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.     

The Effect of Coolant Concentration on the Machinability of Nickel-Base, Nimonic C-263, Alloy

This paper investigates the effect of coolant concentration on tool performance when machining nickel-base, C-263, alloy with triple coated (TiN/TiCN/TiN) carbide insert at various (3–9%) coolant concentrations and under different cutting speed conditions. Tool life, tool-failure modes, wear rates, component forces and surface finish generated during machining were recorded, analyzed and used to formulate mechanisms responsible for tool wear at the cutting conditions investigated. Analysis of the recorded data shows that tool performance during machining is dependent on coolant concentration. 6% coolant concentration gave the best overall performance as effective combination of cooling and lubrication functions were achieved during machining. Increasing coolant concentration to 9% reduced tool performance due to a reduction of the tool-chip contact length area and the consequent increase in compressive stresses at the tool-chip and tool-workpiece interfaces. This action often leads to pronounced chipping of the tool cutting edge during machining. Friction coefficient between the workpiece material and substrate increases once the coating layer(s) is broken as a result of the direct contact between the tool substrate and the work material. This action increases mechanical wear of the tool, which in turn leads to a significant increase in the cutting force with negligible effect on the feed forces during machining.     

Behavior of Coated Carbide Tools in High Speed Machining of a Nickel Base Alloy

Multilayer TiN/TiCN/TiN and single-layer TiAIN PVD coated carbide tools were used to machine a nickel base, C-263, alloy at high-speed conditions in order to investigate their performance in terms of tool life, surface finish and component forces generated during machining. The test results show that the triple layer, TiN/TiCN/TiN, coated inserts gave longer tool life when machining at higher speed and depth of cut conditions while the single layer, TiA/N, coated inserts produced better surface finish. The feed forces recorded were generally higher than the cutting forces. This could perhaps be attributed to the adverse effect of burr formation and work hardening of the workpiece associated with prolonged machining. Analysis of the test results indicate that the difference in thermal properties and tribo-chemical behaviour of both the coating and substrate materials are the major factors influencing the tribo-contact at the tool-chip interface during machining. Wear mechanisms of the coating materials can also affect tool performance in terms of tool life, surface finish and component forces.     

EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND SURFACE CHEMISTRY OF CUTTING TOOLS ON THE FORMATION OF BUL OR BUE AND SURFACE QUALITY OF THE GENERATED SURFACE IN DRY TURNING OF AA6005 ALUMINIUM ALLOY

In the present investigation, AA6005 (ISO: AlSiMg) alloy was machined in turning operation with different cutting tools, such as uncoated cemented carbide insert, PVD TiN coated, CVD diamond coated and PCD insert, under dry environment. Effect of cutting speed was studied for each of the cutting tools with regard to the formation of built-up layer (BUL) or built-up edge (BUE). The rake surface of the tools was characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopic microanalysis. Particular emphasis was given on wear mechanism of PVD TiN coated insert, conventionally used in machining ferrous alloys, during dry turning of AA6005 alloy. It has been observed that increase of cutting speed from 200 m/min to as high as 1000 m/min could not substantially reduce formation of BUL over tool rake surface during dry machining of AA6005 alloy with uncoated or PVD TiN coated cemented carbide inserts. The potential of diamond-based tools in dry machining of aluminium alloy was also studied. Finally, the effect of cutting speed on surface finish of the workpiece machined with different cutting tools was studied during dry turning of AA6005 alloy.     

Influence of cutting speed on cutting force,flank temperature,and tool wear in end milling of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Tool wear is one of the most important problems in cutting titanium alloys due to the high-cutting temperature and strong adhesion. Recently, the high-speed machining process has become a topic of great interest for titanium alloys, not only because it increases material removal rates, but also because it can positively influence the properties of finished workpiece. However, the process may result in the increase of cutting force and cutting temperature which will accelerate tool wear. In this paper, end milling experiments of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were conducted at high speeds using both uncoated and coated carbide tools. The obtained results show that the cutting force increases significantly at higher cutting speed whether the cutter is uncoated carbide or TiN/TiAlN physical vapor deposition (PVD)-coated carbide. For uncoated carbide tools, the mean flank temperature is almost constant at higher cutting speed, and no obvious abrasion wear or fatigue can be observed. However, for TiN/TiAlN PVD-coated carbide tools, the mean flank temperature always increases as the increase of cutting speed, and serious abrasion wear can be observed. In conclusion, the cutting performance of uncoated inserts is relatively better than TiN/TiAlN PVD-coated inserts at a higher cutting speed.     

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.     

