Tool life and wear mechanism of coated and uncoated Al2O3/TiCN mixed ceramic tools in turning hardened alloy steel

The focus of this paper is the continuous turning of hardened AISI 52100 (～63HRc) using coated and uncoated ceramic Al₂O₃–TiCN mixed inserts, which are cheaper than cubic boron nitride (CBN) or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN). The machinability of hardened steel was evaluated by measurements of tool wear, tool life, and surface finish of the workpiece. Wear mechanisms and patterns of ceramic inserts in hard turning of hardened AISI 52100 are discussed. According to the results obtained, fracture and chipping type damages occur more frequently in uncoated tools, whereas crater wear is the more common type of damage in TiN coated tools. Most important result obtained from the study is that TiN coating and crater wear affect chip flow direction. In uncoated ceramic tool, the crater formation results in decrease of chip up-curl radius. Besides, uncoated cutting tool results in an increase in the temperature at the tool chip interface. This causes a thermal bi-metallic effect between the upper and lower sides of the chip that forces the chip to curl a smaller radius. Chips accumulate in front of the tool and stick to the workpiece depending on the length of the cutting time. This causes the surface quality to deteriorate. TiN coating not only ensures that the cutting tool is tougher, but also ensures that the surface quality is maintained during cutting processes.     

Investigation of the performance of carbide cutting tools with hard coatings in hard milling based on the response surface methodology

Machining of hard materials has become a great challenge for several decades. One of the problems in this machining process is early tool wear, and this affects the machinability of hard materials. In order to increase machinability, cutting tools are widely coated with nanostructured physical vapor deposition hard coatings. The main characteristics of such advanced hard coatings are high microhardness and toughness as well as good adhesion to the substrate. In this paper, the influence of hard coatings (nanolayer AlTiN/TiN, multilayer nanocomposite TiAlSiN/TiSiN/TiAlN, and commercially available TiN/TiAlN) and cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut) on cutting forces and surface roughness were investigated during face milling of AISI O2 cold work tool steel (～61 HRC). The experiments were conducted based on 3¹³ factorial design by response surface methodology, and response surface equations of cutting forces and surface roughness were obtained. In addition, the cutting forces obtained with the coated and uncoated tools were compared. The results showed that the interaction of coating type and depth of cut affects surface roughness. The hard coating type has no significant effect on cutting forces, while the cutting force F _z is approximately two times higher in the case of uncoated tool.     

Effect of MoS2-based composite coatings on tribological behavior and efficiency of gear

MoS₂-based Ti composite coatings were deposited on the SCM420 alloy and gears using an RF magnetron sputtering (RFMS) system. While MoS₂ coating had been coated on the silicon substrate. The coatings structures were compared to each other to find the effect of Ti. The composite coatings have been tested in a ball-on-disk tribometer to investigate tribological behavior at various conditions. The scratch test was conducted to characterize adhesion force between composite coatings and substrates. The structure of the coatings has been extensively studied by a variety of techniques, including optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), etc. The composite coatings were also applied to the gears of a reduction gearbox. The efficiency of uncoated and MoS₂-based Ti coated gear was measured and compared at various input rotating speed under absorption oil film condition. It was found that the efficiency of gear had significantly improved after MoS₂-based Ti composite coatings deposition.     

Experimental investigations on machinability aspects in finish hard turning of AISI 4340 steel using uncoated and multilayer coated carbide inserts

The present work deals with some machinability studies on flank wear, surface roughness, chip morphology and cutting forces in finish hard turning of AISI 4340 steel using uncoated and multilayer TiN and ZrCN coated carbide inserts at higher cutting speed range. The process has also been justified economically for its effective application in hard turning. Experimental results revealed that multilayer TiN/TiCN/Al₂O₃/TiN coated insert performed better than uncoated and TiN/TiCN/Al₂O₃/ZrCN coated carbide insert being steady growth of flank wear and surface roughness. The tool life for TiN and ZrCN coated carbide inserts was found to be approximately 19 min and 8 min at the extreme cutting conditions tested. Uncoated carbide insert used to cut hardened steel fractured prematurely. Abrasion, chipping and catastrophic failure are the principal wear mechanisms observed during machining. The turning forces (cutting force, thrust force and feed force) are observed to be lower using multilayer coated carbide insert in hard turning compared to uncoated carbide insert. From 1st and 2nd order regression model, 2nd order model explains about 98.3% and 86.3% of the variability of responses (flank wear and surface roughness) in predicting new observations compared to 1st order model and indicates the better fitting of the model with the data for multilayer TiN coated carbide insert. For ZrCN coated carbide insert, 2nd order flank wear model fits well compared to surface roughness model as observed from ANOVA study. The savings in machining costs using multilayer TiN coated insert is 93.4% compared to uncoated carbide and 40% to ZrCN coated carbide inserts respectively in hard machining taking flank wear criteria of 0.3 mm. This shows the economical feasibility of utilizing multilayer TiN coated carbide insert in finish hard turning.     

