Tool wear and machining performance of cBN–TiN coated carbide inserts and PCBN compact inserts in turning AISI 4340 hardened steel

PCBN is the dominant tool material for hard turning applications due to its high hardness, high wear resistance, and high thermal stability. However, the inflexibility of fabricating PCBN inserts with complex tool geometries and the prohibitive cost of PCBN inserts are some of the concerns in furthering the implementation of CBN based materials for hard turning. In this paper, we present the results of a thorough investigation of cBN plus TiN (cBN–TiN) composite-coated, commercial grade, carbide inserts (CNMA 432, WC–Co (6% Co)) for hard turning applications in an effort to address these concerns. The effect of cutting speed and feed rate on tool wear (tool life), surface roughness, and cutting forces of the cBN–TiN coated carbide inserts was experimented and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique, and the cutting conditions for their maximum tool life were evaluated. The tool wear, surface roughness, and cutting forces of the cBN–TiN coated and commercially available PCBN tipped inserts were compared under similar cutting conditions. Both flank wear and crater wear were observed. The flank wear is mainly due to abrasive actions of the martensite present in the hardened AISI 4340 alloy. The crater wear of the cBN–TiN coated inserts is less than that of the PCBN inserts because of the lubricity of TiN capping layer on the cBN–TiN coating. The coated CNMA 432 inserts produce a good surface finish (<1.6 μm) and yield a tool life of about 18 min per cutting edge. In addition, cost analysis based on total machining cost per part was performed for the comparison of the economic viability between the cBN–TiN coated and PCBN inserts.     

电弧离子镀和高功率脉冲磁控溅射AlTiN涂层及其切削性能研究

目的 比较两种沉积方法制备的AlTiN涂层的切削性能.方法 利用高功率脉冲磁控溅射技术(HiPIMS)和电弧离子镀技术(AIP),在硬质合金车刀片上沉积AlTiN涂层,比较和研究两种AlTiN涂层的组织形貌特性及综合性能.利用扫描电子显微镜和X射线能量色散谱仪,观察和检测涂层的生长形貌和元素含量.采用激光共聚焦扫描显微...     

Tool wear mechanism of WC–5TiC–10Co ultrafine cemented carbide during AISI 1045 carbon steel cutting process

WC–5TiC–10Co ultrafine and conventional cemented carbides were prepared and used for AISI 1045 carbon steel cutting tool inserts. The microstructure and mechanical properties were characterized, and cutting tests were conducted with different cutting parameters. Tool wear mechanism was analyzed by SEM and EDS. Ultrafine inserts possess higher hardness and transverse rupture strength. There were adhesive wear on the rake and slight abrasive wear on the flank of ultrafine inserts. As for conventional inserts with the same composition but with medium grain size, there were combinations of more serious abrasive and adhesive wear on the rake and flank.     

Investigation of the effects of cryogenic treatment applied at different holding times to cemented carbide inserts on tool wear

Cutting tool costs is one of the most important components of machining costs. For this reason, tool life should be improved using some methods such as cutting fluid, optimal cutting parameters, hard coatings and heat treatment. Recently, another one of the methods commonly used to improve tool life is cryogenic treatment. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of different holding times of deep cryogenic treatment on tool wear in turning of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel. The cemented carbide inserts were cryogenically treated at −145 °C for 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 h. Wear tests were conducted at four cutting speeds (100, 120, 140 and 160 m/min), a feed rate of 0.3 mm/rev and a 2.4 mm depth of cut under dry cutting conditions. The wear test results showed that flank wear and crater wear were present in all combinations of the cutting parameters. However, notch wear appeared only at lower cutting speeds (100 and 120 m/min). In general, the best wear resistance was obtained with cutting inserts cryogenically treated for 24 h. This case was attributed to the increased hardness and improved micro-structure of cemented carbide inserts. These improvements were confirmed through hardness, image processing, and XRD analyses.     

