Aluminum-silicon （Al-Si） alloy is very difficult to machine and diamond tools are considered by far the best choice for the machining of these materials. Experimental results in the machining of the Al-Si alloy with diamond coated inserts are presented. Considering the fact that high adhesive strength and fine surface morphology play an importance role in the applications of chemical vapor deposition （CVD） diamond films, multilayer technique combining the hot filament CVD （HFCVD） method is proposed, by which multilayer diamond-coating on silicon nitride inserts is obtained, microcrystalline diamond （MCD）/ nanocrystalline diamond （NCD） film. Also, the conventional monolayer NCD and MCD coated inserts are produced for comparison. The as-deposited diamond films are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy （FE-SEM） and Raman spectrum. All the CVD diamond coated inserts and uncoated insert endure the aluminum-silicon alloy turning to estimate their cutting performances. Among all the tested inserts, the MCD/NCD coated insert exhibits the perfect behavior as tool wear due to its very low flank wear and no diamond peeling.
The effects of Si doping on morphology, components and structure characteristics of CVD diamond films were studied. Si-doped CVD diamond films were deposited on Si substrate by adding tetraethoxysilane （TEOS） into acetone as source of reactant gas. The morphology and microstructure of diamond films were characterized by scanning electron microcopy （SEM）. The crystalline quality of diamond films was studied by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry （XRD）. The surface roughness of the films was evaluated with surface profilometer. The results suggest that Si doping tends to reduce the crystallite size, enhance grain refinement and inhibit the appearance of （11 I） facets. Raman spectra indicate that Si doping can enhance the formation of sp2 phase in diamond films. Moreover, Raman signal of SiC was detected, which suggests the existence of Si in the diamond films. Smooth fine-grained diamond （SFGD） film was synthesized at Si to C ratio of 1%.
