Influence of nickel content on machinability of a hot-work tool steel in prehardened condition

In the present study, the influence of nickel content on the machinability of a prehardened hot-work tool steel was investigated. The machinability with varying nickel content from 1 to 5 wt.% was characterized in end milling and drilling by evaluating tool life, cutting forces, and tool/chip interface temperature.     

An investigation on the optimum machinability of NiTi based shape memory alloy

In the present work, the machinability of nickel–titanium (Nitinol) shape memory alloy has been discussed. Nitinol is known as a difficult-to-machine alloy due to its high hardness, which requires a large amount of cutting force, resulting in high rate of tool wearing. Therefore, researchers have made an effort to ameliorate the machinability of this material to achieve a finer surface quality. The previous studies found that the cutting speed will remarkably influence the surface properties of machined nickel–titanium alloy in turning process. Tool wear and cutting force are at minimum values in a particular range of cutting speeds so that it leads to diminishing machining barriers such as burr formation and chip-breaking. Lower cutting force and consequently lower temperature and stresses in the machining process improve the mechanical properties as well as reducing hardness, distortion, and residual stress. The machining process was optimized by applying a numerical approach through ANSYS/LS-DYNA R15 software. The obtained results demonstrated the optimum cutting speed in the machining process, which are in good agreement with experiments.     

The Influence of Austempering Conditions on the Machinability of a Ductile Iron

Austempering conditions such as temperature and time and their influence on austempered ductile iron machinability were analyzed. Austenitization at 910°C for 90 min and austempering into molten salt bath at 300°C, 360°C, and 420°C for 30, 60, and 90 min each were performed. Microstructures were analyzed by optical microscopy and hardness measurements. Samples were further machined in a lathe for machinability tests. The lathe was instrumented considering power and cutting time and machinability evaluation performed referring to cutting force and material removal. Microstructures at 300°C for 30 min showed ausferrite with retained austenite and martensite. Retained austenite decreased and acicular ferrite sheaves appeared at 60-min austempering time. Mixed bainite was also present at 90-min austempering. Ausferrite and retained austenite were observed in all austempering periods at 360°C, whereas at 420°C only bainite and fine pearlite were present. Hardness increased with increasing temperature at 30-min austempering and decreased with increasing time. However, an exception was observed at 420°C. The highest machinability performance was achieved at 360°C at 60-min austempering, and the lowest performance at 420°C at 90-min austempering.     

Investigating the Tool Life, Cutting Force Components, and Surface Roughness of AISI 302 Stainless Steel Material Under Oblique Machining

The aim of this work is to investigate the machinability of austenitic AISI 302 stainless steel under oblique cutting. This can be achieved by studying the cutting forces, analysis of tool life, and investigation of the surface roughness at different cutting conditions and nose radius. A factorial experiment and analysis of variance technique are used in which several factors are evaluated for their effects on each level. The machinability experiments are based on design of experiments to obtain empirical equations for machinability values for machining conditions such as speed, feed, depth of cut, and nose radius. The parameters considered in the experiments were optimized to attain maximum tool life using a response graph and a response table. Based on the response models, dual response contours (tool life and surface roughness as a response and metal removal rate) have been plotted in cutting speed-feed planes. Evaluating the effect of the predominant variables influencing the value of tool life is very important for improving the machined product quality.     

Preparation of Alumina Fiber-Reinforced Aluminum by Squeeze Casting and Their Machinability

Alumina fiber-reinforced aluminum alloy composites were prepared by squeeze casting, and the effect of the reinforcement on the machinability of the alloy was investigated. Two kinds of short alumina fibers, which have the same fiber size but different hardness, were used. Preform in which the fibers were in a random arrangement was formed with SiO₂ binder, and then was infiltrated with the alloy melt to prepare the composite. The fiber–matrix interfacial bond via the binder is sufficient and no reaction product was detected. The cutting force of the alloy was reduced by the fiber-reinforcement. The lower the hardness of the fiber in the composite, the lower the cutting force of the composite. The roughness of the machined surface was drastically decreased by the reinforcement. Observation of the chip formed on the machined surface indicated that the fiber suppressed the formation of the built-up-edge, and this fact would lead to the reduction in the surface roughness by the reinforcement. The chips were shortened by the reinforcement. The difference in hardness of the alumina fiber hardly affected the roughness and the chip morphology. The hardness of the fiber has a strong effect to decrease the tool life.     

