Experimental study on the wear evolution of different PVD coated tools under milling operations of LDX2101 duplex stainless steel

Duplex stainless steels are being used on applications that require, especially, high corrosion resistance and overall good mechanical properties, such as the naval and oil-gas exploration industry. The components employed in these industries are usually obtained by machining, however, these alloys have low machinability when compared to conventional stainless steels. In this work, a study of the wear developed when milling duplex stainless-steel, LDX 2101, is going to be presented and evaluated, employing four types of milling tools with different geometries and coatings, while studying the influence of feed rate and cutting length in the wear of these tools. Tools used have been provided with two and four flutes, as well as three different coatings, namely: TiAlN, TiAlSiN and AlCrN. The cutting behavior of these tools was analyzed; data relative to the cutting forces developed during the process were obtained; and roughness measurements of the machined surfaces were executed. The tools were then submitted to scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, enabling the identification of the wear mechanisms that tools were subjected to when machining this material, furthermore, the early stages of these mechanisms were also identified. All this work was done with the goal of relating the machining parameters and cutting force values obtained, identifying, and discussing the wear patterns that were observed in the coating and tools after the milling tests, providing further information on the machining of these alloys. The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-022-00401-5     

Machining performance of low temperature treated P-30 tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts

Machining studies were conducted on C45 workpiece using both untreated and low temperature treated tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts. The machinability of the C45 steel workpiece is evaluated in terms of flank wear of the cutting tool inserts, main cutting force and surface finish of the machined workpieces. The flank wear of low temperature treated carbide tools is lower than that of untreated carbide tools on machining of C45 steel. The cutting forces during machining of C45 steel is lower with the low temperature treated carbide tools when compared with the untreated carbide tools. The surface finish produced on machining the C45 steel workpiece is better with the low temperature treated carbide tools when compared with the untreated carbide tools.     

Machining of high performance workpiece materials with CBN coated cutting tools

The machining of high performance workpiece materials requires significantly harder cutting materials. In hard machining, the early tool wear occurs due to high process forces and temperatures. The hardest known material is the diamond, but steel materials cannot be machined with diamond tools because of the reactivity of iron with carbon. Cubic boron nitride (cBN) is the second hardest of all known materials. The supply of such PcBN indexable inserts, which are only geometrically simple and available, requires several work procedures and is cost-intensive. The development of a cBN coating for cutting tools, combine the advantages of a thin film system and of cBN. Flexible cemented carbide tools, in respect to the geometry can be coated. The cBN films with a thickness of up to 2 µm on cemented carbide substrates show excellent mechanical and physical properties. This paper describes the results of the machining of various workpiece materials in turning and milling operations regarding the tool life, resultant cutting force components and workpiece surface roughness. In turning tests of Inconel 718 and milling tests of chrome steel the high potential of cBN coatings for dry machining was proven. The results of the experiments were compared with common used tool coatings for the hard machining. Additionally, the wear mechanisms adhesion, abrasion, surface fatigue and tribo-oxidation were researched in model wear experiments.     

A Comparison of the performance and wear characteristics of high-speed steel circular saw blades machining Nimonic PK31, AISI O1 Tool Steel, Inconel 600L, and AISI 1018 Carbon Steel

High-speed steel circular saw blades are widely used in industry for a variety of cut-off operations that require a combination of high-dimensional accuracy and a good-quality surface finish. The authors have been involved in an extensive programme of work to evaluate the effectiveness of applying advanced surface engineering treatments to enhance the performance and life characteristics of this form of tool. The work included optimizing cutting conditions with respect to tool performance when machining different workpiece materials, characterizing the wear mechanisms developed throughout tool life, and evaluating of the effect of different substrate surface preparations and advanced surface engineering treatments on the performance and wear characteristics of the tool.One interesting feature to arise from the work that has not been reported elsewhere has been the notable variation in performance and wear characteristics of nominally identical tools machining materials with similar hardness. The current paper compares the performance and wear characteristics of high-speed steel circular saw blades machining a tool steel and a nimonic nickel-based alloy (340–390 H_v. These are termed difficult to cut materials because of their poor machinability. A comparison is also made of the performance and wear characteristics of an Inconel nickel-based alloy and a low-carbon steel (120–150 H_v), both of which exhibit good machining characteristics. Differences identified between the resulting wear mechanisms emphasize the difficulties inherent in developing a universal tooth geometry and advanced surface engineering coating system that would be effective for all machining applications.     

