j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s p r o c e s s i n g t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 9 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 24122420

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r.c o m / l o c a t e / j m a t p r o t e c

Wear, cutting forces and chip characteristics when

dry turning ASTM Grade 2 austempered ductile iron
with PcBN cutting tools under nishing conditions
K. Katuku , A. Koursaris, I. Sigalas
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Box 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:

Experimental studies of wear, cutting forces and chip characteristics when dry turning

Received 20 August 2007

ASTM Grade 2 austempered ductile iron (ADI) with polycrystalline cubic boron nitride

Received in revised form

(PcBN) cut- ting tools under nishing conditions were carried out. A depth of cut of 0.2

19 May 2008

mm, a feed of

Accepted 23 May 2008

0.05 mm/rev and cutting speeds ranging from 50 to 800 m/min were used. Flank wear
and crater wear were the main wear modes within this range of cutting speeds. Abrasion
wear and thermally activated wear were the main wear mechanisms. At cutting speeds

Keywords:

greater than 150 m/min, shear localization within the primary and secondary shear zones

ADI PcBN
Wear rate

of chips appeared to be the key-phenomenon that controlled the wear rate, the static

Cutting force

500 m/min were found to be optimum for the production of workpieces with acceptable

Shear localization

cutting tool life, ank wear rate and lower dynamic cutting forces.

cutting forces as well as the dynamic cutting forces. Cutting speeds between 150 and

2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

The automotive industry, which is extremely competitive, is

interested in austempered ductile iron (ADI) because it offers
properties similar to those of heat-treated alloy steels. These
include high strength, high hardness, excellent toughness,
high ductility, good fatigue properties and useful wear characteristics at lower cost and reduced weight.
Because of these properties, ADI is difcult to machine in
the austempered condition. With regards to other
engineering ductile cast irons, the relatively high strength
and hardness of ADI as well as the inclination of its retained
austenite to strain hardening lead to short contact length
and higher mechani- cal loads on the cutting tools edge
(Yamamoto et al., 1995). The relatively high ductility of ADI
favours its adhesion on the cutting tool and brings also
about higher temperature on

Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 82 262 4035; fax: +27 11 435

3838. E-mail address: tkatku@yahoo.fr (K. Katuku).
0924-0136/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights
reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.05.042

the cutting tools edge (Klocke and Klpper, 2002). Because

of higher specic loads and higher temperatures that
develop on the cutting tools edge when machining ADI in its
austem- pered condition, cutting tools often suffer relatively
high ank and crater wears compared to hardened steels and
other engi- neering grey cast irons. The severe crater scar
that develops very close to the cutting tools edge exposes
the latter to frac- ture damage (Pashby et al., 1993). Of course,
the higher cutting temperatures as well as the relatively low
thermal diffusivity and short contact length of ADI could
also expose the cutting tools edge to thermal softening
(Gekonde and Subramanian,
1995).
In these conditions, cutting tools for machining ADI
should fundamentally yield at the same time: high hot
hardness and strength, excellent hot chemical inertia as
well as high toughness. Such cutting tools are ideal and do
not rigorously

