tool applications.

Titanium alloy material has physical properties such as low thermal conductivity, high hardness, and surface resilience, which are prone to problems such as large milling force, low machining efficiency, and poor surface quality in processed products during dry milling. This document details our process of isolating micro-textures from biological structures, applying them to cutting tool surfaces to create micro-texture milling cutters, and employing this micro-texture technique to reduce friction and prevent wear on these cutters. According to the milling dosage and the installation position between the tool and the workpiece, the effective working area of the cutting edge of the ball-end milling cutter is calculated. At the same time, a self-lubricating cutter was constructed by using a laser to process micro-textures and filling solid lubricant inside the micro-textures. An analysis was conducted to compare the milling efficiency of bionic microtextured cutters in both dry and micro-lubricated environments. It was found that the self-lubricating tool promoted a 3% to 5% decrease in milling force, a reduction in the coefficient of friction, a high surface finish of the machined workpiece, and an alleviation of chip sticking at the edge area.

Dry cutting is an effective method to realize the concept of green cutting today. However, in the process of cutting bearing steel, the high temperatures and high pressures produced by the cutting tool and chip under dry friction seriously affect the machining performance of the tool. Therefore, a bionic microstructure tool based on bionics is proposed to improve the cutting performance and reduce friction by changing the size parameters of the microstructure. On the basis of finite element simulation and cutting tests, the cutting force, surface roughness, and chip shape are used to evaluate the cutting performance. It is found that composite bionic micro-textured tools have a significantly reduced cutting force compared with non-micro-textured tools; composite bionic micro-textured tools lead to a reduction in surface roughness of 10–25%; and composite bionic micro-textured tools are more prone to enhancing the curling and breaking of chips. In addition, with the increase in the microstructure area occupancy, the cutting performance of the tool was also significantly improved. Moreover, it was found that the cutting performance of the tool was improved when the area occupancy of the micro-texture on the front face of the tool was increased.

Titanium alloys are widely used in various fields, but milling titanium alloy materials often leads to problems such as high milling forces, increased milling temperatures, and chip adhesion. Thus, the machinability of titanium alloys faces challenges. To improve the milling performance of titanium alloy materials, this study analyzes the effective working area on the surface of the milling cutter through mathematical calculations. We design micro-grooves in this area to utilize their friction-reducing and wear-resisting properties to alleviate the aforementioned issues. The effective working area of the ball end milling cutter’s cutting edge is calculated based on the amount of milling and the installation position between the milling cutter and the workpiece. By observing the surface structure of seashells, micro-grooves are proposed and designed to be applied in the working area of the milling cutter surface. The impact of the micro-groove area on the milling cutter surface and spindle speed on milling performance is discussed based on milling simulation and experimental tests. Experimental results show that the cutting force, milling temperature, and chip resistance to adhesion produced by micro-groove milling cutters are superior to conventional milling cutters. Milling cutters with three micro-grooves perform best at different spindle speeds. This is because the presence of micro-grooves on the surface of the milling cutter improves the friction state, promoting a reduction in milling force, while the micro-grooves also serve as storage containers for chips, alleviating the phenomenon of chip softening and adhesion to the cutter. When conducting cutting tests with a milling cutter that has three micro-grooves, the milling force is reduced by 10% to 30%, the milling temperature drops by 10% to 20%, and the surface roughness decreases by 8% to 12%.