Tool crater wear depth modeling in CBN hard turning

Hard turning has been receiving increased attention because it offers many possible benefits over grinding in machining hardened steel. The wear of cubic boron nitride (CBN) tools, which are commonly used in hard turning, is an important issue that needs to be better understood. For hard turning to be a viable replacement technology, the high cost of CBN cutting tools and the cost of down-time for tool changing must be minimized. In addition to progressive flank wear, microchipping and tool breakage (which lead to early tool failure) are prone to occur under aggressive machining conditions due to significant crater wear and weakening of the cutting edge. The objective of this study is to model the CBN tool crater wear depth (K_T) to guide the design of CBN tool geometry and to optimize cutting parameters in finish hard turning. First, the main wear mechanisms (abrasion, adhesion, and diffusion) in hard turning are discussed and the associated wear volume loss models are developed as functions of cutting temperature, stress, and other process information. Then, the crater wear depth is predicted in terms of tool/work material properties and process information. Finally, the proposed model is experimentally validated in finish turning of hardened 52100 bearing steel using a low CBN content tool. The comparison between model predictions and experimental results shows reasonable agreement, and the results suggest that adhesion is the dominant wear mechanism within the range of conditions that were investigated.