Performance studies of multilayer hard surface coatings (TiN/TiCN/Al2O3/TiN) of indexable carbide inserts in hard machining: Part-I (An experimental approach)

In recent years, hard machining using CBN and ceramic inserts became an emerging technology than traditional grinding and widely used manufacturing processes. However the relatively high cost factors associated with such tools has left a space to look for relatively low cost cutting tool materials to perform in an acceptable range. Multilayer coated carbide insert is the proposed alternative in the present study due to its low cost. Thus, an attempt has been made to have an extensive study on the machinability aspects such as flank wear, chip morphology, surface roughness in finish hard turning of AISI 4340 steel (HRC 47 ± 1) using multilayer coated carbide (TiN/TiCN/Al₂O₃/TiN) insert under dry environment. Parametric influences on turning forces are also analyzed. From the machinability study, abrasion and chipping are found to be the dominant wear mechanism in hard turning. Multilayer TiN coated carbide inserts produced better surface quality and within recommendable range of 1.6 μm i.e. comparable with cylindrical grinding. At extreme parametric conditions, the growth of tool wear was observed to be rapid thus surface quality affected adversely. The chip morphology study reveals a more favorable machining environment in dry machining using TiN coated carbide inserts. The cutting speed and feed are found to have the significant effect on the tool wear and surface roughness from ANOVA study. It is evident that, thrust force (Fy) is the largest component followed by tangential force (Fz) and the feed force (Fx) in finish hard turning. The observations yield the machining ability of multilayer TiN coated carbide inserts in hard turning of AISI 4340 steel even at higher cutting speeds.     

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.     

An experimental analysis and measurement of process performances in machining of nimonic C-263 super alloy

Nimonic C-263 alloy is extensively used in the fields of aerospace, gas turbine blades, power generators and heat exchangers because of its unique properties. However, the machining of this alloy is difficult due to low thermal conductivity and work hardening characteristics. This paper presents the experimental investigation and analysis of the machining parameters while turning the nimonic C-263 alloy, using whisker reinforced ceramic inserts. The experiments were designed using Taguchi’s experimental design. The parameters considered for the experiments are cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut. Process performance indicators, viz., the cutting force, tool wear and surface finish were measured. An empirical model has been created for predicting the cutting force, flank wear and surface roughness through response surface methodology (RSM). The desirability function approach has been used for multi response optimization. The influence of the different parameters and their interactions on the cutting force, flank wear and surface roughness are also studied in detail and presented in this study. Based on the cutting force, flank wear and surface roughness, optimized machining conditions were observed in the region of 210 m/min cutting speed and 0.05 mm/rev feed rate and 0.50 mm depth of cut. The results were confirmed by conducting further confirmation tests.     

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.     

Performance of Uncoated and Coated Carbide Tools in the Ultra-Precision Machining of Stainless Steel

Ultra-precision machines are widely used to turn aspherical or spherical profiles on mould inserts for the injection moulding of optical lenses. During the turning of a profile on a stainless steel mould insert, the cutting speed reduces significantly to 0 as the cutting tool is fed towards the centre of the machined profile. This paper reports experiments carried out to study the wear of uncoated and PVD-coated carbide tools (carbide tool coated with 2000 alternate layers of AlN and TiN, each layer 1.5 nm and carbide tool coated with 0.5 m TiN, 5.5 m TiCN and 0.5 m TiN) in the ultra-precision machining of STAVAX (modified AISI 420 stainless steel) at low speeds with and without lubricant. A sprayed mixture of compressed air, liquid paraffin oil and cyclomethicone was used as lubricant. Examination of the wear at the rake face of the tool suggests that during machining of the alloy with a hardness of 55 HRC without lubricant, the cutting edge is subjected to high compressive stress, resulting in fracture. Reducing the hardness of the alloy would therefore result in a lower stress acting on the cutting edge, thus rendering the tool less susceptible to fracture. Both the rake and the flank faces of the coated tools exhibited lower wear than the uncoated tools. This was due to the former tools possessing higher fracture resistance owing to the presence of the coating. The lubricant was effective in improving surface finish, preventing surface fracture and reducing flank wear.     