Wear behaviour of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts under dry and wet turning conditions

Cryogenic treatment has been acknowledged as a means of extending the life of tungsten carbide inserts but no study has been reported in open literature regarding the effect of coolant on the performance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts in turning. In order to understand the effect of coolant, a comparative investigation of the wear behaviour of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts in dry and wet orthogonal turning has been carried out in this study. The commercially available uncoated square-shaped tungsten carbide inserts with chip breakers were procured and cryogenically treated at ?196 °C and the cutting tests were executed in accordance to the International Standard Organisation, ISO 3685-1993 for continuous and interrupted machining mode. The criterion selected for determining the tool life was based on the maximum flank wear (0.6 mm) and the selection of cutting conditions was made to ensure the significant wear at a suitable time interval. The results showed that cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts performed significantly better in wet turning conditions under both continuous and interrupted machining modes especially at higher cutting speeds. A considerable increase in tool life was also recorded in interrupted machining mode as compared with continuous machining mode.     

Tool flank wear prediction in CNC turning of 7075 AL alloy SiC composite

Flank wear occurs on the relief face of the tool and the life of a tool used in a machining process depends upon the amount of flank wear; so predicting of flank wear is an important requirement for higher productivity and product quality. In the present work, the effects of feed, depth of cut and cutting speed on flank wear of tungsten carbide and polycrystalline diamond (PCD) inserts in CNC turning of 7075 AL alloy with 10 wt% SiC composite are studied; also artificial neural network (ANN) and co-active neuro fuzzy inference system (CANFIS) are used to predict the flank wear of tungsten carbide and PCD inserts. The feed, depth of cut and cutting speed are selected as the input variables and artificial neural network and co-active neuro fuzzy inference system model are designed with two output variables. The comparison between the results of the presented models shows that the artificial neural network with the average relative prediction error of 1.03% for flank wear values of tungsten carbide inserts and 1.7% for flank wear values of PCD inserts is more accurate and can be utilized effectively for the prediction of flank wear in CNC turning of 7075 AL alloy SiC composite. It is also found that the tungsten carbide insert flank wear can be predicted with less error than PCD flank wear insert using ANN. With Regard to the effect of the cutting parameters on the flank wear, it is found that the increase of the feed, depth of cut and cutting speed increases the flank wear. Also the feed and depth of cut are the most effective parameters on the flank wear and the cutting speed has lesser effect.     

Temperature of internally-cooled diamond-coated tools for dry-cutting titanium

The role of cutting fluids is well known for the importance of removing heat from the cutting edge, lubricating the sliding chip contact and transporting the metal chips away from the cutting zone. Dry machining leads to increased cutting temperatures and higher wear rates resulting in shorter tool life; this is particularly evident in the cutting of high strength materials. Diamond coated cutting inserts are not usually considered for machining titanium due to rapid oxidation of the coating at the temperatures typical of titanium machining. This paper examines the formation of hot-spots on the rake face during dry and near-dry turning of titanium using conventional cemented carbide inserts. Machining performance is assessed by measurement of tool wear and tool life. Trials with an internally cooled tool with a specially designed, diamond coated insert have shown that the heat from the cutting operation can be rapidly diffused over the entire surface of the insert and thus successfully drawn away from the tool via closed loop recirculation of coolant through the tool holder. This enables wear to be inhibited by management of rake face temperature to keep it below the critical temperatures at which these prominent wear mechanisms operate. Measurements of change in coolant temperature before and after circulation are used to quantify the heat removed from the cutting process. The low friction coefficient and high thermal conductivity of diamond, assisted by the indirect cooling, results in longer tool life whilst maintaining high standards of surface finish.     

Statistical analysis of surface roughness and cutting forces using response surface methodology in hard turning of AISI 52100 bearing steel with CBN tool

The present work concerns an experimental study of hard turning with CBN tool of AISI 52100 bearing steel, hardened at 64 HRC. The main objectives are firstly focused on delimiting the hard turning domain and investigating tool wear and forces behaviour evolution versus variations of workpiece hardness and cutting speed. Secondly, the relationship between cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut) and machining output variables (surface roughness, cutting forces) through the response surface methodology (RSM) are analysed and modeled. The combined effects of the cutting parameters on machining output variables are investigated while employing the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The quadratic model of RSM associated with response optimization technique and composite desirability was used to find optimum values of machining parameters with respect to objectives (surface roughness and cutting force values). Results show how much surface roughness is mainly influenced by feed rate and cutting speed. Also, it is underlined that the thrust force is the highest of cutting force components, and it is highly sensitive to workpiece hardness, negative rake angle and tool wear evolution. Finally, the depth of cut exhibits maximum influence on cutting forces as compared to the feed rate and cutting speed.     

