In the past decade, the technical feasibility of green machining was demonstrated at several occasions by different groups of authors. The basic prerequisites for successful machining in the as-compacted condition are enhanced green strength of the materials as well as optimized cutting parameters and tool geometries. However, until now the PM community is still used to speculate about the economical potential of green machining, since specific information concerning tool life or production cost is not available to the public. During an investigation at the Institute for Materials Science (IWK) in Aachen, the tool wear progress during green drilling of warm compacted PM steels was quantified and related to the changes in product quality. The results give clear information on optimum tool material and facilitate a comparison of the production costs of machining in the as-sintered and in the as-compacted condition.
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