Study on cutting forces and experiment of MoS2/Zr-coated cemented carbide tool

MoS₂/Zr composite films were deposited on the cemented carbide YT14 (WC+14%TiC+6%Co) by medium-frequency magnetron sputtered coupled with multi-arc ion plating techniques. The thickness, micro-hardness, and coating/substrate adhesion strength of the coatings were tested. Surface morphologies of the composite coatings, as well as wear features, were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Dry machining tests on hardened steel were carried out with the coated tool and uncoated YT15 tool. The variation of cutting forces for 45# hardened steel was tested by the Kistler force tester. The result shows that the cutting forces of coated tool were decreased by 25–30%, and flank wear resistance was improved by 30–35% in comparison with the uncoated YT15 tool. Through the analysis of cutting force distribution theory, the lower mean shear stress on the MoS₂/Zr-coated tool face leads to the decrease of cutting force and increase of tool wear resistance.     

Effects of Deposition Conditions and Counter Bodies on the Tribological Properties of Pulsed DC Magnetron Sputtered TiN–MoS<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> Composite Coating

In the current study, TiN–MoS _x composite coatings were deposited by co-sputtering of MoS₂ and Ti targets under a mixture of Ar and N₂ gas environment using pulsed DC closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The tribological response of TiN–MoS _x composite coatings was studied against two different counter bodies: cemented carbide (WC–6% Co) ball and pin made of aluminium alloy (AlSiMg). First, the effect of substrate bias was studied on tribological properties using cemented carbide ball. Lowest coefficient of friction in the range of 0.03–0.04 was obtained for the specimen deposited at a substrate bias of −60 V. Wear coefficient was also found to be minimum for the same specimen. Coatings were further deposited at an optimum bias of −60 V in order to vary MoS _x content of TiN–MoS _x composite coating. Effect of variation of chemical composition of the coating was then studied on tribological performance of the coating against aluminium alloy counterface. Excellent anti-sticking property of MoS _x was found to have enabled the TiN–MoS _x composite coating to achieve considerably low coefficient of friction against aluminium alloy. It was shown that with optimum MoS _x content of TiN–MoS _x composite coating, it was possible to attain as low coefficient of friction as 0.09 against aluminium alloy even under normal atmospheric condition.     

不同涂层刀具切削淬硬H13钢加工性能研究

为了研究不同涂层刀具切削淬硬H13钢的切削性能,进行了多层Ti化合物涂层、TiAlN涂层以及MTTiCN厚Al_2O_3TiN涂层材料刀具车削加工淬硬H13钢试验,分析了不同的涂层材料刀具与切削力、切削温度、涂层刀具磨损以及刀具寿命的关系。研究得出:多层Ti化合物涂层刀具受到三个方向的力都大于其它两种涂层的刀具,而且切削温度最高;用TiAlN涂层刀具切削时温度最低;切削过程中三种刀具后刀面磨损程度不同,发现多层Ti化合物涂层刀具磨损最为严重,寿命最短;MT-TiCN厚Al_2O_3Ti N涂层材料刀具比多层Ti化合物涂层刀具寿命长30%;TiAlN涂层刀具的切削寿命最长比多层Ti化合物涂层刀具寿命长45%。     

Comparative evaluation of machinability characteristics of Nimonic C-263 using CVD and PVD coated tools