On-line monitoring of cutting tool wear through tribo emf analysis

A novel approach to the problem of on-line identification of cutting tool wear in a turning operation has been carried out through analysis of the tribo electro motive force generated at the tool-workpiece interface. The a.c. component of the tribo emf, which results from the Fermi effect, is analysed in the spectral domain and variation between properties of the spectra and the deterioration of cemented carbide tool inserts is investigated. A high degree of correlation is found between progressive attenuation of higher frequency components of the power spectra and the development of tool flank wear under varying cutting conditions.     

Evaluation of machinability in turning of microalloyed and quenched-tempered steels: Tool wear,statistical analysis,chip morphology

The machinability of microalloyed steel (30MnVS6) and quenched-tempered (QT) steels (AISI 1045 and AISI 5140), at different cutting condition, is presented in the paper. An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the effects of cutting speed, feed rate, hardness, and workpiece material on the flank wear land and tool life of coated cemented carbide inserts in the hard turning process. It was tried that for any test condition the hardness of these steels became almost identical by using appropriate heat-treatment processes. The statistical analysis was used for evaluation of different factors on cutting forces. Chips characteristics and chip/tool contact length were also investigated. The different sections (shear plane, microcrack, thickness and edge) of the chip were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Shear planes and microcracks of the chips in microalloyed steel show that the chips of microalloyed steel are regular and discontinuous. Crater wear of the tools was studied by using video microscope in turning process. The results showed that the tool life and machinability of the microalloyed steel is better than the QT steels at identical cutting condition.     

Effect of the lubrication-cooling technique, insert technology and machine bed material on the workpart surface finish and tool wear in finish turning of AISI 420B

The paper is focussed on the effects produced by cutting operations on workpiece surface finish and tool wear. To this end, finish turning of AISI 420B stainless-steel was carried out under wet, minimum quantity of lubricant and dry cutting conditions, using both conventional and wiper technology inserts, on turning centres equipped with beds made in polymer concrete and cast iron. The workpiece surface finish and tool wear versus cutting volume were measured, and the results analysed and discussed in detail. The most significant results were: (i) the lubrication-cooling technique does not significantly affect the tool wear, whilst wet cutting produces the worst surface finish, (ii) the wiper inserts allow obtaining of the best surface finish, and (iii) the use of polymer concrete bed leads to an improved behaviour in terms of tool wear and surface roughness.     

Modes of failure of cemented tungsten carbide tool bits (WC/Co): A study of wear parts

Cemented tungsten carbide (WC/Co) holds a successful past as abrasion and wear-resistant components in mining industries for their wonderful combination of very high hardness and good fracture toughness as well as comparatively extraordinary wear resistance. Generally, the tungsten carbide drill bits/blades are used in rock drilling, mineral cutting, gas oil drilling and even tunneling industries. The service environments of the WC/Co tool bits are terribly complicated because of totally different hardness of the drilling objectives at different working conditions, consequence various movement patterns of the WC/Co drill bits. As a result, the failure mechanism of the tool bits is quite different. The mechanism of hole drilling and different mining operation and processes, a tool-bit gradually degrades till it breaks at the end of its life. Replacing a drill-bit once its breakage is often expensive in certain special applications. At the same time an early tool replacement decision could lead to cause of lower tools life. This type of claims is marking the ways that modify the accurate prediction of tool failures. In circumstances, where degradation signals using the appropriate features are utilized to make the tool replacement decision. Intensive investigation of the performance of tungsten carbide tools in hard metal industries and tool industries is being conducted worldwide. Tungsten carbide alloyed with cobalt (WC/Co) shows unique characteristics like high strength at elevated temperature and high mechanical and chemical resistance that makes carbide tools appropriate for cutting, drilling, mining and machining operation. A whole failure study is revealed within the paper. This study also discusses the failure mode of a tungsten carbide tools, its prediction and remedies.     

