Tool wear mechanisms and an integrated framework for tool materials, coatings, and cooling strategies in hybrid material machining

Abstract The machining of hybrid materials is very difficult since they are heterogeneously composed materials, which are made up of ductile matrices with hard or brittle reinforcements. The result of such multi-phase interactions is complicated tool-workpiece interactions, which cause rapid tool wear, unstable cutting conditions and subsurface integrity. The review is a critical study of the predominant tool wear mechanisms in machining of hybrid materials such as abrasion, adhesion, diffusion, oxidation, edge chipping and their reliance on material properties and machining conditions. The contributions made by cutting tool materials like cemented carbides, poly-crystalline diamond (PCD), and cubic boron nitride (CBN) and advanced coating architectures (TiAlN, AlCrN, diamond-like carbon), are also systematically discussed in terms of wear resistance and thermal stability. Moreover, the role of cooling and lubrication strategies, such as dry machining, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), cryogenic cooling, and hybrid methods, such as cryo-MQL, is assessed based on tribological performance, thermal control, and sustainability. An important aspect of this research is the creation of an integrated framework that correlates material properties, wear mechanisms, and tool environment design so that they can be used to achieve optimized machining performance. The results give a holistic view of the interdependent variables that control the machining of hybrid materials and give strategic solutions on how to enhance the tool life, surface quality and sustainability of the processes in the high-end manufacturing processes.