New materials and coating technologies have greatly improved the life and overall performance of cutting tools. A new surface finishing technology originally originated from the optical industry provides an alternative to improve the life of carbide, cobalt high speed steel, high speed steel and PCBN tool life. This new technology developed by Mikronite Technologies Inc. is a dry machining process that combines pressure with grinding media to grind and strain harden the entire surface of the tool (or part). This "like grinding" process can obtain a hardened surface with better lubricity, smoothness, corrosion resistance and wear resistance. However, this surface can no longer be coated or plated.
The Mikronite process is very suitable for processing tools with complex geometries (such as hobs, drills, taps, reamers, etc.) and cutting inserts. The core of the process system is a reversible centrifugal accelerated agitator. Put the knife (or parts) in a container filled with non-corrosive abrasive media, and install the container on the agitator. The stirrer makes the container rotate clockwise, and at the same time, it takes the rotating container to make a counterclockwise rotation along a circular path. This kind of movement makes the workpiece in the container bear the gravity of more than 30G, but the workpiece does not come into contact with the container wall; this kind of movement also causes the grinding medium in the container to slide uniformly on the entire surface of the workpiece under a uniformly distributed pressure. The combined effect of this pressure and swing causes the metal surface to break within a controlled depth, but it does not change the size, shape or metallurgical properties of the workpiece. Through this kind of cold plastic deformation, a surface finish of Ra<1μm can be produced, and at the same time, the characteristics of the best combination of external surface hardness and internal toughness can be obtained. In addition, it can also make the workpiece material (such as steel) better corrosion resistance.
The Mikronite process can also be used in the automotive industry to improve the durability of interacting parts by reducing the coefficient of friction between mating surfaces. At present, this technology has been applied to the surface treatment of power transmission boxes, valve trains and various other engine parts. In addition, the process is also used for the surface polishing of medical and dental parts, aerospace parts (such as engine turbine blades, shafting, etc.). Mikronite process is suitable for processing workpiece materials including steel, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, bearing steel, tool steel, cemented carbide, silicon nitride, brass and bronze, and various ceramics and plastics.
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