Kiyota, H. et al.

Paper:
Prevention of Depth-of-Cut Notch Wear in CBN Tool Edge
by Controlling the Built-up Edge
Hiroki Kiyota, Fumihiro Itoigawa, Atsushi Kakihara, and Takashi Nakamura
Nagoya Institute of Technology
Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
E-mail: ciq16534@stn.nitech.ac.jp
[Received February 1, 2011; accepted March 6, 2011]
During the cutting of Inconel 718 with a Cubic Boron
Nitride (CBN) tool under rough machining conditions,
notch wear is prominently formed at the depth-of-
cut line. In this study, close-up observations around
the tool edge by a high-speed video camera were con-
ducted to investigate the cause of notch wear. The re-
sults suggest that notch wear is caused by unstable ex-
trusion of the Built-Up Edge (BUE) that forms under
the chamfered edge as well as by secondary chip for-
mation due to the side ow at the depth-of-cut line.
The BUE extrusion behavior depends on the tool ge-
ometry, such as the chamfer angle, the chamfer width
and the rake angle. The secondary chip easily forms
if the curled BUE is unstably extruded. However, the
stable uncurled BUE extrusion causes neither the sec-
ondary chip nor the notch wear. Therefore, optimiza-
tion of the tool geometry to obtain a stable BUE extru-
sion is examined to suppress the notch wear.
Keywords: CBN tool, built-up edge, secondary chip,
notch wear, chamfered edge
1. Introduction
The advancement of tool materials such as Cubic Boron
Nitride (CBN) has enabled high-speed turning of difcult-
to-cut materials. CBN cutting tools have been practi-
cally used for nickel-based superalloys, considered to be
difcult-to-cut materials, and have attained high produc-
tion rates. However, CBN tools are expensive compared
to ordinary carbide cutting tools. Consequently, the min-
imization of tool wear is necessary to attain sufciently
high production rates at lower cost.
Many previous studies on the wear of CBN tools in the
cutting of difcult-to-cut materials have focused on ank
wear. Zhou et al. investigated the effect of chamfer an-
gle on ank wear in super nishing hard turning through
cutting experiments and nite element calculations [1].
Their results suggest that there is an optimum chamfer
angle around 15

, at which the cutting tool exhibits the

maximum tool life. The tool strength increases with an
increase in chamfer angle, and the increased chamfer an-
gle results in a rise in the cutting force. In addition, the
Fig. 1. Typical notch wear of the CBN tool under rough
cutting conditions.
adhesion of workpiece material to the CBN tool is a fac-
tor of ank wear. To avoid the adhesion, the following
factors were found to inuence sintered elements: CBN
grain size, binding material and content rate in both the
CBN grain and the binding phase [2].
The experiments in these studies, however, were con-
ducted under nish machining conditions, so the feed rate
was less than or equal to 0.05 mm/rev, and the depth of
cut was less than or equal to 0.1 mm. In cutting under
rough machining conditions, the depth-of-cut notch wear
may dominate the tool life rather than the ank and rake
face wear (see Fig. 1). Accordingly, the minimization of
the depth-of-cut notch wear is an essential issue at pro-
duction sites.
In this paper, close-up observations around the tool
edge during nickel-based superalloy cutting under rough
machining conditions were conducted to reveal the mech-
anism of notch wear of the chamfered CBN tool. The re-
sults suggested that notch wear is caused by an extruded
Built-Up Edge (BUE) and the formation of a secondary
chip. The effects of the BUE and the secondary chip on
notch wear have been reported in previous studies. For
example, Albrecht explained that notch wear is formed by
the abrasion of work-hardened material owing in a par-
ticular way from the BUE [3]. Okushima and Hitomi re-
ported that the side ow induced by the large compressive
stress adjacent to the shear zone causes formation of the
secondary chip, and consequently notch wear [4]. How-
ever, these reports were based on conventional tools, such
342 Int. J. of Automation Technology Vol.5 No.3, 2011
Prevention of Depth-of-Cut Notch Wear in CBN Tool Edge
by Controlling the Built-up Edge
Fig. 2. Setup and photos of cutting points: (a) setup, (b) photos (top: orthogonal
cutting, bottom: turning).
as non-chamfered carbide tools, not for chamfered CBN
tools. The close-up observations with a high-speed video
camera in this study suggested that the BUE extrusion be-
havior along the tool edge and the secondary chip forma-
tion depend on the chamfered tool geometry and the BUE
extrusion can signicantly affect the formation of notch
wear. Based on the observation results, optimization of
the tool edge geometry of the CBN tool was investigated
to control the BUE extrusion to prevent notch wear.
2. Experiments
2.1. Experimental Setup
Orthogonal cutting and turning were performed on In-
conel 718, one of the nickel-based superalloys processed
by chamfered CBN tools with a CNC turning center
(OKUMA LT-200). The BUE behavior was observed
with a high-speed video camera (PHOTORON APX-RS).
Fig. 2 shows the experimental setup and photos from the
video obtained from each setup. The arrangement and
features of the work material, the test CBN tool and the
high-speed video camera are shown in Fig. 2 (a). The
cutting force components were measured by a force dy-
namometer (Kistler 9121B).
2.2. Tool Geometry Parameters
Generally, the CBN cutting tool edge is prepared with
a hone radius, a relatively large chamfer (also called neg-
ative land), or a combination of both, to strengthen the
tool edge. In this study, all supplied tools were prepared
with only a chamfered edge by grinding. The tool geome-
try parameters employed in the cutting tests are shown in
Fig. 3. The chamfer angle was 15

and 30

, the chamfer
width W
c
was 100 m and 150 m, the rake angle was
Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of tool edge geometry.
0

and 10

. Triangle inserts were used in the turning ex-

periments, and the tool geometry was expressed by (5,
5, 5, 5, 30, 0, 0.8). The chamfer for the turning test was
prepared only at the side cutting edge.
2.3. Workpiece Materials and Cutting Conditions
The workpiece materials were two kinds of Inconel 718
with different heat treatments, leading to different hard-
ness values. The softer one had a hardness of 355HV,
and the harder one had a hardness of 434HV. The cut-
ting speed, the feed rate and the width of cut for the or-
thogonal cutting experiments were selected as 200 m/min,
0.1 mm/rev and 2 mm, respectively. For the turning ex-
periments, the depth of cut was 2 mm. Cutting uid was
not used. The typical notch wear on a commercial CBN
insert, as shown in Fig. 1, appeared under these cutting
conditions.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Classication of BUE Extrusion Types
The results showed that the BUE was easily formed
in Inconel 718 cutting with the chamfered CBN tool, al-
though the CBN tool surface has relatively lower afnity
Int. J. of Automation Technology Vol.5 No.3, 2011 343