铝基碳化硅精密铣削刀具磨损实验研究

针对铝基碳化硅切削加工中刀具易磨损、寿命低、切削难度大和加工成本高等问题,选用不同材料的硬质合金铣刀及金刚石铣刀进行切削加工实验,并利用扫描电镜和工具显微镜对高体积分数铝基碳化硅铣削时刀具磨损形态进行了分析研究.研究表明:硬质合金刀具前刀面和刃口磨损主要形式为粘结磨损和微崩刃,后刀面磨损主要为刻划磨损,而金刚石铣刀加工时刀具磨损很小;YG6X铣刀材料微观组织致密,抗磨损能力较强,宜粗加工时选用;金刚石刀体的硬度远大于SiC颗粒,且金刚石与工件的摩擦系数小,金刚石铣刀寿命远大于硬质合金铣刀,宜精加工时选用.     

Spanen metallischer Konstruktionswerkstoffe geringer Dichte

Machining of light metals Magnesium, aluminium and titanium are the only light metals that are also used in construction. They offer a significant prerequisite for weight reduction of workpieces. Especially the automotive and the aerospace industry have an increasing interest in using these lightweight materials as well as their alloys. The machining of light metals however is accompanied with several problems. With increasing the cutting speed high adhesive and abrasive effects between the cutting tool material and the workpiece material can occur. These effects lead to unsteady processes and also have a negative influence on the quality of functional surfaces as well as their subsurface properties. The influence of cutting tool materials, tool coatings and cutting conditions affecting the process when cutting magnesium, aluminium and titanium alloys is described. Adhesion can be reduced when machining magnesium and aluminium alloys in particular by the application of diamond-coated tools and by PCD-inserts. Diamond tools, due to their low coefficient of friction and the high thermal conductivity, furthermore contribute to the decrease of the thermal load within the contact zone between workpiece and cutting tool. Subsequently the danger of magnesium chip ignition can be minimized. For the machining of titanium alloys modern coatings based on (Ti,Al)N and TiCTiN are applied to reduce the adhesive and abrasive wear.     

CVD‐Diamantschleifstifte für den Werkzeug‐ und Formenbau. Abrasive Pencils for Tool and Die Making Coated by Diamond CVD

Recently developed compeDIA®‐ abrasive pencils have been produced and tested for the machining of cemented carbide molding tools. In order to produce abrasive pencils, carbide base plates have been grinded and coated with a diamond layer by a Hot‐Filament‐CVD‐process. The testing of the abrasive pencils took place with an ultra‐precision grinding machine on carbide workpieces. Surface roughness of the workpiece and its wheel life were the criteria for evaluation. For the specific adjustment of the grain size of the abrasive pencils, the adequate coating parameters were worked out, and the dependencies on basic influencing variables at coating procedures, such as nominal diameter and grinding length, were calculated. In order to be able to coat the grinded base plates with enough film adhesion, a practical pre‐treatment method was developed and tested, which removes the fringe zone, that was damaged during the grinding process. At present, the costs for the coating process are uneconomically high, though. By means of large‐scale production in connection with an automated pre‐treatment and coating it would be possible to lower the costs so far that they are on the same cost level with other coatings like TiN or TiAlN. The CVD‐Diamond abrasive pencils are very appropriate for tool and die making. It is to be expected that through further development of tools and through process optimization, the quality of the wrought workpiece can be ameliorated and surface finishes of R_a < 0,3 μm can be reached. The wheel life could be increased to appropriate values by optimization of the coating technology. The range of the machining parameters, in which the grinding process can be accomplished expediently without leading to a broken die, have been worked out. Afterwards, a die‐casting component with typically shaped elements was designed and an adequate molding tool prototype was crafted. With that, the basic conditions for tool‐ and die‐making were worked out in order to put into practice a fast and flexible machining of cemented carbide molding tools with the aid of those innovative abrasive pencils. In contrast to the traditional molding tool material made of brass, clear advantages in tool life can be made in the production of miniature serial‐parts by drawing, deep‐drawing or extrusion.     