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speaking exist in
the present cutting technology.
However, they are the purpose of the continuous research
undertaken in the eld. Coating technology appears to be
an alternative. Nowadays, coatings on cutting tools are being
used to improve the tribological properties of cutting tools
in
this ideal way (Knotek et al., 2001). Results show
signicant improvements in some cases, especially at
relatively low cutting speeds. How- ever, the issue of the
mechanical stability (aking) of these coatings sometimes
reduces the expectations. Thus, it is a matter of nding a
compromise cutting tool material and or coating as well as
optimum machining parameters.
Machining of ADI in its austempered condition is highly
desirable because it can yield the tight tolerances and
surface nishes generally required (Klocke et al., 2007), save
machin- ing time and thus reduce costs (Klocke and Klpper,
2002). In depth fundamental understanding of interactions
involved in this particular machining of ADI in its
austempered condition should show the way to the
optimum cutting tool material and or coating as well as
optimum machining parameters (productive cutting speeds
and feed rates, etc.). These out- comes would be among
the last obstacles to be overcome before intensifying the
use of this material in the automotive industry.
This very complex issue attracts great interest from the
cutting tool industry since nearly two decades. The comprehensive research conducted hitherto on the machinability
of various grades of ADI is almost very little. It has so far
addressed few
fundamental questions concerning the
cutting performance and wear mechanisms of various types
of cutting tools under various machining parameters and
conditions.
Pashby et al. (1993) investigated on the wear of Al2 O3 ,
Al2 O3 TiC, Al2 O3 SiCw , and Si3 N4 Al2 O3 ceramic cutting
tools when dry turning ADI close to ASTM Grade 2 under
condi- tions close to light roughing (depth of cut: 2 mm;
feed rate:
0.18 mm/rev; cutting speed: 100450 m/min). They reported
that ank wear was the main wear mode although tool
fracture occurred at the highest speed. Si3 N4 Al2 O3 ceramic
cutting tools suffered accelerated wear whereas Al2 O3 SiCw
ceramic cutting tools signicantly underperformed Al2 O3
and Al2 O3 TiC ceramic cutting tools under most conditions.
Fracture damage on the tools cutting edge and chemical
interaction between tool and workpiece were identied as
important wear mechanisms in controlling tool life.
Masuda et al. (1994) investigated on the cutting performance and wear mechanism of P20 cemented carbide
cutting tools, Al2 O3 ZrO2 (5 wt.%), Al2 O3 ZrO2 (20 wt.%),
Al2 O3 TiC (30 wt.%),
and Si3 N4

Al2 O3 SiCw ZrO2 , Al2 O3 SiCw TiC

ceramic cutting tools when dry turning ADI

close to ASTM Grade 1 under conditions close to light

roughing (depth of cut: 1 mm; feed rate: 0.1 mm/rev;
cutting speed:
50400 m/min). They reported that Al2 O3 TiC (30 wt.%)
inserts had the longest life at a low cutting speeds of about
100 m/min and less, and ZrO2 -toughened Al2 O3 inserts
had a longer tool life at cutting speeds of about 250
m/min or more. Al2 O3 SiCw ZrO2 and Al2 O3 SiCw TiC
ceramic cutting tools exhibited aking fracture at 250 m/min
whereas Si3 N4 ceramic cutting tools had no wear resistance
at all. Cemented carbide inserts had longer life at very low

109

cutting speeds. As cutting speed rose, the ank wear rate

increased slightly for Al2 O3 TiC (30 wt%) inserts. In contrast,
it decreased for ZrO2 -toughened

110

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Al2 O3 inserts due to the monoclinic-to-tetragonal

