Abrasion Resistance Evaluation for Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) Tipped Tools using the Olympus OLS5000 Laser Confocal Microscope

Background

Cubic boron nitride (CBN) is a hard compound commonly used as an abrasive. CBN lathe tips are used to manufacture critical components requiring precise machining. The CBN tips are durable, but they wear out over time. Machining parts with worn out CBN tips can lead to costly manufacturing defects and poor quality. Consequently, CBN tips must be routinely inspected.

The Olympus solutions

The Olympus LEXT 3D measuring laser microscope is ideal for inspecting CBN tips because of its 5 nm minimum resolution. The LEXT enables users to create 3D images of the object being inspected providing a high-resolution, detailed visual image of potential wear (Figure 1).

Features of the product

The LEXT features ultra-high-resolution images with high pixel density for accurate 3D observations. While conventional laser microscopes have difficulty making accurate measurements of samples with steep angles, the LEXT reliably measures steep angles and complex geometries. In addition, the LEXT features a surface roughness mode that measures line roughness on one line and plane roughness on the entire surface.

Image

Figure 1: 3D images of a cubic boron nitride (CBN) tip before (left) and after (right) use