A Novel Methodology to Investigate Critical Depth for Ductile-to-Brittle Transition During Scratch Testing

More than two decades have passed since the introduction of the scratch testing method for rock strength determination. The test method typically involves dragging a rigid-shaped cutter across the rock surface at a fixed cutting depth. This depth determines the failure mechanism of the rock, ductile for shallow depths and brittle for deeper. In the ductile mode, intrinsic specific energy is primarily a measure of the unconfined-compressive-strength (UCS), which is pivotal for rate of penetration (ROP) during drilling and for borehole stability analysis. On the contrary, brittle failure can lead to permanent core damage and is usually not desired as it impacts interpretation of the scratch testing results. Consequently, it is imperative to identify the critical depth, and at which transition from ductile to brittle failure occurs which will help optimize rock testing and tool designs. In this study, a novel methodology is proposed utilizing micro-computed tomography (CT) imaging to determine critical depth through morphological analysis of scratch test cuttings. Scratch tests are carried out on Indiana limestone core samples with the cutter-rock interaction geometry characterized by a cutter width of 10mm and a back-rake angle of 15°. The sample is scratched in the range of 0.05mm to 0.40mm with increments of 0.05mm. Scratch powder is carefully collected after each scratch increment and stored for further analysis. This powder is then loaded into slim rubber tubes and imaged at a high resolution of 1 µm with a helical micro-CT scanner. The scans are then reconstructed using a computer program to initiate the visualization of individual grains from each cutter depth including evaluation of grain morphologies. Finally, the results from this morphological analysis are corroborated and compared with three other methods: force response analysis, force inflection point analysis, and the size effect law (SEL). Based on shape analysis, it was found that the transition from ductile to brittle regime occurs at a depth of 0.25mm. Elongation and appearance of the enhanced degree of angularity of the grains as the depth of cut (DOC) increases past 0.25mm was observed. Moreover, large grain sizes were detected and are representative of formation of chips (typical brittle regime response). Furthermore, it is illustrated that the image analysis helps eliminate the ambiguity of force signal analysis and in combination can aid in the critical depth of cut determination. The other methods involving force alone and the SEL are not able to pin-point onset of brittle regime. Using a similar methodology, creation of a database for various rock types is recommended to develop a guide for the depth of cut selection during scratch testing. This novel methodology utilizing micro-CT analysis and comparative study with other techniques will put in place an accurate strategy to determine the critical depth of cut when designing rock scratch testing programs.

Experimental Investigation of the Machinability of Single Crystal Silicon in Laser-Assisted Diamond Cutting

Laser-assisted diamond cutting is a promising process for machining hard and brittle materials. A deep knowledge of material removal mechanism and attainable surface integrity are crucial to the development of this new technique. This paper focuses on the application of laser-assisted diamond cutting to single crystal silicon to investigate key characteristics of this process. The influence of laser power on the ductile machinability of single crystal silicon, in terms of the critical depth of cut for ductile-brittle transition in laser-assisted diamond cutting, is investigated quantitatively using a plunge-cut method. The experimental results reveal that this process can enhance the silicon’s ductility and machinability. The critical depth of cut has been increased by up to 330% with laser assistance, and its degree generally increases with the increase of laser power. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscope observation results indicate that laser-assisted diamond cutting is able to realize the subsurface damage free processing of single crystal silicon. In order to verify the ability of the laser-assisted diamond cutting to improve the surface quality, the face turning tests are also carried out. A significant improvement of surface quality has been obtained by laser-assisted diamond cutting: Sz (maximum height) has been reduced by 85% and Sa (arithmetical mean height) has been reduced by 45%.