transforma- tion of ZrO2 at high cutting temperatures.
In order to elucidate the mechanism of poor
machinability of ADI, Yamamoto et al. (1995) investigated
on the turn- ing of ADI close to ASTM Grade 1 with Al2 O3
SiCw cutting tools under conditions close to light roughing
(depth of cut:
1.5 mm; feed rate: 0.2 mm/rev; cutting speed: 6300 m/min).
Their results showed at cutting speed lower than 36 m/min,
the strain-induced residual austenite to martensite transformation occurred in the chips as well as the damaged layer
of
the
machined
surface.
This
strain-induced
transformation was responsible of the poor machinability of
ADI. At
higher cutting speeds this strain-induced
transformation occurred only in the damaged layer of the
machined surface and not in the chips.
Wada et al. (1998) investigated on the wear of coated
cemented carbide cutting tools, coated Al2 O3 ceramic cutting
tools and coated Si3 N4 ceramic cutting tools in dry turning of ADI close to ASTM Grade 2 under conditions close
to light roughing (depth of cut: 1 mm; feed rate: 0.2 and
0.4 mm/rev; cutting speed: 30400 m/min). They found that
Ti(C,N)Al2 O3 TiN coated P10 carbide inserts had the
slowest ank wear progress with regard to TiCAl2 O3 TiN
coated P20 and TiN coated K10 carbide inserts. TiN coated
Al2 O3 ceramic inserts had tool wear progress similar to
Ti(C,N)Al2 O3 TiN
coated P10 carbide inserts. Abrasive wear was observed on
the
ank face of TiN coated Al2 O3 and TiNAl2 O3 TiN coated Si3
N4 ceramic inserts at relatively low cutting speeds. The
ank wear of TiNAl2 O3 TiN coated Si3 N4 ceramic inserts
increased rather slowly at the high feed rate of 0.4 mm/rev.
On the other hand, the TiN coated Al2 O3 ceramic inserts had
a tendency to fracture easily at this high feed rate of 0.4
mm/rev.
Klocke and Klpper (2002) investigated on the turning of
ADI close to ASTM Grade 1 with coated cemented carbide
cut- ting tools (Al2 O3 coated K10, Ti(C,N) coated K10, TiN
Al2 O3 coated P15), Al2 O3 and Si3 N4 ceramic cutting tools
under con- ditions close to light roughing (depth of cut: 1
mm; feed rate:
0.2 mm/rev; cutting speed: 120400 m/min) with and without
cutting lubricants. They pointed out that coated cemented carbides cutting tools could be successfully used in the range of
low cutting speeds. In the range of high cutting speeds,
the use of Al2 O3 ceramic cutting tools was attractive. The
performance of Si3 N4 ceramic cutting tools was very poor. Cutting
lubricants were very effective in the reduction of the ank
and crater wear scars of
cemented carbide tools,
particularly at relatively high cutting speeds.
Goldberg et al. (2002) studied the dry interrupted facing
of an ASTM Grade 3 ADI with Al2 O3 TiC and Al2 O3 SiCw
ceramic cutting tools under conditions close to light
roughing (depth of cut: 2 mm; feed rate: 0.10.4 mm/rev;
cutting speed:
425 m/min) and nishing (depth of cut: 0.5 mm, feed rate:
0.10.4 mm/rev; cutting speed: 700 m/min). Their results indicated that Al2 O3 SiCw ceramic inserts performed better
than Al2 O3 TiC ceramic inserts both for rough interrupted
facing and nish interrupted facing at high cutting speeds.
The lack of overwhelming performance for Al2 O3 TiC
ceramic inserts in this very situation would be linked to

their poor thermal shock resistance. They reported that the

tool wear characteris- tic was exclusively ank wear which
was a direct consequence of adhesiveabrasive wear
mechanism.