Predictive modeling of surface roughness and tool wear in hard turning using regression and neural networks

In machining of parts, surface quality is one of the most specified customer requirements. Major indication of surface quality on machined parts is surface roughness. Finish hard turning using Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) tools allows manufacturers to simplify their processes and still achieve the desired surface roughness. There are various machining parameters have an effect on the surface roughness, but those effects have not been adequately quantified. In order for manufacturers to maximize their gains from utilizing finish hard turning, accurate predictive models for surface roughness and tool wear must be constructed. This paper utilizes neural network modeling to predict surface roughness and tool flank wear over the machining time for variety of cutting conditions in finish hard turning. Regression models are also developed in order to capture process specific parameters. A set of sparse experimental data for finish turning of hardened AISI 52100 steel obtained from literature and the experimental data obtained from performed experiments in finish turning of hardened AISI H-13 steel have been utilized. The data sets from measured surface roughness and tool flank wear were employed to train the neural network models. Trained neural network models were used in predicting surface roughness and tool flank wear for other cutting conditions. A comparison of neural network models with regression models is also carried out. Predictive neural network models are found to be capable of better predictions for surface roughness and tool flank wear within the range that they had been trained.Predictive neural network modeling is also extended to predict tool wear and surface roughness patterns seen in finish hard turning processes. Decrease in the feed rate resulted in better surface roughness but slightly faster tool wear development, and increasing cutting speed resulted in significant increase in tool wear development but resulted in better surface roughness. Increase in the workpiece hardness resulted in better surface roughness but higher tool wear. Overall, CBN inserts with honed edge geometry performed better both in terms of surface roughness and tool wear development.     

Hard turning of an alloy steel on a machine tool with a polymer concrete bed

Finish turning of 39NiCrMo3 alloy steel in the hardened state has been widely investigated under dry, minimum quantity of lubricant and wet cutting conditions, using inserts in ceramic and PCBN materials, on turning centers equipped with polymer concrete and cast iron beds. The progress of workpart surface roughness and tool wear with cutting time has been measured and the results analysed and discussed in detail. It has been observed that dry cutting leads to the lowest values of tool wear and surface roughness, whilst the minimal quantity of lubricant technique does not provide advantages regarding to dry turning. Furthermore, the PCBN inserts are characterised by a longer tool life than the one exhibited by the ceramic inserts. Finally, the outstanding damping and high rigidity of the polymer concrete bed has a beneficial effect on both tool wear and workpiece surface finish.     

The Effects of Substrate Bias and Edge Proximity on the Mechanical Properties and Machining Performance of TiN-Coated Carbide Inserts

The effects of substrate bias on magnetron sputter-deposited TiN-coated carbide inserts were examined with a focus on the property changes that occur near the cutting tool edge. Sandvik SPG-422 polished carbide inserts were coated with TiN using substrate bias levels ranging from ?25 to ?150 V. The hardness was measured using the nano-indentation method and x-ray diffraction was used to measure residual stress. The bias strongly affected the appearance of the region 1-2 mm from the tool edge with defect formation, cracking, and delamination observed at the higher substrate bias levels. For samples deposited at bias levels of up to ?50 V, the coating composition was not strongly affected by edge proximity and the hardness exhibited only a small increase with bias of about 3 GPa. The residual stresses were measured using the sin²ψ method, and it was found that both the increasing bias level and proximity to the edge increased the degree of compressive stress, reaching ?3.2 GPa at edge location of the ?50 V bias sample. The machining performance was assessed by turning hardened 4340 steel, and only the samples deposited at ?25 and ?35 V exhibited substantial improved tool wear in comparison to an uncoated edge. These results correlated well with the appearance of the cutting tool edge and the measured stress levels.     

Determining the influence of cutting fluids on tool wear and surface roughness during turning of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel

Knowledge of the performance of cutting fluids in machining different work materials is of critical importance in order to improve the efficiency of any machining process. The efficiency can be evaluated based on certain process parameters such as flank wear, surface roughness on the work piece, cutting forces developed, temperature developed at the tool chip interface, etc. The objective of this work is to determine the influence of cutting fluids on tool wear and surface roughness during turning of AISI 304 with carbide tool. Further an attempt has been made to identify the influence of coconut oil in reducing the tool wear and surface roughness during turning process. The performance of coconut oil is also being compared with another two cutting fluids namely an emulsion and a neat cutting oil (immiscible with water). The results indicated that in general, coconut oil performed better than the other two cutting fluids in reducing the tool wear and improving the surface finish. Coconut oil has been used as one of the cutting fluids in this work because of its thermal and oxidative stability which is being comparable to other vegetable-based cutting fluids used in the metal cutting industry.     