Cutting Characteristics of Hard-Brittle Materials Under Nano/Micro Groove Cutting Using a V-Shape Tool

The cutting characteristics and the critical depth of cut in nano/micro cutting of hard/brittle materials were investigated. A V-shaped single crystal diamond tool with a negative rake angle was used as the tool, and a cutting experiment was conducted by means of the inclined cutting test technique. The effect of rake angle on specific cutting force was also compared with V-groove cutting model based on simple shear plane. It was found that the cutting force increased and the burrs height increased as the rake angle became negative. and it was considered that the plastic flow influenced on the cutting force. It was also found that the critical cutting depth decreases with the decrease of the rake angle. The result of this experiment showed the opposite tendency to previous studies on the critical depth of cut. This is attributed to that, in the V-type tool cutting, the crack growth by increasing plastic flow is more effective than the suppress of cracks growth by increase of hydrostatic pressure.

A Fast Method to Determine the Critical Depth of Cut for Various Rock Types

Knowing correct values of the rock mechanical properties is crucial for many engineering applications in subsurface. Rocks may show two failure modes during cutting: ductile and brittle. In the ductile mode, rock deforms plastically, and the debris is powdered ahead of the cutting face. On the other hand, chips are the major cutting characteristics for the brittle failure during rock cutting. The critical depth of cut represents the transition point between these two models, so knowing this value helps better predict the failure mechanism of rock. In this paper, a new method is introduced based on measuring the roughness of the groove for determining the transition point of failure modes for every rock sample after the scratch test. The graph depicting the average change in the surface roughness (Rt) versus the scratched surface roughness (ΔR) can be used to identify the rock failure mode and determine the transition point for the cutting process. The value of this slope increases until the depth of cut reaches the transition point, and then the slope reaches a constant value. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the critical depth of cut of different rock specimens employing the new surface roughness model.

Modeling and Experiment of the Critical Depth of Cut at the Ductile–Brittle Transition for a 4H-SiC Single Crystal

In this paper, a theoretical model of the critical depth of cut of nanoscratching on a 4H-SiC single crystal with a Berkovich indenter is proposed, and a series of scratch tests in a nanomechanical test system was performed. Through nanoindentation experimentation on fused quartz, the Berkovich indenter nose radius was indirectly confirmed using least squares. The range of critical depths of cut at the ductile–brittle transition was obtained by SEM observation, and the size of cracks was amplified with increasing scratching depth. The theoretical result of the critical depth of cut at the ductile–brittle transition for a 4H-SiC single crystal is 91.7 nm, which is close to the first obvious pop-in point of the relation curve between tangential force and lateral displacement. Repeated experimental results show good consistency and good agreement with other references.

A Study of Scratch Speed Effects on Ductile–Brittle Transition in Silicon

A unique rotational double-taper scratching setup is used to study ductile brittle transitions in single crystal (100) p-type silicon using a conical diamond tool at room temperature and scratching speeds ranging between 0.1 m/s and 0.3 m/s. In such a setup, transition from brittle to ductile occurs twice in a single-tapered scratch, during tool entry and tool exit. A well-defined way to determine critical depth of cut via linear crack density per unit crack length is proposed. The scratches were studied using scanning electron microscopy (morphology) and white light interferometry (depth measurements). A comprehensive study of critical depth of cut, compiled from the literature together with data from this study, with scratching speeds from very low to high shows that critical depth of cut decreases from very low scratch speeds to medium scratch speeds and then increases again at very high scratch speeds. An inference from this study is that diamond turning should be conducted at higher cutting speeds than being undertaken today to make use of larger critical depths of cut.

The Best and Worst Feed Directions in Milling Chatter

In this paper, a 2D milling stability analysis is reduced to a 1D problem by performing a modal analysis on an oriented transfer function matrix under a given feed direction. The oriented frequency response function (FRF) of the oriented transfer matrix are obtained as explicit functions of the radial immersion and feed direction. At different feed directions in most of the lower immersion range, the process is demonstrated to be the least stable when the modal direction of the directional matrix is oriented at 45° and 225° and in the −45° and 135°, yielding a local minimum critical depth of cut, regardless of up or down cuts. At higher immersion, the worst critical depth of cut is dominated by the lower frequency mode, and becomes a constant, independent of the feed direction at full cut. When the modal direction is oriented along the x or y axes, the process has a local maximum critical depth of cut.