Performance of alumina-based ceramic inserts in high-speed machining of nimonic 80A

The study of machining forces and cutting tool wear during the machining is important for designing and selection of machining system and improving the productivity. This study reports the machinability of Nimonic 80A superalloy with alumina-based ceramic inserts. The objective is to analyze the reason for higher cutting forces generated during machining and tool wear mechanism on machining parameters. The cutting forces and tool wear are found to be mainly influenced by the cutting speed. The main causes of tool failure while machining Nimonic 80A are adhesion and abrasion. The role of tool wear is more dominant on the surface finish at lower cutting speed. Also, with an increase in cutting speed, thermally activated wear quietly increases at tool surfaces. The mechanistic approach is used to model the main cutting force. Developed cutting force model agrees well with experimental cutting force values.     

Effect of Cold Deformation on the Machinability of a Free Cutting Steel

The effect of cold deformation on the machinability of a free cutting steel has been investigated through characterization of the variation in size and morphology of the sulfide inclusions. The machinability has been indexed in terms of cutting force, surface roughness, and chip characteristics. The possible interrelations between inclusion characterizing parameters and machinability indices have been examined. Increased cold deformation was found to increase interinclusion spacing as well as aspect ratio of the inclusions. These variations in inclusion characteristics, in turn, were found to reduce the cutting forces and the chip length up to a critical amount of deformation. The results highlight the influence of inclusion characterizing parameters on machinability characteristics of free cutting steels.     

An experimental analysis of effective high speed turning of superalloy Inconel 718

Superalloy, Inconel 718 is widely used in the sophisticated applications due to its unique properties. However, machining of such superior material is difficult and costly due its peculiar characteristics. The present article is an attempt to suggest Taguchi optimization technique to study the machinability of Inconel 718 with respect to cutting force, cutting temperature, and tool life in high speed turning of Inconel 718 using cemented tungsten carbide (K20) cutting tool. Therefore, the objective of this work is divided into two phases: (i) to demonstrate a correlation between cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut with respect to cutting force, cutting temperature, and tool life in a process control of high speed turning of Inconel 718 in order to identify the optimum combination of cutting parameters; (ii) to show the effect of high speed cutting parameters on the tool wear mechanism and chip analysis. These correlations were obtained by multiple linear regressions. The confirmation tests were carried out to make a comparison between the experimental results and mathematical models proposed. The proposed models agree well with the experimental results.     

Effects of Filler Concentration and Cutting Parameters on Material Properties and Machinability of SiC-Filled Epoxy Tooling Board

An experimental study was conducted to examine the material properties and machinability of a silicon carbide (SiC)-filled epoxy conductive tooling system (RP4037 CAST-IT^TM). Specifically, the effects of SiC filler concentration and machining process parameters (cutting speed and feed) on the physical and material properties, resultant cutting force, surface integrity, and tool wear were studied. Machinability evaluation was carried out using the end milling process. The study showed that an increase in filler concentration significantly increased the density, thermal conductivity, resultant machining forces, surface roughness of the machined surface, and tool wear. However, it had insignificant impact on the glass transition temperature, strength, or hardness. A decrease in material strength was observed with increasing cutting speed and feed. Increasing filler concentration was also found to degrade the machined surface morphology. Possible explanations for the observed effects are discussed.     

Microstructure,mechanical properties and machinability of Cu–Zn–Mg and Cu–Zn–Sb brass alloys

Lead-free alloys have attracted great attentions recently due to the toxic nature of lead for the human body. In this study, low amounts of Mg and Sb were added to the Cu65–Zn35 brass and microstructure, mechanical properties and machinability of samples were compared to Cu65–Zn35 brass. Both Mg and Sb led to the promotion of β′ phase as well as the formation of new ternary copper rich intermetallic particles. It was found that these particles had a significant role in the reduction of the ultimate tensile strength, toughness, work hardening and elongation while increasing the hardness of samples. Results of machinability evaluation of samples showed that the cutting forces were decreased significantly and morphology of chips were improved compared to Cu65–Zn35 brass sample.     