Machining of Nimonic C-263 has always been a challenging task owing to its hot strength, low thermal conductivity, tendency to work harden and affinity towards tool materials. Although coated tools have been used to overcome some of these challenges, selection of coated tool with appropriate deposition technique is of immense significance. The current study attempts to comparatively evaluate various performance measures in machining of Nimonic C-263 such as surface roughness, cutting force, cutting temperature, chip characteristics, and tool wear with particular emphasis on different modes of tool failure for commercially available inserts with multi-component coating deposited using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) techniques. Influence of cutting speed (V_c) and machining duration (t) has also been investigated using both coated tools. The study demonstrated remarkable decrease in surface roughness (74.3%), cutting force (6.3%), temperature (13.4%) and chip reduction coefficient (22%) with PVD coated tool consisting of alternate layers of TiN and TiAlN over its CVD coated counterpart with TiCN/Al₂O₃ coating in bilayer configuration. Severe plastic deformation and chipping of cutting edge and nose, abrasive nose and flank wear along with formation of built-up-layer (BUL) were identified as possible mechanisms of tool failure. PVD coated tool successfully restricted different modes of tool wear for the entire range of cutting speed. Superior performance can be attributed to the hardness and wear resistance properties, thermal stability due to presence of TiAlN phase and excellent toughness owing to PVD technique and multilayer architecture.     

Machining of austenitic stainless steels using CVD multi-layer coated cemented carbide tools

This paper presents the results of experimental work in dry turning of austenitic stainless steels (AISI 304 and AISI 316) using CVD multi-layer coated cemented carbide tools. The turning tests were conducted at four different cutting speeds (120, 150, 180 and 210 m/min) while feed rate and depth of cut were kept constant at 0.16 mm/rev and 1 mm, respectively. The cutting tools used were TiC/TiCN/TiN and TiCN/TiC/Al₂O₃ coated cementide carbides. The influences of cutting speed, cutting tool coating top layer and workpiece material were investigated on the machined surface roughness and the cutting forces. The worn parts of the cutting tools were also examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that cutting speed significantly affected the machined surface roughness values. With increasing cutting speed, the surface roughness values decreased until a minimum value is reached beyond which they increased.     

A comparative study on performance of multilayer coated and uncoated carbide inserts when turning AISI D2 steel under dry environment

The present work deals with a comparative study on flank wear, surface roughness, tool life, volume of chip removal and economical feasibility in turning high carbon high chromium AISI D2 steel with multilayer MTCVD coated [TiN/TiCN/Al₂O₃/TiN] and uncoated carbide inserts under dry cutting environment. Higher micro hardness of TiN coated carbide samples (1880 HV) compared to uncoated carbide (1430 HV) is observed and depicts better resistance against abrasion. The low erosion rate was observed in TiN coated insert compared to uncoated carbide. The tool life of TiN coated insert is found to be approximately 30 times higher than the uncoated carbide insert under similar cutting conditions and produced lower surface roughness compared to uncoated carbide insert. The dominant wear mechanism was found to be abrasion and progression of wear was steady using multilayer TiN coated carbide insert. The developed regression model shows high determination coefficient i.e. R² = 0.977 for flank wear and 0.94 for surface roughness and accurately explains the relationship between the responses and the independent variable. The machining cost per part for uncoated carbide insert is found to be 10.5 times higher than the multilayer TiN coated carbide inserts. This indicates 90.5% cost savings using multilayer TiN coated inserts by the adoption of a cutting speed of 200 m/min coupled with a tool feed rate of 0.21 mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.4 mm. Thus, TiN coated carbide tools are capable of reducing machining costs and performs better than uncoated carbide inserts in machining D2 steel.     

Case Studies on Tribological Behavior of Coated Cutting Tools

Plasma surface engineering is a very promising way to enhance performance of metal cutting tools. The advantage of PVD coatings include increase the tool life, improve the roughness of machined surfaces, increase the cutting speed, etc.

This paper studied some new multiphase materials and multilayer structures of coatings based on TiN and TiC, ZrN, (Ti,Al)N,Al-Si-N. The change of contact conditions on cutting by coated tools, specific features of wear of tools with complicated geometry (like drills), effect of cutting conditions and workpiece materials on tribological behavior of indexable inserts during lathe turning and plain rotary were discussed.     

