Turning experiments were performed with cemented WC-Co cutting tools coated with two-layer and three-layer overcoats of TiC/Al2O3 and TiC/Al2O3/TiN, respectively. For comparison, uncoated WC-Co tools were also tested under similar cutting conditions. The predominant wear mechanisms of the various ceramic overcoats and cemented WC-Co were investigated using surface profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Representative results of the tool wear behavior are presented, and the significance of each ceramic layer on the overall tool wear resistance is interpreted in light of the identified dominant wear mechanisms. Delamination wear characterized by the propagation and linkage of surface, subsurface, and interfacial cracks, abrasion, surface plastic shearing, plucking of carbide grains, and dissolution/diffusion are shown to occur depending on the tool material. These wear processes are not mutually exclusive; they may occur simultaneously at different positions on the same tool surface. Based on nose wear data, correlations between wear lives of coated and uncoated tools and feedrate are established.

Issue Section:
Research Papers
Topics:
Carbide cutting tools, Wear, Ceramics, Abrasion, Cutting, Cutting tools, Delamination, Die cutting, Diffusion (Physics), Fracture (Materials), Linkages, Scanning electron microscopy, Shearing (Deformation), Turning, Wear resistance, X-ray analysis
1.
Chubb
J. P.
, and
Billingham
J.
,
1980
, “
Coated Cutting Tools—A Study of Wear Mechanisms in High Speed Machining
,”
Wear
, Vol.
61
, pp.
283
–
293
.
2.
Chubb
J. P.
,
Billingham
J.
,
Hall
D. D.
, and
Walls
J. M.
,
1980
, “
Comparison of Wear Behaviour of Single- and Multilayer Coated Carbide Cutting Tools
,”
Metals Technology
, Vol.
7
, pp.
293
–
299
.
3.
Dearnley
P. A.
, and
Trent
E. M.
,
1982
, “
Wear Mechanisms of Coated Carbide Tools
,”
Metals Technology
, Vol.
9
, pp.
60
–
75
.
4.
Dearnley
P. A.
,
1985
, “
Rake and Flank Wear Mechanisms of Coated and Uncoated Cemented Carbides
,”
ASME JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY
, Vol.
107
, pp.
68
–
82
.
5.
Heydari, F., Wallbank, J., and Pashby, I. R., 1987, “Evaluation of Wear Mechanisms and Tool Lives When Machining 0.3% Mn-Mo Steel With Coated Carbide and Ceramic Tools,” Wear of Materials, pp. 313–324.
6.
Kramer
B. M.
, and
Suh
N. P.
,
1980
, “
Tool Wear by Solution: A Quantitative Understanding
,”
ASME JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR INDUSTRY
, Vol.
102
, pp.
303
–
339
.
7.
Kramer
B. M.
,
1983
, “
Requirements for Wear-Resistant Coatings
,”
Thin Solid Films
, Vol.
108
, pp.
117
–
125
.
8.
Larsen-Basse
J.
,
1985
“
Binder Extrusion in Sliding Wear of WC-Co Alloys
,”
Wear
, Vol.
105
, pp.
247
–
256
.
9.
Lee
M.
, and
Richman
M. H.
,
1974
, “
Some Properties of TiC-coated Cemented Tungsten Carbides
,”
Metals Technology
, Vol.
1
, pp.
538
–
546
.
10.
Ramalingam, S., 1980, “Wear Mechanisms in Machining,” Fundamentals of Tribology, Suh, N. P., and Saka, N., eds., MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 663–677.
11.
Ramalingam
S.
, and
Wright
P. K.
,
1981
, “
Abrasive Wear in Machining: Experiments With Materials of Controlled Microstructure
,”
ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology
, Vol.
103
, pp.
151
–
156
.
12.
Santhanam, A. T., 1995, Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, private communication.
13.
Santhanam, A. T., Tierney, P., and Hunt, J. L., 1990, “Cemented Carbides,” Metals Handbook, 10th Edition: Properties and Selection, Vol. 2, ASM Int., Materials Park, OH, pp. 950–977.
14.
Santhanam, A. T., and Quinto, D. T., 1994, “Surface Engineering of Carbide, Cermet, and Ceramic Cutting Tools,” ASM Handbook, Surface Engineering, Vol. 5, ASM Int., Materials Park, OH, pp. 900–908.
15.
To¨ro¨k
E.
,
Perry
A. J.
,
Chollet
L.
, and
Sproul
W. D.
,
1987
“
Young’s Modulus of TiN, TiC, ZrN and HfN
,”
Thin Solid Films
, Vol.
153
, pp.
37
–
43
.
1.
Trent
E. M.
,
1963
, “
Cutting Steel and Iron With Cemented Carbide Tools: Part I. An Analysis of Tool Wear
,
Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute
, Vol.
201
, pp.
847
–
855
;
2.
Part II. Conditions of Seizure at the Tool/Work Interface
,
Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute
, Vol.
201
, pp.
923
–
932
; and
3.
Part III. The Influence of Metallurgical Factors in the Flow Zone
,”
Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute
, Vol.
201
,
1001
–
1015
.
1.
Trent
E. M.
,
1988
, “
Metal Cutting and the Tribology of Seizure: II Movement of Work Material Over the Tool in Metal Cutting
,”
Wear
, Vol.
128
, pp.
47
–
64
.
2.
Shaffer, P. T. B., 1964, Plenum Press Handbooks of High-Temperature Materials: Materials Index, No. 1, Plenum Press, New York, NY, pp. 125 and 314.
3.
Suh, N. P., 1986, Tribophysics, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. pp. 367–376.
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 1997
 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.