An Investigation on Turning Hardened Steel Using Different Tool Inserts

Turning of hard materials usually presents poor machinability. However, for high productivity, it is desirable to employ turning of hard materials rather than grinding. In this work, turning of hardened 16MnCrS5 steel with hardness of 43 HRC was explored to judge machining performance with plain and wide-groove-type chip-breaking TiC-coated carbide inserts under dry and wet environmental conditions, different cutting velocity, and feed. Tool wear tests were also done in dry and wet conditions. Satisfactory tool performance was observed under wet condition using TiC-coated plain and wide-groove carbide inserts even at 268 m/min cutting velocity, when dry machining could not be done effectively.     

Design,evaluation and optimisation of cutter path strategies when high speed machining hardened mould and die materials

The use of high speed milling (HSM) for the production of moulds and dies is becoming more widespread. Critical aspects of the technology include cutting tools, machinability data, cutter path generation and technology. Much published information exists on cutting tools and related data (cutting speeds, feed rates, depths of cut, etc.). However, relatively little information has been published on the optimisation of cutter paths for this application. Most of the research work is mainly focused on cutter path generation with the main aim on reducing production time. Work with regards to cutter path evaluation and optimisation on tool wear, tool life, surface integrity and relevant workpiece machinability characteristics are scant. Therefore, a detailed knowledge on the evaluation of cutter path when high speed rough and finish milling is essential in order to improve productivity and surface quality. The paper details techniques used to reduce machining times and improve workpiece surface roughness/accuracy when HSM hardened mould and die materials. Optimisation routines are considered for the roughing and finishing of cavities. The effects of machining parameters notably feed rate adaptation techniques and cutting tools are presented.     

Tool life and surface integrity when milling inconel 718 with coated cemented carbide tools

Abstract

This paper presents a study of tool life and surface integrity while machining superalloy Inconel 718 using coated cemented carbide tools. In the machining of heat resistant superalloys used in aeronautical applications and classified as difficult‐to‐machine, tool life is an important parameter in evaluating the performance of the cutting tools. Surface quality of the workpiece is one of the important criteria in determining tool life. Our tests have been done under various combinations of speed, feed rate, and depth of cut to verify the change in surface roughness due to increasing tool wear. The behavior of the uncoated, TiN, and TiCN layers using various cutting conditions was analyzed. At the end, a choice of coating and optimization of the cutting conditions has been proposed.     

Experimental study on the meso-scale milling of tungsten carbide WC-17.5Co with PCD end mills

Tungsten carbide is a material that is very difficult to cut, mainly owing to its extreme wear resistance. Its high value of yield strength, accompanied by extreme brittleness, renders its machinability extremely poor, with most tools failing. Even when cutting with tool materials of the highest quality, its mode of cutting is mainly brittle and marred by material cracking. The ductile mode of cutting is possible only at micro levels of depth of cut and feed rate. This study aims to investigate the possibility of milling the carbide material at a meso-scale using polycrystalline diamond (PCD) end mills. A series of end milling experiments were performed to study the effects of cutting speed, feed per tooth, and axial depth of cut on performance measures such as cutting forces, surface roughness, and tool wear. To characterize the wear of PCD tools, a new approach to measuring the level of damage sustained by the faces of the cutter's teeth is presented. Analyses of the experimental data show that the effects of all the cutting parameters on the three performance measures are significant. The major damage mode of the PCD end mills is found to be the intermittent micro-chipping. The progress of tool damage saw a long, stable, and steady period sandwiched between two short, abrupt, and intermittent periods. Cutting forces and surface roughness are found to rise with increments in the three cutting parameters, although the latter shows signs of reduction during the initial increase in cutting speed only. The results of this study find that an acceptable surface quality (average roughness R_a<0.2 μm) and tool life (cutting length L>600 mm) can be obtained under the conditions of the given cutting parameters. It indicates that milling with PCD tools at a meso-scale is a suitable machining method for tungsten carbides.The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-020-00298-y     