EFFECT OF COATING ROUGHNESS ON PERFORMANCE OF SMALL CVD DIAMOND COATED TOOLS

□ Small milling tools for dental application were diamond coated by means of Hot Filament CVD (HFCVD). Different thicknesses were obtained by using different diamond deposition times (3 and 12 h) and seeding conditions. The surface roughness was measured for coated and uncoated mills and milling tests were performed to measure the cutting forces. A ceramic material and a polymeric matrix composite (PMC) were used as workpiece materials. The highest cutting forces were measured for the coated tool with the highest thickness of the diamond coating. Probably, roughness increase and non-optimal edge profiles affect the tool behavior during cutting. As a consequence, tool failure was observed in the case of milling of ceramic by means of the coated tool with the highest coating thickness. The coated tool with a lower thickness of the diamond coating showed an optimal behavior under cutting, above all in the case of PMC milling.     

高速钢刀具镀氮化碳超硬涂层研究

为了在高速钢刀具上制备先进的氮化碳超硬涂层，采用DC反应磁控溅射和电弧离子镀相结合的方法在高速钢上沉积氮化碳一氮化钛复合膜，经X射线衍射分析，复合膜中存在α-C3N4和β－C3N4两种硬度相。复合膜的显微硬度（HK）为50．5－54．1GPa，用划痕试验测量它与高速钢基体的附着力，测得临界载荷Lc=40-80N，多种刀具试用证实，该涂层具有很高的耐磨性，与未涂层和镀TiN的刀具相比，大幅度提高了刀具的耐用度。     

Measuring procedures of cutting edge preparation when hard turning with coated ceramics tool inserts

In this paper, the authors introduce the methodology of combined studies on cutting edge preparation and tool performance testing. Five main fields of research on cutting edge preparation are identified in this study of cutting edge preparation while cutting edge microgeometry consists of data associated with tool edge and rake face. Uncoated and TiN coated mixed oxide ceramics inserts have been tested concerning their microgeometry and wear resistance and there is presented a sequence of measuring to identify cutting edge preparation and properties of coating. Authors propose the sequence which considers cutting edge preparation as a factor controlling performance of cutting edge in hard turning operations. Four steps in the sequence of performance testing include measurements with effects of wear criterion and machining time. Measured results show that combined effects of both preparation and coating reduce considerably friction forces in scratch tests and there is very negligible change of microhardness of uncoated and coated ceramics. Relationships between cutting edge microgeometry and acceptable machined surface roughness which results from the sequence in tool performance testing have been identified. Finally, tool performance indices are based on units which characterize machined surface roughness, tool edge wear and forces when hard turning.     

Wear behavior of some cutting tool materials in hard turning of HSS

This study presents an assessment of the performance of four cutting tool in the machining of medium hardened HSS: polycrystalline c-BN (c-BN+TiN), TiN coated polycrystalline c-BN (c-BN+TiN), ceramic mixed alumina (Al₂O₃+TiC), and coated tungsten carbide (TiN coated over a multilayer coating (TiC/TiCN/Al₂O₃)). The Al₂O₃+TiC and the coated carbide tools can outperform both types of c-BN at high cutting speeds. Raman and SEM mapping revealed an alumina tribo-layer that protects the surface of the Al₂O₃+TiC cutting tool. The high chemical and thermal stability of Al₂O₃ tribo-films protects the tool substrate because it prevents the heat generated at the tool/chip interface from entering the tool core.     

(Ti,Al)N+TiN涂层硬质合金刀具加工铁基高温合金正交切削试验研究

采用正交试验方案,应用(Ti,Al)N+TiN涂层硬质合金刀具对GH2132铁基高温合金进行外圆干切削,测量了切削力、切削温度、表面粗糙度和刀具寿命。利用最小二乘法对试验数据进行了多元回归分析,分别建立其经验公式,并分析了切削用量三要素分别对切削力、切削温度、表面粗糙度和刀具寿命的影响规律及其原因。通过试验得出了切削用量三要素分别对其影响的主次顺序。切削力:ap>f>vc,切削温度:vc>ap>f,表面粗糙度:f>vc>ap,刀具寿命:vc>f>ap。     

硬质合金刀具高速车削钛合金的切削性能研究

采用单因素试验法,用未涂层硬质合金刀具和TiAlN涂层硬质合金刀具对Ti-6Al-4V钛合金进行了高速干车削试验,通过对切削过程中切削力、刀具寿命、切削温度以及加工表面粗糙度的分析,得出了两种刀具高速干车削钛合金的切削性能,为钛合金高速切削刀具的设计提供了试验依据。     