超细晶硬质合金刀具车削不锈钢的切削温度研究

超细晶硬质合金刀具由于具有更高的硬度和抗弯强度,可以满足现代制造业的更高要求,在难加工材料高速切削领域显示出明显优势。在不锈钢材料的加工过程中,切削温度对刀具的磨损有极大的影响,而多数实验方法很难测得刀具表面具体的温度分布。借助DEFORM仿真分析软件,模拟超细晶硬质合金刀具对304不锈钢的车削过程;依据正交试验方法,分析切削用量三要素切削速度、进给量和背吃刀量对刀具温度的影响规律;通过实际车削实验与仿真结果进行比较,并与普通晶粒硬质合金刀具进行对比。结果表明:与普通晶粒硬质合金刀具加工相似,切削速度对超细晶粒硬质合金刀具温度的影响程度最大,其次是进给量,最后是背吃刀量;超细晶粒硬质合金比普通晶粒硬质合金刀具具有更好的散热性,尤其在较高速度条件下切削,优势更加明显。     

Investigation on wear behaviour of cryogenically treated TiAlN coated tungsten carbide inserts in turning

Cryogenic treatment has been ascribed as a way of improving the cutting life of tungsten carbide turning inserts. Most of the research conducted till date has not reported any effort to excavate the effect of cryogenic treatment on the performance of coated tungsten carbide inserts in terms of adhesion strength of coatings deposited on tungsten carbide substrate. In order to understand the effect of cryogenic treatment on the adhesion strength of coatings, a comparative investigation of the wear behaviour and machining performance of cryogenically treated coated tungsten carbide inserts in orthogonal turning has been carried out in this study. The commercially available TiAlN coated square shaped tungsten carbide inserts (P25) were procured and subjected to cryogenic treatment at two levels −110 °C (shallow treatment) and −196 °C (deep treatment) of temperature independently. The criterion selected for determining the turning performance was based on the maximum flank wear (0.6 mm) as recommended in ISO 3685-1993. The results showed that shallow cryogenically treated coated tungsten carbide inserts performed significantly better as compared with deep cryogenically treated and untreated inserts. Major outcome of the present study includes a substantial decrease in tool life of deep cryogenically treated inserts as compared to untreated inserts indicating the destructive effect of deep cryogenic temperature (−196 °C) on TiAlN coated inserts which is further supported by VDI-3198 indentation test.     

Performance evaluation of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide tools in turning

This paper describes a study on the effects of cryogenic treatment of tungsten carbide. Cryogenic treatment has been acknowledged by some as a means of extending the tool life of many cutting tool materials, but little is known about the mechanism behind it. Thus far, detailed studies pertaining to cryogenic treatment have been conducted only on tool steels. However, tungsten carbide cutting tools are now in common use. The main aim of this study is to analyze the differences in tool performance between cryogenically treated and untreated tool inserts during orthogonal turning of steel. This will aid in the quest for optimal cutting conditions for the turning of steel using these inserts, and will also enhance the understanding of the mechanism behind the cryogenic treatment of tungsten carbide, and the changes in its properties after cryogenic treatment. In the process of ascertaining these findings, it was shown in this study that under certain conditions, cryogenic treatment can be detrimental to tool life and performance. It was also shown that cryogenically treated tools perform better while performing intermittent cutting operations.     

Increasing tool life by adjusting the milling cutting conditions according to PVD films’ properties

The coated tools cutting performance in up and down milling depends significantly on the PVD film material properties. The related wear mechanisms at various cutting speeds can be sufficiently explained considering the developed tool loads and the non-linear coating impact resistance versus temperature. Various PVD coated cemented carbide inserts were tested at different cutting conditions. The corresponding cutting loads and temperatures were determined by FEM simulations and the films’ impact resistance by impact tests. A correlation between the impact resistance and the cutting performance at corresponding temperatures contributed to the optimum adjustment of the cutting parameters to the film properties.