Impressive performance, with or without coolant!

From a machining point of view, aluminium and diamond are a good team. So, it comes as no surprise that CERATIZIT chose to protect their AluLine milling cutters with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), so that aluminium alloys cannot detract from this perfect partnership with unwanted built-up edges or abrasive wear.

Whatever the vehicle, a sleek look is ever-popular. So, from season to season each new generation of models seemingly gets more and more streamlined. In the automotive industry, steel materials are increasingly being replaced by aluminium alloys, particularly when it comes to sports models. This helps manufacturers to work towards their efficiency targets, as well as requirements for dynamics that they have set themselves. Although aluminium is good to work with when it comes to machining, the material does have its drawbacks, which tool developers try to minimise using specially adapted tool systems.

Hard grades – equally strong in roughing and finishing

In order to be able to better serve broad application fields such as the non-ferrous metals sector, CERATIZIT has added around 2,500 items to its milling cutter range that are designed exclusively for these applications. These items are based on special substrates, paired with specially adapted geometries and sturdy coatings. Even though non-ferrous metals are comparatively soft, CERATIZIT nevertheless uses hard grades such as DLC coatings for its AluLine milling cutters. With HV 0.05 = 6000, the coatings provide at least 60 to 80 percent of the hardness of natural diamonds producing outstanding performance in terms of service life in roughing and finishing operations. As a result, milling cutters are protected from damage caused by built-up edges or abrasive alloy accretions – something that is absolutely essential in series production, for example. If you do not want to use coolant, this is not a problem for DLC: this powerful coating demonstrates particularly impressive performance in dry machining applications – it runs as smoothly as if it were using lubricant!