The performance of CBN tools in the machining of titanium alloys

Advancements in the aerospace, nuclear and other industries require the enhanced in-service performance of engineering components. These requirements have resulted in the large scale development and use of heat-resistant and high-strength materials such as titanium alloys, which pose considerable machining problems. In this study on machining of titanium alloy using CBN tools, the machining performance was evaluated in terms of cutting force, specific cutting pressure, cutting temperature, chip strain and surface finish.     

Tool-life and wear mechanisms of CBN tools in machining of Inconel 718

The demand for increasing productivity when machining heat resistant alloys has resulted in the use of new tool materials such as cubic boron nitride (CBN) or ceramics. However, CBN tools are mostly used by the automotive industry in hard turning, and the wear of those tools is not sufficiently known in aerospace materials. In addition, the grade of these tools is not optimized for superalloys due to these being a small part of the market, although expanding (at 20% a year). So this investigation has been conducted to show which grade is optimal and what the wear mechanisms are during finishing operations of Inconel 718. It is shown that a low CBN content with a ceramic binder and small grains gives the best results. The wear mechanisms on the rake and flank faces were investigated. Through SEM observations and chemical analysis of the tested inserts, it is shown that the dominant wear mechanisms are adhesion and diffusion due to chemical affinity between elements from workpiece and insert.     

Performance evaluation of pure CBN tools for machining of steel

Ultra-precision machining is one of the most important machining technologies for the manufacture of precision dies and molds. Typically, single point diamond cutting tools are used to machine molds which are coated with electroless nickel (NiP) for such applications. The high cost of diamond cutters and electroless nickel plating, coupled with problems of pre-mature failure of the coating in service and long lead time are negative factors in this approach. Hence, there is a strong need for the direct ultra-precision machining of mold steel and to develop relevant technologies to address the problem of tool wear. In the machining of alloy steel, cubic boron nitride (CBN) has long been used as an ideal cutting tool material but recently binderless CBN or pure CBN (PCBN) with superior mechanical properties has been developed by Sumitomo Electric Industries in Japan. The objective of this paper is to explore the feasibility of using PCBN tools for direct ultra-precision machining of Stavax, a type of alloy steel from ASSAB. The performance characteristics in terms of surface roughness and tool wear of PCBN (Sumitomo IZ900) and conventional CBN (Sumitomo BN600) under different machining conditions were studied and their results were compared. Based on the experimental results, PCBN has been found to perform better in terms of wear resistance compared to conventional CBN tool. It is also able to achieve near mirror finish of less than 30 nm R_a, and hence it appears to be a promising tool for direct cutting of die and mold materials.     

Wear and tool life of tungsten carbide, PCBN and PCD cutting tools

The wear mechanisms of cutting tools made of tungsten-carbide (WC), PCBN and PCD were investigated using the tool life and temperature results available in the literature. For tool/work combinations WC/steel and PCBN/hardened-steel, under practical conditions, tool wear was found to be greatly influenced by the temperature. It was concluded that the most likely dominant tool wear mechanism for WC is diffusion and that for PCBN is chemical wear. For PCD, more experimental results and hence further research is required to determine the dominant wear mechanism.     

立方氮化硼刀具的合理使用

立方氮化硼刀具是一种先进的切削刀具。过去主要用于精加工,近十几年来通过改进生产工艺,控制原料纯度和晶粒尺寸,采用复合材料和热压工艺等,韧性提高,使用可靠性大大改善,已可作为常规刀具在生产中应用,对提高工效、保证产品质量起着重要作用。文中介绍了立方氮化硼刀具的种类、性能与合理使用方法。     

Evaluation of the performance of CBN tools when turning Ti–6Al–4V alloy with high pressure coolant supplies

Cubic Nitride Boron (CBN) tools are generally used for machining harder alloys such as hardened high Cr steels, titanium and nickel alloys. The tools are expected to withstand the heat and pressure developed when machining at higher cutting conditions because of their high hardness and melting point. This paper evaluates the performance of different CBN tool grades in finish turning Ti–6Al–4V (IMI 318) alloy at high cutting conditions, up to 250 m min⁻¹, with various coolant supplies. Tool wear, failure modes, cutting and feed forces and surface roughness of machined surfaces were monitored and used to access the performance of the cutting tools. Comparative trials were carried out with uncoated carbide tools when machining at a speed of 150 m min⁻¹. Test results show that the performance of CBN tools, in terms of tool life, at the cutting conditions investigated is poor relative to uncoated carbide tools, as expected and often, reported due probably to rapid notching and excessive chipping of the cutting edge associated with a relatively high diffusion wear rate that tends to weaken the bond strength of the tool substrate. An increase in the CBN content of the cutting tool also led to a reduction in tool life when machining at the cutting conditions investigated.     