Experimental investigations in powder mixed electric discharge machining of Ti–35Nb–7Ta–5Zrβ-titanium alloy

The present research is the first type of study in which the application of powder mixed electrical discharge machining (PMEDM) for the machining of β-phase titanium (β-Ti) alloy has been proposed. β-Ti alloys are new range of titanium alloys, which has a wide-spread application in dental, orthopedics, shape memory, and stents. The aim of the present study is to fabricate submicro- and nanoscale topography by PMEDM process to enhance the biocompatibility without affecting machining efficiency. The effect of Si powder concentration along with pulse current and duration on the surface and machining characteristics has been investigated. A significant decrease in surface crack density on the machined surface with 4 g/l Si powder concentration was observed. When β-Ti alloy was modified at 15 A pulse current, longer pulse interval with 8 g/l concentration of Si powder particles, the interconnected surface porosities with pore size 200–500 nm was observed. Moreover, at Si powder concentrations of 2 g/l and 4 g/l, the recast layer thickness is 8 µm and 2–3 µm, respectively. Elemental mapping analysis confirmed that PMEDM also generated carbides and oxides enriched surface, a favorable surface chemistry to enhance the biocompatibility of β-Ti alloy. Furthermore, PMEDM also enhances the machining performance by improving material removal rate and reducing tool wear rate.     

Experimental investigation of IN725 under different cooling environments using new tool holder

Heat buildup is an important issue on the cutting edge which then promotes high-temperature wear which consequently leads to poor machinability during dry machining. To improve the machinability, new tool holder designs accommodating cooling techniques have paid considerable attention toward the manufacturing domain recently. Whereas, in this paper, a new tool holder is designed and fabricated to serve for multipurpose cooling arrangements (internal cooling, external cooling) to reduce the heat buildup of the cutting edge along with the consolidated air system to clear away the chips. Initially, need of new tool holder is discussed followed by its manufacturability and machinability characteristics to a machine for nickel alloy Inconel 725. Machinability studies then are compared for dry machining, internal and external wet machining, and tool wear results are discussed. Thus, improvement in tool wear of around 70–75% and 65–72% is observed for internal wet, external wet concerning dry machining, respectively. Whereas, 15–18% (flank wear) and 6–9% (nose wear) improvement are seen for internal wet machining when compared with external wet machining. Results are best understood for internal cooling using a new tool holder.     

Tool condition monitoring in milling using vibration analysis

Monitoring the condition of cutting tools in any machining operation is very important to avoid unexpected machining trouble and improve machining accuracy. This paper presents the use of vibration analysis of the cutting process in milling to indicate the presence and progression of damage incurred by an end mill. The metal cutting experiments were performed on a mild steel workpiece without using any coolant to accelerate damage to cutter, and classical processing schemes in time and frequency domains were applied to the resulting vibrations of cutting process to obtain diagnostic information. Moreover, developing fault features were also illustrated using both scalogram and its mean frequency variation. It has been found that scalogram and its mean frequency are both capable of revealing the features of not only localized, but progressive fault more clearly in the presence of strong noise than conventional time and frequency domain analyses. Furthermore, the global average of the mean frequency variation provides a useful indicator signifying the progression of wear, whereas time domain statistics do not give any consistent trend.     

Machining of 6061 aluminium alloy with MQL, dry and flooded lubricant conditions

This paper reports on the effect of different lubricant environments when 6061 aluminium alloy is machined with diamond-coated carbide tools. The effect of dry machining, minimum quantity of lubricant (MQL), and flooded coolant conditions was analyzed with respect to the cutting forces, surface roughness of the machined work-piece and tool wear. The three types of coolant environments are compared. It is found that MQL condition will be a very good alternative to flooded coolant/lubricant conditions. Therefore, it appears that if MQL properly employed can replace the flooded coolant/lubricant environment which is presently employed in most of the cutting/machining applications, thereby not only the machining will be environmental friendly but also will improve the machinability characteristics.     