Surface Characteristics of Some Roller Burnished Non-ferrous Components

Burnishing as a cold working process can be used to decrease the roughness of surfaces, and to increase the surface hardness as a result of work hardening. In the present work, a roller type burnishing tool was used to study the influence of the main burnishing parameters on the surface roughness and hardness of commercial aluminum and brass. It was found that roller-burnishing can be used successfully to improve surface roughness and to increase surface hardness. Also, it was found that burnishing force and number of burnishing tool passes are the predominant parameters, for control of surface roughness and hardness of rolled-burnished components.     

Numerical simulation of finish hard turning for AISI H13 die steel

A coupled thermo-mechanical model of plane-strain orthogonal turning of hardened steel was presented. In general, the flow stress models used in computer simulation of machining processes are a function of effective strain, effective strain rate and temperature developed during the cutting process. However, these models do not adequately describe the material behavior in hard machining, where the workpiece material is machined in its hardened condition. This hardness modifies the strength and work hardening characteristics of the material being cut. So, the flow stress of the work-material was taken with literature [H. Yan, J. Hua, R. Shivpuri, Development of flow stress model for hard machining of AISI H13 work tool steel. The Fourth International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing, Shanghui in China, 2004, p. 5] in order to take into account the effect of the large strain, strain-rate, temperature and initial workpiece hardness. Then a series of numerical simulations had been done to investigate the effect of machining parameters on the machinability of hardened steel AISI H13 in finish turning process. The results obtained are helpful for optimizing process parameters and improving the design of cutting inserts in finish turning of hardened steel AISI H13.     

A comparative evaluation method of machinability for mica-based glass-ceramics

The machinability of mica glass-ceramics is evaluated using a tool dynamometer. Several samples with different chemical compositions and microstructures were tested in turning operations using TiCN cermet tools. The cutting rate dependence of specific cutting energy has been studied to find a simple method for the evaluation of machinability. The mechanical strength, the surface roughness of the machined surface and the fracture toughness were measured to support the machining behaviour. For the determination of machinability, the specific cutting energy at low cutting rate conditions, neglecting an elastic impact effect, and the slope of the log-log plot of the specific cutting energy versus cutting rate were considered as the reasonable parameters. These results are correlated with the microstructure and the hardness of the workpiece. In particular, the microhardness of the sample is shown to control the cutting characteristic.     

Comparative study of the effect of surface texturing on cutting tool in dry cutting

Recent researches in the field of dry machining have indicated that surface texture has the potential to influence tribological conditions. Researchers have studied the application of controlled surface microtextures on cutting tool surfaces to improve machining performance by changing the tribological conditions at the interfaces of tool–chip and tool–work piece. An experiment to study the performance of the microtextured high-speed steel cutting implement within the machining of steel and aluminum samples was performed. Surface textures were introduced using Rockwell hardness tester, Vickers hardness tester, and by scratching with diamond dresser on the face of single point cutting tool. Machining in dry conditions was applied on mild steel (EN3B) and aluminum (AA 6351) samples using lathe machine with microtextured and traditional cutting tool for the constant range of feed, depth of cut, and for varying range of cutting speeds. Measurement of cutting force, cutting temperature, and surface roughness of the work surfaces after machining were made. The results showed reduction in cutting forces and cutting temperature with textured tools in comparison with those of the untextured tool. Chips collected from different samples were studied under a microscope and the results showed that textures created on the tool surface by various methods exhibited variations in chip formation. Cutting tools without texture and with texture were comparatively studied and the outcomes of the experimental study are presented in this paper.     

Machinability Study of Laser Surface Treated 15-5 PH Stainless Steel

In this work, 15-5 PH stainless steel which is one of the hard to machine materials has been selected to investigate the machinability characteristics under dry cutting condition with the aid of laser surface treatment process. Turning experiments were performed on the laser surface treated 15-5 PH samples with TiAlN coated tungsten carbide inserts. Machinability of both as received and laser surface treated samples were evaluated in terms of microstructure, microhardness, tangential cutting force, surface roughness, chip morphology and tool wear. Experimental consequences revealed that laser surface treated sample exhibits a remarkable effect on microstructure and microhardness. From the parametric analysis, it is found that machining of laser surface treated samples are beneficial in terms of reducing cutting force and are effective in prolonging tool life when compared with that of as received samples.     