基于有限元理论分析切削振动对CBN刀具磨损的影响

研究用CBN刀具切削钛合金Ti-6Al-4V材料时,切削振动对刀具磨损的影响情况。用有限元分析技术,设计正交试验,分析不同方向切削振动幅度和振动频率对刀具表面应力、刀具温度的影响,研究切削振动条件下的刀具磨损情况。有限元仿真结果表明:X方向振动对刀具表面应力和温度影响较小,且规律性影响不明显,因此X方向振动并未加重刀具磨损;Y方向振动对刀具表面应力和温度影响较大,刀具表面应力和温度随着Y方向振动幅度和频率增加而增大和升高,刀具磨损加重;当X方向和Y方向均存在振动时,刀具表面应力和温度也随着振动幅度和频率增加而增大和升高,刀具磨损严重。利用实际切削试验对有限元分析结果进行验证,发现振动对刀具磨损影响较大,与有限元分析结果基本一致。      

Significance of residual stress in PVD-coated carbide cutting tools

The performance of PVD-coated carbide cutting tools is influenced by their residual stress state, where coating and substrate subsurface have to be considered. The substrate stress is the result of different impacts caused by pre-coating processes and the PVD-coating itself. This presentation demonstrates the significance of residual stress in coating and substrate as well as the influence of each step of a conventional commercial process chain on the respective residual stress state for the manufacture of PVD-coated carbide cutting tools. Alterations of the process chain for tool micro geometry preparation by laser beam removal are considered.     

基于矩阵分析法的CBN刀具干式硬车参数优化研究

由于具有良好的环保性、经济性和加工柔性,硬态干式切削技术近年来得到了快速发展,并在淬硬钢的精加工中获得了应用。基于切削试验和Deform-3D有限元软件仿真,对CBN刀具干式硬车淬硬钢Cr12MoV加工表面粗糙度、切削力及切削温度等指标进行了研究。采用矩阵分析法,分析并计算了切削用量三要素对表面粗糙度、切削力和切削温度的综合影响,得到了最优切削参数组合。结果表明:该方法对分析试验工况条件,寻找最优试验方案具有简洁、高效的优点;对研究指标综合影响的显著程度由高到低依次为切削深度、切削速度和进给量。     

High-speed milling of titanium alloys using binderless CBN tools

The performance of conventional tools is poor when used to machine titanium alloys. In this paper, a new tool material, which is binderless cubic boron nitride (BCBN), is used for high-speed milling of a widely used titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V. The performance and the wear mechanism of the BCBN tool have been investigated when slot milling the titanium alloy in terms of cutting forces, tool life and wear mechanism. This type of tool manifests longer tool life at high cutting speeds. Observations based on the SEM and EDX suggest that adhesion of workpiece and attrition are the main wear mechanisms of the BCBN tool when used in high-speed milling of Ti–6Al–4V.     

成孔剂对陶瓷结合剂CBN磨具结构与性能影响的研究

主要研究成孔剂对陶瓷结合剂CBN磨具结构与性能的影响。在陶瓷结合剂CBN磨具中添加不同类型和含量的成孔剂,通过对磨具试样气孔率、抗弯强度、冲击韧性、微观形貌等检测分析,结果表明:添加成孔剂A1和C1的磨具试样气孔分布均匀,且与未添加成孔剂的磨具试样相比,抗弯强度降低不明显,成孔剂A1的造孔效果比C1的明显,但加入成孔剂C1能够增大试样的冲击韧性。当C1的加入质量分数为8%时,气孔分布均匀,气孔率为30.82%,抗弯强度为49.89MPa,冲击韧性为1.73kJ/m2,综合性能最好。     

刀具材料的研究与进展

刀具材料近年来取得了极大的发展,如氮化碳超硬涂层高速钢及一些新发展的陶瓷刀具材料等。本文对刀具材料的新成就和新进展作了综合评述。     

基于微磨削方法的微织构刀具制备与切削性能研究

目的研究表面微织构对硬质合金刀具切削性能的影响。方法采用微磨削方法在硬质合金刀具前刀面加工出具有不同结构参数的横向、纵向和交叉微织构,通过AL6061切削试验和有限元切削仿真,研究表面微织构对硬质合金刀具的切削温度及刀具磨损的影响。结果采用V形金刚石砂轮微磨削方法能够加工出几何形状规则且表面质量良好的表面微织构。与无织构刀具相比,微织构刀具的切削温度明显降低,高温区域明显减少,其中横向织构刀具降温效果最为显著。微织构刀具的切削温度随沟槽间距的增大而升高,沟槽间距为150μm时,切削温度最低。表面微织构能够有效减轻刀具前刀面的粘结磨损,横向织构刀具减摩抗粘效果最好,且采用较小的沟槽间距更利于减轻刀具的粘结磨损。随着切削速度的增加,表面微织构的抗粘结作用更加明显,当切削速度为150 m/min时,沟槽间距为150μm的横向织构刀具的切屑粘结面积最小。结论在横向、纵向和交叉织构刀具中,沟槽间距为150μm的横向织构刀具切削性能最好,即降温效果、抗粘结性能最为显著。     

