Influence of the tool corner radius on the tool wear and process forces during hard turning

Hard turning has become an alternative machining process for grinding processes of hardened steels. One challenge during hard turning is the increasing wear during the operation time of the tool and the hereby influenced workpiece surface and subsurface properties. This causes unfavorable changes of the microstructure and residual stress state or rather damages of the subsurface. Important factors are the contact conditions between the tool and the workpiece. The width of flank wear land influences the size of the passive force significantly. This has a direct impact on the subsurface properties of the workpiece. One solution is to modify the contact conditions and thereby the specific mechanical and thermal loads that are applied to the tool as well as to the workpiece. This article presents an experimental approach of modified corner radius geometry of cutting tools for hard turning processes. Hereby, the size and direction of the contact length of the cutting edge are adjusted as well as the load impact during machining. The aim is to reduce the tool wear performance. The results show the potential of the load-specific tool design concerning the tool wear and the workpiece subsurface properties. Furthermore, a new approach for predicting the process forces during hard turning is presented.