Elliptical vibration cutting of hardened die steel with coated carbide tools

Elliptical vibration cutting of hardened die steel with coated carbide tools is examined in this research in order to achieve low-cost high-precision machining. Diamond coated tools are applied because of superior hardness of their polycrystalline diamond coating and its low manufacturing cost. TiN coated tools are also tested, since they are widely used for conventional machining of steels. Machinability of hardened die steel by the elliptical vibration cutting with coated carbide tools is discussed in three aspects in this study, i.e. transferability of cutting edge profile to cut surface, cutting force, and tool life. The transferability is evaluated quantitatively by calculating correlation coefficients of measured roughness profiles. It is clarified that the diamond coated tools have high transferability which leads to diffraction of light on the surface machined at micro-scale pick feed. Total cutting forces including ploughing components are measured at various feed rates, and then shearing components and ploughing components are separated utilizing linear regression. The measured results indicate, for example, that the all forces become considerably smaller only when elliptical vibration is applied to the TiN coated tool without cutting fluid. It is also found that this considerable reduction of forces interestingly corresponds to higher friction coefficient, which is identified from the ploughing components. Tool life tests are carried out by various machining methods, i.e. elliptical vibration/ordinary wet/dry cutting with diamond/TiN coated tools. The result shows, for example, that the flank wear is smallest in the wet elliptical vibration cutting with the diamond coated tool.     

Effects of cutting parameters on tool insert wear in end milling of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V

Titanium alloy is a kind of typical hard-to-cut material due to its low thermal conductivity and high strength at elevated temperatures, this contributes to the fast tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys. The influence of cutting conditions on tool wear has been focused on the turning process, and their influence on tool wear in milling process as well as the influence of tool wear on cutting force coefficients has not been investigated comprehensively. To fully understand the tool wear behavior in milling process with inserts, the influence of cutting parameters on tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys Ti6Al4V by using indexable cutters is investigated. The tool wear rate and trends under different feed per tooth, cutting speed, axial depth of cut and radial depth of cut are analyzed. The results show that the feed rate per tooth and the radial depth of cut have a large influence on tool wear in milling Ti6Al4V with coated insert. To reduce tool wear, cutting parameters for coated inserts under experimental cutting conditions are set as: feed rate per tooth less than 0.07 mm, radial depth of cut less than 1.0 mm, and cutting speed sets between 60 and 150 m/min. Investigation on the relationship between tool wear and cutting force coefficients shows that tangential edge constant increases with tool wear and cutter edge chipping can lead to a great variety of tangential cutting force coefficient. The proposed research provides the basic data for evaluating the machinability of milling Ti6Al4V alloy with coated inserts, and the recommend cutting parameters can be immediately applied in practical production.     

Performance evaluation of CBN,coated carbide,cryogenically treated uncoated/coated carbide inserts in finish-turning of hardened steel

In the present work, the performance of cubic boron nitride (CBN) inserts was compared with coated carbide and cryogenically treated coated/uncoated carbide inserts in terms of flank wear, surface roughness, white layer formation, and microhardness variation under dry cutting conditions for finish turning of hardened AISI H11 steel (48–49 HRC). The flank wear of CBN tools was observed to be lower than that of other inserts, but the accumulated machining time for all the four edges of carbide inserts were nearer to or better than the PCBN inserts. Results showed that tool life of carbide inserts decreased at higher cutting speeds. The surface roughness achieved under all cutting conditions for coated-carbide-treated/untreated inserts was comparable with that achieved with CBN inserts and was below 1.6 μm. The white layer formation and microhardness variation is less while turning with cryogenically treated carbide inserts than the CBN and untreated carbide. At low to medium cutting speed and feed, the performance of carbide inserts was comparable with CBN both in terms of tool life and surface integrity.     

Finish Machining of Nickel-Base Inconel 718 Alloy with Coated Carbide Tool under Conventional and High-Pressure Coolant Supplies

Single-point turning of Inconel 718 alloy with commercially available Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD)-coated carbide tools under conventional and high-pressure coolant supplies up to 20.3 MPa was carried out. Tool life, surface roughness (Ra), tool wear, and component forces were recorded and analyzed. The test results show that acceptable surface finish and improved tool life can be achieved when machining Inconel 718 with high coolant pressures. The highest improvement in tool life (349%) was achieved when machining with 11 MPa coolant supply pressure at higher speed conditions of 60 m · min^?1. Machining with coolant pressures in excess of 11 MPa at cutting speeds up to 40 m · min^?1 lowered tool life more than when machining under conventional coolant flow at a feed rate of 0.1 mm · rev^?1. This suggests that there is a critical coolant pressure under which the cutting tools performed better under high-pressure coolant supplies.

Cutting forces increased with increasing cutting speed due probably to reactive forces introduced by the high-pressure coolant jet. Tool wear/wear rate increased gradually with prolonged machining with high coolant pressures due to improved coolant access to the cutting interface, hence lowering cutting temperature. Nose wear was the dominant tool failure mode when machining with coated carbide tools due probably to a reduction in the chip-tool and tool-workpiece contact length/area.     