超硬材料刀具的特性及应用

本文主要介绍了单品金刚石刀具，高温高压合成的聚品金刚石（PCD）刀具，聚晶立方氮化硼（PCBN）刀具及化学气相沉积的金刚石膜（CVD）刀具的特性及应用。我们做了有关CVD刀具与PCD刀具耐磨性的切削试验：通过试验可以看出，CVD刀具确实有较好的耐磨性，但是在切削时间为17min时，由于CVD较PCD脆，在25倍显微镜下观察发现CVD金刚石刀具的刀口有明显的崩刃。另外发现，CVD金刚石刀具在制造及使用过程中也极易出现崩刃现象，所以目前大多数厂家仍以使用PCD刀具为主，CVD金刚石刀具的推广仍需要一个过程。     

Development of new ceramic cutting tools with alumina coated carbide powders

An experimental investigation is carried out to coat two types of carbide powders, TiC and (W, Ti)C, with an alumina ceramic using a sol-gel technology. The coated carbide powders are then fabricated into two kinds of new ceramic tool materials by the hot pressing method. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation reveals that in general the matrix (carbide) grains are uniformly coated with the alumina ceramic and the microstructure of the new tool materials is more homogeneous than that of conventionally made ceramics. The tests of mechanical properties and wear resistance in machining are finally conducted. It is shown that when machining a mild carbon steel the new tool materials can increase the tool-life by up to 100% as compared to other two ceramic tool materials that have the same matrix but fabricated in the conventional way, while the fracture toughness is improved by up to 33%. When compared with a hard coated carbide tool, the new materials exhibit a superior ability in maintaining the wear resistance during the entire tool-life.     

Wear and cutting performance of diamond composite material-a comparison with tungsten carbide

A series of wear and rock cutting tests were undertaken to assess the wear and cutting performance of a thermally stable diamond composite (TSDC). The wear tests were conducted on a newly designed wear testing rig in which a rotating aluminium oxide grinding wheel is turned (also known as machined) by the testing tool element.The rock cutting tests were performed on a linear rock-cutting planer. The thrust and cutting forces acting on the tool were measured during these tests. A tungsten carbide element was also studied for comparative purposes. The wear coefficients of both materials were used to evaluate wear performance while cutting performance was assessed by tool wear and the rates of increase in forces with cutting distance.     

An experimental study of tool wear and cutting force variation in the end milling of Inconel 718 with coated carbide inserts

Inconel 718 is a difficult-to-cut nickel-based superalloy commonly used in aerospace industry. This paper presents an experimental study of the tool wear propagation and cutting force variations in the end milling of Inconel 718 with coated carbide inserts. The experimental results showed that significant flank wear was the predominant failure mode affecting the tool life. The tool flank wear propagation in the up milling operations was more rapid than that in the down milling operations. The cutting force variation along with the tool wear propagation was also analysed. While the thermal effects could be a significant cause for the peak force variation within a single cutting pass, the tool wear propagation was believed to be responsible for the gradual increase of the mean peak force in successive cutting passes.     

Cutting performance of diamond tools during ultra-precision turning of electroless-nickel plated die materials

This study is an attempt (a) to observe the wear characteristic of diamond tool with 200 km cutting distance and to study the effects of wear on the surface roughness and cutting forces and (b) to optimize various cutting parameters such as depth of cut, feed rate, spindle speed and phosphorus content. The experimental results showed that tool wear was not so significant although some defects on rake face were observed after cutting 15.6 km. Further cutting showed that the surface roughness increases with cutting distance, and that the cutting forces were larger than thrust force at the beginning of cutting, but after cutting 130 km, thrust force became larger and increased rapidly. It was also observed that forces increase with the increase of depth of cut, spindle speed and feed rate, and decrease with the increase of phosphorus content of the plating. Depth of cut has no significant effect on surface roughness, while it increases with increase of feed rate and decreases with the increase of percentage of phosphorus content in the workpieces. In case of spindle speed, surface roughness decreases with the increase of spindle speed up to a certain value and then starts to increase with the increase of spindle speed.     

Cutting characteristics of PVD-coated tools deposited by filtered arc deposition (FAD) method

The cutting characteristics of novel physical vapor deposition (PVD)-coated tools deposited using filtered arc deposition (FAD) method are investigated. The TiCN-coated films are extremely smooth without any droplets. They exhibit superior hardness and adherence and a favorable cutting performance for the high-speed milling of a prehardened stainless steel. The availability of a newly proposed VN film is also examined. Owing to the good lubrication and tribological properties of the VN coating film, the lower cutting force, flank wear with, and cutting temperature than those of the TiN-coated tool are obtained in milling of the prehardened steel.     

硬质合金刀具在刀具总值中的变化

分析了21世纪初日本及西方其它国家的硬质合金刀具销售值(或产值)占刀具总销售的比例,及几种发展迅速的新兴硬质合金刀具品种。