There is strong interest in extending the application of

polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PcBN) cutting tools
beyond the traditional machining of hardened steels, ake
graphite cast irons and steels produced by
powder
metallurgy meth- ods (Chou et al., 2003). The machining of
ADI, at least under nishing conditions, is among the recent
prospects. Indeed, PcBN cutting tools appear to be an
alternative for the machin- ing of ADI at high cutting speeds
and temperatures. At these high cutting speeds and
temperatures, cemented carbide cut- ting tools do not
maintain hardness, and Al2 O3 based cutting tools lack to
offer adequate toughness (Heath, 1989).
In an earlier investigation, Shintani et al. (1990) reported
that form the standpoints of surface roughness and tool
life, cBN-TiC cutting tools performed better than Al2 O3 TiC
ceramic cutting tools for the machining of ADI close to
ASTM Grade 3 under nish conditions.
Kato et al. (1991) investigated on the wear performance
of PcBN cutting tool in the turning of ADI close to ASTM
Grade 3 ADI under nishing conditions (depth of cut: 0.2 mm;
feed rate: 0.05 mm/rev; cutting speed: 40300 m/min). They
observed that from the standpoints of surface roughness
and ank wear rate, the optimum cutting speed was 100
m/min
around which the cutting temperature was 827 C. They suggested that the cutting performance of PcBN cutting tools
was controlled by the size and volume fraction of cBN
grains as well as the thickness of the binder phase.
The dependence of cutting performance upon size and
vol- ume fraction of cBN grains was also corroborated by
Goldberg et al. (2002) upon their study of the dry interrupted
facing of an ASTM Grade 3 ADI with PcBN cutting tools.
Klocke and Klpper (2002) investigated on the dry turning of ADI close to ASTM Grade 1 with PcBN cutting tools
under conditions close to light roughing (depth of cut: 1 mm;
feed rate: 0.2 mm/rev; cutting speed: 160400 m/min). Their
results pointed out that the application of PcBN cutting tool
was relatively acceptable for cutting speeds in the range of
160200 m/min.
Data accumulated so far on the machinability of ADI in
its austempered condition with PcBN cutting tools allowed
obtaining, although partially, fundamental understanding of
interactions involved. However, these database need to
be extended and consolidated in terms of tool life, wear
rate, cutting forces, surface nish and geometric accuracy
of the machined components, chip formation mechanisms,
surface integrity of the machined components, wear
mechanisms of cutting tools, etc. with regards to the recent
improvements in the PcBN cutting tool processing
technology.
This paper focuses on experimental studies of wear (wear
mode, wear mechanism, tool life, cutting length to end of
tool life, ratio of volume of metal removed per unit ank
wear, ank wear rate), cutting forces and chip
characteristics when dry turning ASTM Grade 2 ADI with
PcBN cutting tools under nishing conditions.

2.

Experimental procedures

The ASTM Grade 2 ADI workpieces used had the following

These workpieces were characterized in terms of their

hardness and microstructure. The microstructure was rst
studied with an optical microscope followed by a more
detailed examination in a scanning electron microscope
(SEM).
Dry nish turning experiments were designed so as to
investigate the wear (wear mode, wear mechanism, tool life,
cutting length to end of tool life, ratio of volume of metal
removed per unit ank wear, ank wear rate) of uncoated
Seco CBN 100 PcBN cutting tools when machining ADI
workpieces at different cutting speeds, according to the
ISO Standard
3685-1977(E) for single point turning (International Standard,
1977). In conformity with this standard, the wear criterion
used for all the machining experiments was 300 m of maximum ank wear.
After a certain cutting distance (cutting time), turning
was stopped, the cutting tool insert removed from the
toolholder and the ank wear and crater wear scar
morphologies were assessed by means of microscopic
examination on the optical microscope. The maximum
width of the ank wear scar was then measured.
The insert was then carefully replaced in the toolholder,
and the procedure repeated until the tool wear exceeded
the criterion. Experiments were repeated in order to measure
the cutting forces.
Plots of maximum ank wear VBC ( m) against cutting
time t (s) as well as plots of volume of ank wear per unit
of engagement length V ( m2 ) against cutting length lc (m)
were produced.
The volume of ank wear per unit of engagement length
V corresponding to the geometry of the cutting tools used
in this study has been shown to be (Barry and Byrne, 2001):
2

V = 0.05 (VBC )

(1)

where VBC is the maximum width of the ank wear

scar.
chemical composition: 3.51% C, 2.61% Si, 0.19% Mn, 0.016% P,
0.009% S, 0.002% Ni, 0.62% Cu, and 0.044% Mg.

Power regression was used to t the plots of VBC against

t, to estimate the cutting tool life corresponding to the wear
criterion and to determine the Taylor cutting tool life
equation. The ank wear rate used in this study was the
slope of the plot of V against lc .
A tri-axial dynamometer mounted on the turrets lathe and
coupled to a multi-channel amplier was used for the measurement of cutting forces.
The force signals acquired were analysed so as to evaluate the static and dynamic cutting forces corresponding to
a time. The static cutting forces were estimated as the
average of the signals. The dynamic cutting forces were
estimated as the variation from the static cutting forces (Li
and Low, 1994).
Chips were collected after each cut and examined visually.
Their morphology and microstructure were
investigated with an optical and a scanning electron
microscopes. The chip hardness was measured to assess the
interplay between strain hardening and thermal softening.
The morphology, microstructure,
hardness
and
average thickness of
chips were investigated after
mounting in cold resin and metallographic preparation.
Bright eld optical microscopy and differential interference
contrast (DIC) tech- niques were used. The DIC technique
was used to improve the contrast between the primary and
secondary shear zones.

Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine

the nanostructure of the secondary shear zone.
Hardness tests of ADI workpieces were done on a ground
surface using a Leco V-100-A2 Vickers hardness-testing
machine. Hardness tests were done using a load of 30 kgf
and a dwell time of 15 s. The etching reagents used for the
microstructural investigation of workpieces were 3% Nital
and
4% Picral.
Dry nish turning experiments were carried out on a LA
200
L Liouy-Hsing CNC Lathe rated at 14.72 kW. The uncoated
Seco CBN 100 PcBN cutting tool inserts used contained about
50% by volume of cBN, 2 m in grain size and TiC binder
(Seco, 2006). Their index specication was SNGN 090312 S
(nose radius
1.2 mm, honed, chamfer 0.1 mm 20 ). They were mounted
on a toolholder described as CSDNN 2525M12C. The
combina- tion
of insert and toolholder resulted in a rake
angle of 26 , a clearance angle of 6 and an approach angle
of 45 .
A Quartz 3-Component Kistler Dynamometer Type 9257B
was used for the measurement of cutting forces. A multichannel Kistler amplier Type 5070 A was coupled to the
dynamometer. Dynoware acquisition software Type 2825A02
Version 2.4.1.3 was used for data logging.
The dry nish turning experiments were carried out using
a depth of cut of 0.2 mm which is within the dimensions of
the tool chamfer. The feed was constant at 0.05 mm/rev
and cutting speeds ranged from 50 to 800 m/min. The
sampling rate of the analogical input force signals was 500
Hz. The force signals acquired were analysed for a cutting
time of 1 s.
Chip hardness measurements were made with a Leco M400A microindentation hardness-testing machine. A load of
50 gf and a dwell time of 10 s were used for chip hardness
mea- surements. The average chip thickness was measured
using the image analysis software AnalySIS 5. Chip etching
was car- ried out in 3% Nital.
An Olympus BX41M optical microscope coupled to an
Olympus Camedia Camera was used to measure the width
of the ank wear scar and to obtain optical micrographs. A
Philips XL 30 ESEM-FEG XL series scanning electron microscope was used to obtain SEM micrographs.
Chip samples for transmission electron microscopy were
prepared with focused ion beam (FIB) using 30 kV Ga ions in
a dual beam Nova FIB with in situ lift-out. A Philips 420
scan- ning transmission electron microscope (STEM) using a
LaB6 electron source at 120 kV was used for this investigation.
STEM
images were captured in bright eld mode.

3.

Results

3.1.

Workpiece characterization

The hardness of the ADI workpieces was 312 HV30 . The

principal micro-constituents were ausferrite (ferrite needles
and stringer-like retained austenite) and islands of residual
austenite and graphite (Fig. 1).
Image analysis of optical micrographs of unetched samples gave a volume fraction of graphite of 15%, a distribution

of graphite particles of 190 nodules/mm2 , a mean graphite

nodule size of 30 m and a graphite nodule spacing of
72 m.

Fig. 1 Microstructure of the workpiece (ASTM Grade 2

ADI). Etched, Picral, SEM, secondary electron image.

3.2.

