Composite - Metal Hybrid Milling Disc

Four-disc carbon/steel milling cutter: cycle time cut from 45 s to 10 s and tool life raised more than 4.8 times.

This hybrid four-disc milling cutter combines carbon fibre composite disc bodies with steel cutting elements. It lets manufacturers produce significantly more parts on their existing CNC milling centres, at lower overall production cost.

The customer's Doosan Mecatec HM63H twin-pallet horizontal machining centre has a 25 kg tool weight limit. Four conventional steel discs at 7.93 kg each would exceed it; the lighter hybrid design fits comfortably and adds two discs to the standard two-disc tool. The lower body weight also allowed more cutting inserts per disc: 64 inserts in total, against 24 on the standard cutter.

Results on a forged steel chain link:
• Machining time cut from 45 s to 10 s
• Cutting speed raised from 120 to 180 m/min
• Feed rate raised from 260 to 400 mm/min
• Tool life increased from about 250 to more than 1,200 parts between tool changes (over 4.8 times)

The higher speeds and longer tool life come from the higher natural frequency and better damping of the composite body, which also improve surface finish and reduce noise.