Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is extensively used in equipment used for manufacturing semiconductor components and wet etching equipment. However, achieving ideal dimensional accuracy when cutting PTFE is challenging. In this study, we performed cutting experiments using a curvilinear tool and analyzed cutting force, cutting temperature, groove width, and surface roughness in PTFE grooving. The results indicated that the cutting force was most notably affected by the feed rate in Stage I of grooving. The rate of change in cutting force was the largest in Stage II because of the increase in the tool contact area. In Stage III, the shear area of the rake face was the largest, and the cutting force tended to be stable. The groove width was measured with a minimum error rate of 0.95% at a feed rate of 0.05 mm/rev. Moreover, the groove exhibited a time-independent springback. The minimum groove surface roughness was 0.586 at a feed rate of 0.05 mm/rev. The ideal feed rate was 0.05 mm/rev with groove width, surface quality, and chip curl as the key parameters. The processing parameters obtained in this study can be applied to actual production for the optimization of manufacturing accuracy.
Keywords: grooving; polytetrafluoroethylene; surface roughness; tool contact.