Tool wear and cutting forces

Damage to the cutting tools over the entire range of cutting

speeds was mainly in the form of ank and crater wears.
Early formation of crater scar was noticeable at cutting
speeds greater than 150 m/min.
The Taylor cutting tool life equation was derived from the
plot in Fig. 2 as
t = 3 107 v1.9781 ,

with R2 = 0.9958

(2)

where t is the tool life (s), and v the cutting speed (m/min).
R2
is
the
regression
coefcient.
The ank wear rate and the ratio of volume of metal
removed per unit of ank wear are shown in Fig. 3. The ratio
of volume of metal removed per unit ank wear decreased
rapidly with increasing cutting speed up to a speed of about
300 m/min and more slowly with higher speeds. The ank
wear rate showed a rapid increase with increasing cutting
speed up to a speed of about 200 m/min. In the range of
200550 m/min the ank wear rate increased approximately
linearly with cutting speed and more rapidly for higher
speeds.

Fig. 2 Effect of cutting speed on tool life of Seco CBN 100

PcBN cutting tools.

Fig. 5 Effect of cutting speed on dynamic cutting forces for

Seco CBN 100 PcBN cutting tools.

Fig. 3 Effect of cutting speed on ank wear rate and the

ratio of volume of metal removed per unit of ank wear
of Seco CBN 100 PcBN cutting tools.

Fig. 4 Effect of cutting speed on static cutting forces for

Seco CBN 100 PcBN cutting tools.

The static and dynamic cutting forces corresponding to a

cutting time of 1 s are respectively shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
The static cutting forces were low.
They increased
rapidly with increasing cutting speed up to a speed of
about
150 m/min. Between speeds of 150 and 200 m/min, they
showed a dramatic decrease. At speeds over 200 m/min,
they increased at a slow rate. For speeds of over 150
m/min, the static thrust force was higher than the
static tangential force.
The dynamic cutting forces decreased with increasing
cut- ting speed up to a speed of about 200 m/min and
increased at different rates at higher cutting speeds. The
dynamic thrust force increased at the highest rate.

3.3.

started glowing in subdued light, indicating a temperature of

400 C or higher (Sizes, 2007).
At a speed of 50 m/min the surface nish of the
workpiece was very poor and the sliding surface of chips was
very rough (Fig. 6). Some severely strained material was
evident on the sliding surface of chips as was the case with
the machined surface of the workpiece. The heavily
deformed material indi- cated excessive or erratic built up
edge (BUE) that periodically formed on the cutting edge
resulting in poor surface nish of the workpiece.
At a cutting speed of 100 m/min the amount of strained
material on the underside of the chip decreased. However
there always were big discontinuities in the deformed
material in areas occupied by graphite nodules.
At speeds of 150 m/min or more the streaks along the
length of the sliding side of chips, were smooth (Figs. 7 and
8). The extent of discontinuities on the sliding side of
chips decreased as the cutting speed increased. Streaks and
micro- pores were more evident as the cutting speed
increased as a result of softening and probably partial
melting due to sliding of the chip against the rake face of
the cutting tool (Farhat,
2003).
The chips were continuous with occasional segmentation
and highly coiled for cutting speeds of up to 150 m/min. The
deformation pattern revealed that deformation occurred
quite homogeneously in the entire chip. The ow-pattern in
the sec-

Chip characteristics

Bluing and chip oxidation started to be evident at cutting

speeds greater than 200 m/min. In fact, from 200 m/min,
chips

Fig. 6 Underside of chip obtained at 50 m/min. SEM,

secondary electron image.

Fig. 7 Underside of chip obtained at 150 m/min. SEM,

secondary electron image.

Fig. 10 Microstructure of a chip obtained at 700 m/min.

SEM, secondary electron image.

Fig. 8 Underside of chip obtained at 700 m/min. SEM,

secondary electron image.

ondary shear zone, which showed the level of shearing

and frictional energy close to the toolchip interface, was
also vis- ible (Fig. 9).
For cutting speeds between 150 and 200 m/min, the chip
characteristics were intermediate between those of continuous and segmented chips.
At cutting speeds above 200 m/min, the chips became
more and more segmented and less coiled (Fig. 10). The
segmented

Fig. 9 Microstructure of a chip obtained at 150

m/min. SEM, secondary electron image.