Properties,applications and manufacture of wear-resistant hard material coatings for tools

Wear processes during machining with cemented carbides and the effect of coatings on wear and on toughness are described. The requirements for coatings relating to optimum tool life are reviewed. Recently developed multilayer coatings with and without ceramic layers are described and examples for improvements in the tool lifetime are given. Additionally, some examples for the application of coatings for milling and chipless forming are presented.The wear-reducing effect of coatings on steel tools is described and possibilities for applications of steel tools coated using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) are elucidated. A number of examples for coated cutting and chipless forming steel tools are described.Finally, useful processes for the coating production are considered. A comparison between physical vapour deposition and CVD processes with respect to the coating temperature, the consistency and the adhesion of the coating is presented. The CVD process for economic production is considered and a suitable coating unit is outlined.     

Experimental studies on the cryogenic machining of biodegradable ZK60 Mg alloy using micro-textured tools

Reducing the contact area between the cutting tool rake surface and chip promotes the machining performance of the work material and increases the tool life. Magnesium alloys are ductile-lightweight materials that form continuous chips during machining. The present investigation discusses the orthogonal turning of ZK60 magnesium alloy with linearly textured cutting inserts under both dry and liquid nitrogen (LN₂) cooling conditions. Linear grooves that are parallel and perpendicular to chip flow direction were created using Nd-YAG laser on the tungsten carbide cutting inserts. The effect of texturing combined with the application of LN₂ cooling is studied by evaluating the machining temperature and forces, microhardness, surface roughness and tool wear. Textured tools considerably minimize the liaison area of the chip with the rake plane compared to non-textured tools, which resulted in favorable effects in machinability. In case of cryogenic machining, textured tools substantially minimize the friction by the coupled effect of micro-pool lubrication and the formation of thin-film lubrication between the tool–chip/tool–work interfaces. Parallel-textured tools aided with cryogenic cooling exhibit superior performance during machining among the different types of tools employed in the present investigation.     

CRYOGENIC MACHINING OF KEVLAR COMPOSITES

Previous attempts to machine Kevlar aramid fibre reinforced plastics (KFRP) with conventional cutting tools have proven to be extremely difficult. This has somewhat restricted the material's usage, often negating the advantages of its high strength to weight ratio and fatigue tolerance. The present paper describes a novel technique of machining KFRP under cryogenic conditions with remarkable results compared to those obtained at ambient temperatures. The investigation carried out with turning operation shows dramatic improvement of the tool performance and surface quality. The effects of various machining parameters such as workpiece temperature, cutting speed and tool geometry on the machinability of KFRP are presented and analyzed. It appears that care is necessary to judge the tool life as the typical tool wear growth and surface finish or cutting force may produce contradictory results. It is also suggested that, for KFRP, surface finish of the machined workpiece is a very good criterion to determine the tool life. To aid the understanding of the machining mechanics, a microscopic investigation of the cutting zone while actually machining a testpiece at ambient and cryogenic temperatures is also reported.     

Auslegung beschichteter Werkzeuge zur Umformung hochfester Aluminiumwerkstoffe

Dimensioning of coated tools for high strength aluminium forming processes For lightweight construction of security relevant parts the use of high‐strength aluminium alloys plays an increasing role. Hence, in forming processes tools are subject to severe stress. Especially abrasive wear and adhesive properties require the application of lubricants and separators. Due to environmental compatibility and enhanced energy efficiency a minimum of additives is wanted. For this reason the tribological system between tool and workpiece has to be influenced by appropriate surface treatment or coating techniques. For design of forming tools, surface properties and the resulting loading conditions have to be adapted. Appropriate coatings are selected and guidelines for the design of the forming tools are worked out by using numerical simulations.