Effects of Cutting Parameters on Tool Insert Wear in End Milling of Titanium Alloy Ti6A14V

Titanium alloy is a kind of typical hard-to-cut material due to its low thermal conductivity and high strength at elevated temperatures, this contributes to the fast tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys. The influence of cutting conditions on tool wear has been focused on the turning process, and their influence on tool wear in milling process as well as the influence of tool wear on cutting force coefficients has not been investigated comprehensively. To fully understand the tool wear behavior in milling process with inserts, the influence of cutting parameters on tool wear in the milling of titanium alloys Ti6Al4 V by using indexable cutters is investigated. The tool wear rate and trends under different feed per tooth, cutting speed, axial depth of cut and radial depth of cut are analyzed. The results show that the feed rate per tooth and the radial depth of cut have a large influence on tool wear in milling Ti6Al4 V with coated insert. To reduce tool wear, cutting parameters for coated inserts under experimental cutting conditions are set as: feed rate per tooth less than 0.07 mm, radial depth of cut less than 1.0 mm, and cutting speed sets between 60 and 150 m/min. Investigation on the relationship between tool wear and cutting force coefficients shows that tangential edge constant increases with tool wear and cutter edge chipping can lead to a great variety of tangential cutting force coefficient. The proposed research provides the basic data for evaluating the machinability of milling Ti6Al4 V alloy with coated inserts, and the recommend cutting parameters can be immediately applied in practical production.     

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 mechanisms and tool performance of TiAlN PVD coated inserts during machining of AISI 4140 steel

The tribological influences of PVD-applied TiAlN coatings on the wear of cemented carbide inserts and the microstructure wear behaviors of the coated tools under dry and wet machining are investigated. The turning test was conducted with variable high cutting speeds ranging from 210 to 410 m/min. The analyses based on the experimental results lead to strong evidences that conventional coolant has a retarded effect on TiAlN coatings under high-speed machining. Micro-wear mechanisms identified in the tests through SEM micrographs include edge chipping, micro-abrasion, micro-fatigue, micro-thermal, and micro-attrition. These micro-structural variations of coatings provide structure-physical alterations as the measures for wear alert of TiAlN coated tool inserts under high speed machining of steels.     

Evaluation on Effectiveness of CVD and PVD Coated Tools during Dry Machining of Incoloy 825

With wide applications of nickel-based superalloys in strategic fields, it has become increasingly necessary to evaluate the performance of different advanced cutting tools for machining such alloys. With a view to recommend a suitable cutting tool, the present work investigated various machinability characteristics of Incoloy 825 using an uncoated tool, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of a bilayer of TiCN/Al₂O₃, and physical vapor deposition (PVD) of alternate layers of TiAlN/TiN-coated tools under varying machining conditions. The influence of cutting speed (51, 84, and 124 m/min) as well as feed (0.08, 0.14, and 0.2 mm/rev) was comparatively evaluated on surface roughness, cutting temperature, cutting force, coefficient of friction, chip thickness, and tool wear using different cutting tools. Although the CVD-coated tool was not useful in decreasing surface roughness and temperature, a significant reduction in cutting force and tool wear could be achieved with the same coated tool under a high cutting speed of 124 m/min. On the other hand, the PVD-coated tool outperformed the other tools in terms of machinability characteristics. This might be attributed to the excellent antifriction and antisticking property of TiN and good toughness due to the multilayer configuration in combination with a thermally resistant TiAlN phase. Adhesion, abrasion, edge chipping, and nose wear were the prominent wear mechanisms of the uncoated tool, followed by the CVD-coated tool. However, remarkable resistance to such wear was evident with the PVD TiAlN/TiN multilayer-coated tool.     

Comparative study on tool life and wear resistance of titanium nitride (TiN) and aluminium chromium nitride (AlCrN) coated carbide inserts

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the enhancement of tool life and wear resistance with a physical vapour deposition (PVD) process applied using aluminium chromium nitride (AlCrN) and titanium nitride (TiN) coating on carbide inserts. Flank wear experiments are carried out on a computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine under wet conditions with both the coated inserts. Effectiveness of the coating on the tool life and its resistance to flank wear are observed at various cutting parameters such as cutting speed and feed rate by following the principle of design of experiments (DOE). It is inferred that AlCrN coated carbide tools perform nearly 70% better than the TiN coated carbide tools under high cutting speed and feed rate. AlCrN coating also enhances the durability of tool for metal cutting and thereby improves tool life even under harsh cutting conditions. A response surface methodology (RSM) is utilised to arrive at the optimum value for the various parameters which are responsible for improving the wear resistance and tool life.