Fig. 11 STEM image of the secondary shear zone of chips

obtained at 800 m/min, bright eld image.

chips consisted of individual segments that were slightly

deformed and joined by narrow heavily strained bands. The
high strain was localized essentially in the primary and secondary shear zones.
Examination in the STEM of the secondary shear zone
in chips produced at a cutting speed of 800 m/min revealed
nano-sized recrystallized grains (Fig. 11). The massive deformation expected in the secondary shear zone was not
evident.
Plots of average chip thickness and chip hardness against
cutting speed are shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that the
average chip thickness decreased rapidly with increasing
cut- ting speed up to about 200 m/min and very slowly for
higher speeds.
Conversely chip hardness increased for speeds of up to
200 m/min and dropped precipitously between speeds of 200
and 300 m/min. At higher cutting speeds the chip hardness
uctuated signicantly and did not show a clear trend.
These uctuations are probably the result of
actual
variations in hardness within chips, due to variations in the
extent of strain hardening.

Fig. 12 Effect of cutting speed on average chip thickness

and hardness of ASTM Grade 2 ADI chips.

to recrystallization in deformed chips. At speeds in excess of

300 m/min the hardness appeared to be constant indicating
recrystallization in the chips. This appears to be consistent
with the nearly constant chip thickness obtained at speeds
of between 300 and 800 m/min (Fig. 12).
When considering ank wear rate (Fig. 3), chip hardness
and average chip thickness (Fig. 12) strong indications
emerge with regard to tool wear mechanisms.
At speeds of up to 200 m/min temperatures are low,
the chip strain-hardens and abrasion (a mechanical effect)
would be expected to be the dominant wear mechanism.
At speeds between 200 and 300 m/min temperatures are
high and clear evidence of recrystallization emerges. Under
these conditions diffusion wear is expected to dominate.
This mechanism appears to remain dominant at speeds of
up to about 600 m/min. The increased ank wear rate at
speeds in excess of 600 m/min can probably be attributed
to further temperature increases which facilitate diffusion
but also accelerate oxidation which becomes a signicant
contributor to tool wear. Liquation at these high cutting
speeds can also be expected to enhance wear of the tool.
Clearly there are synergistic effects between the three
phenomena.

4.2.

4.

Discussion of results

4.1.

Tool wear

The value of R2 in Eq. (2) indicates good agreement between

the Taylor equation and the experimental tool life results
over the range of cutting speeds used.
The absolute value of the velocity exponent (1.9781) is
much higher than 1 which is the absolute value of this
expo- nent in cases where abrasive wear is the dominant
wear mechanism (Arsecularatne et al., 2006). The higher
value of this exponent indicates that abrasion was not the
dominant wear mechanism throughout the
range of
cutting speeds used.
It is well known that in the Taylor equation, the
cutting speed inuences tool life through its effect on
temperature (Arsecularatne et al., 2006). It is then likely that
thermally acti- vated wear mechanisms were active over a
wide interval of the range of cutting speeds used.
The plot of ank wear rate against cutting speed (Fig. 3)
showed signicant changes in slope for cutting speeds of 200
and 600 m/min indicative of changes in the dominant tool
wear mechanism. The ank wear rate increased rapidly for
speeds of up to 200 m/min and slowly for speeds between
200 and 600 m/min. At speeds over 600 m/min there was a
sub- stantial increase in ank wear rate.
When considering chip hardness and average chip thickness (Fig. 12) interesting trends emerge with regard to
the interplay between strain hardening and thermal
softening. At speeds of up to 100 m/min chip hardness
increased due to strain hardening. The practically constant
hardness of chips produced at 100200 m/min was
probably due to increased chip temperature resulting in a
balance between strain hard- ening and recovery processes.
At speeds between 200 and
300 m/min, the hardness dropped substantially probably
due