Residual stresses in TiN, DLC and MoS2 coated surfaces with regard to their tribological fracture behaviour

Thin hard coatings on components and tools are used increasingly due to the rapid development in deposition techniques, tribological performance and application skills. The residual stresses in a coated surface are crucial for its tribological performance. Compressive residual stresses in PVD deposited TiN and DLC coatings were measured to be in the range of 0.03-4 GPa on steel substrate and 0.1-1.3 GPa on silicon. MoS₂ coatings had tensional stresses in the range of 0.8-1.3 on steel and 0.16 GPa compressive stresses on silicon. The fracture pattern of coatings deposited on steel substrate were analysed both in bend testing and scratch testing. A micro-scale finite element method (FEM) modelling and stress simulation of a 2 μm TiN-coated steel surface was carried out and showed a reduction of the generated tensile buckling stresses in front of the sliding tip when compressive residual stresses of 1 GPa were included in the model. However, this reduction is not similarly observed in the scratch groove behind the tip, possibly due to sliding contact-induced stress relaxation. Scratch and bending tests allowed calculation of the fracture toughness of the three coated surfaces, based on both empirical crack pattern observations and FEM stress calculation, which resulted in highest values for TiN coating followed by MoS₂ and DLC coatings, being K_C = 4-11, about 2, and 1-2 MPa m^1/2, respectively. Higher compressive residual stresses in the coating and higher elastic modulus of the coating correlated to increased fracture toughness of the coated surface.     

A method for the tribological testing of thin,hard coatings

A new method has been developed for tribological testing of thin, hard antiwear coatings, using a ball‐on‐disc tribosystem, under conditions of dry sliding. In this, an Al₂O₃ ball is pressed against a coated steel disc. Wear debris is removed from the contact zone by a stream of dry argon in this novel method. This improves the stability of the tribological properties and the repeatability of the test results. All test conditions are precisely defined, in particular: the type of motion, air relative humidity, ambient temperature, sliding speed, load, tribosystem spatial configuration, substrate material, substrate hardness and roughness, and coating thickness. The method developed has been used to test various physical vapour deposition coatings (deposited by the vacuum arc method), i. e., single‐layer TiN, Ti(C,N), CrN, and Cr(C,N), and multilayer Cr(C,N)/CrN/Cr and Cr(C,N)/(CrN+Cr₂N)/CrN/Cr. It is shown that CrN coatings exhibit the best antiwear properties, and Ti(C,N) the worst. Friction coefficients for CrN and Cr(C,N) coatings are much lower than for the more commonly used TiN. Multilayer coatings have better antiwear properties than single‐layer ones.     

Effects of Coating Materials on the Machinability of a Nickel Base,C-263, Alloy

PVD coated (TiN/TiCN/TiN, TiAIN and TiZrN) and uncoated carbide tools were used to machine a nickel base, C-263, alloy at high-speed conditions. The test results show that the multiple TiN/TiCN/TiN coated inserts gave the best overall performance in terms of tool life when machining at cutting speeds up to 68 m min and at depths of cut of 0.635 mm, 1.25 mm and 2.54 mm. All the tool grades tested gave fairly uniform surface roughness (Ra) values, below the rejection criterion, at lower speed conditions. The TiZrN coated inserts gave the lowest component forces when machining at lower cutting speed conditions while the TiA/N coated inserts gave the lowest component forces when machining at a higher speed of 68 m min^?1 and depth of cut of 1.25 mm. This tool performance can generally be attributed to the difference in their ability to provide effective lubrication at the cutting zone, thermal conductivity of the coating materials as well as the cutting conditions employed. The uncoated carbide tools generally encountered more severe crater wear, chipping/fracture of the cutting edges as well as pronounced notching during machining. This is due to their inability to provide effective lubrication at the cutting zone, thus impeding the gliding motion of the chips along the rake and flank faces respectively, thus accelerating flank wear. Analysis of the worn tool edges revealed adhesion of a compact “fin-shaped” structure of hardened burrs with saw-tooth like edges. This generally alters the initial geometry of the cutting edge, consequently resulting to poor surface finish with prolonged machining.