Experimental Study on Hybrid Cryogenic and Plasma-Enhanced Turning of 17-4PH Stainless Steel

This article presents machinability of 17-4PH stainless steel using a hybrid technique composed of plasma-enhanced turning and cryogenic turning. First of all, using some primary experimental tests and nonlinear regression, a mathematical model was developed for surface temperature of uncut chip as a function of plasma current and cutting parameters. Then, the influence of cutting speed (V_c), feed (f), and surface temperature of uncut chip (T_sm) was studied on surface roughness (R_a), cutting force (F_z), and tool flank wear (V_B). The results show that hybrid turning (HYT) is able to lower the main cutting force and tool flank wear in comparison with conventional turning. In addition, surface roughness was improved except for high level of surface temperature of uncut chip. However, hardness measurement of machined workpiece showed that HYT does not change the hardness of machined surface.     

Study on the influential process parameters in machining the austempered ductile iron

Since the machinability data on grade 3 austempered ductile iron is scarce, this experimental work mainly focuses on the impact of machining parameters on cutting force and surface roughness while turning the above work material with cubic boron nitride and tungsten carbide inserts. Parameters like depth of cut, cutting speed and feed were considered in this study when analyzing the machinability of austempered ductile iron. Austempered ductile iron was turned with CBN and coated WC inserts. The response surface methodology was utilized to design the experiments and optimize the cutting parameters for the work material by each of the above inserts. The cubic boron nitride insert performs well as compared to the coated tungsten carbide for turning the austempered ductile iron and it has been concluded by taking lower force and higher surface finish in to consideration. The optimum parameters for turning austempered ductile iron with the cubic boron nitride insert is as follows: 174 meter/minute cutting speed, 0.102 millimeter/revolution feed and depth of cut of 0.5 millimeter.     

Drilling of NiTi Shape Memory Alloys

The machinability of NiTi based shape memory alloys has been examined by conducting drilling experiments. For this reason the cutting parameters cutting speed and feed were varied within a wide range. The machining process was evaluated in terms of tool wear, cutting forces and machining quality. The tool wear was analysed with a scanning electron microscope and the influence of machining on the subsurface zone was evaluated by micro hardness measurements.     

Metallurgical parameters,mechanical properties and machinability of ductile cast iron

Results on the effect of solidification cooling rate on the microstructure, mechanical properties and machinability of spheroidal graphite (SG) iron have been presented. The effect of ferritic heat treatment on the same properties has been also investigated. The microstructural observation, tensile properties and hardness values of the present SG iron has been developed. The tool life criterion was used as a measure of machinability. It was found that during turning of SG iron by using a single point cutting tool, its life increased with decreasing the solidification cooling rate for both sand and metal moulds. The tool life was found to be significantly affected by the variation of nodule characteristics. A decrease in tool life due to an increase of nodule count was observed. The tool life was found to be directly proportional to the ductility of SG iron whether for the as cast or ferritic heat-treated ingots.     

Broaching Performance of Superalloy GH4169 Based on FEM

The nickel-based superalloy GH4169 is an important material for high temperature applications in the aerospace industry. However, due to its poor machinability, GH4169 is hard to be cut and generates saw-tooth chips during high speed machining, which could significantly affect the dynamic cutting force, cutting temperature fluctuation, tool life, and the surface integrity of the parts. In this paper, the saw-tooth chip formation mechanism of superalloy GH4169 was investigated by the elasto-viscoplastic finite element method (FEM). Using the finite element software of ABAQUS/Explicit, the deformation of the part during high speed machining was simulated. The effective plastic strain, the temperature field, the stress distribution, and the cutting force were analyzed to determine the influence of the cutting parameters on the saw-tooth chip formation. The study on broaching performance has great effect on selecting suitable machining parameters and improving tool life.