Cutting forces

The low feed (0.05 mm/rev), low depth of cut (0.2 mm) and
low contact length (contact area) explain the low values of
cutting force (Trent and Wright, 2000).
Kinks on the curves of static cutting force at cutting
speeds lower than 150 m/min (Fig. 4) show the effect of the
erratic or excessive BUE that probably occurred. In fact,
during the cutting operation, the BUE acts as an extension
of the cutting tool (Trent and Wright, 2000) and it usually
reduces abnormally the static cutting force by restricting
the contact of the chip with the cutting tool.
The sudden drop in static cutting forces between 150 and
200 m/min could be the result of the decrease in the contact
area between the chip and the cutting tool and of the
thermal softening in the secondary shear zone.
Above 200 m/min the balance between the effects of
strain hardening and thermal softening resulted in a very
slight increase in static cutting force.
For speeds of 150 m/min or more, the static thrust force
was bigger than the static tangential force because of the
large
negative rake angle (Poulachon and Moisan, 2000) (26 ) and
probably due to a higher crater wear
rate.
At cutting speeds lower than 150 m/min, the
fragmentation of chips and the instability of the BUE
(formation and fracture) induced additional dynamic cutting
forces.
The decrease in dynamic cutting force in the range between
50 and 200 m/min could be attributed to the decrease in
break- ing frequency of chips.
Beyond 150 m/min chips were no longer short but started
to become segmented and the wear rate increased
signicantly. The segmentation of chips, the ank wear as
well as the crater wear imply an increase in dynamic cutting
force.
Thus, in order to produce workpieces at lower dynamic

cut- ting force (better surface nish and dimensional

accuracy), cutting speeds in the range of 150500 m/min are
indicated.

4.3.

Chip morphology

The gradual, continuous and asymptotic decrease in the

aver- age chip thickness (Fig. 12) was due to the gradual,
continuous and asymptotic increase of the shear angle that
occurs when the cutting speed increases. The increase in
shear angle with increased cutting speed is linked to the
strain hardening in the primary shear zone or according to
Oxleys model, to the decrease of ow stress (thermal
softening) in the secondary shear zone (Subramanian et al.,
2002).
The asymptotic decrease in average chip thickness (Fig.
12) accords with the formation of segmented chips (Barry
and Byrne, 2002). Since ADI is a relatively ductile material,
the formation of segmented chips (Fig. 10) is related to shear
local- ization in the primary or/and secondary shear zones.
Shear localization was revealed metallographically in the
primary and secondary shear zones by the presence of
shear bands whose microstructure contrasted clearly with
that of the chip segments (Fig. 10).
The nano-sized equiaxed grains that appeared in the
sec- ondary shear zone of chips at cutting speeds greater
than
150 m/min (Fig. 11) were the result of dynamic recovery and
recrystallization that occurred in this zone. At cutting
speeds greater than 150 m/min, shear bands in
the
secondary shear zone probably transformed partially.
The renement of the microstructure of the primary and
secondary shear zones may be expected to increase the diffusion rates in the chip and enhance the diffusion of
cutting tool constituents into the chips.
At cutting speeds greater than 150 m/min, friction or/and
seizure at the toolchip interface gave rise to high temperature that activated the onset of shear localization in the
secondary shear zone. The temperature in this zone
increased even further with the onset of shear localization.
The resul- tant high temperature which favoured
transformation and dynamic recrystallization in
the
secondary shear zone, also favoured thermally activated
wear on the crater face of the PcBN cutting tools. This was
evidenced by the early appear- ance of the crater wear
scar at cutting speeds greater than
150 m/min.
However, shear localization in the secondary shear
zone was nearly reduced by the partial melting that
occurred on the chip underside, through its lubrication
effect. In fact, the increase in average chip thickness that
should be favoured by the onset of shear localization in
the secondary shear zone (Subramanian et al., 1999) was
negligible above a cut- ting speed of 200 m/min (Fig. 12).
This conrms the formation of lubricating transfer layer
that maintains more or
less unchanged the toolchip
interface tribological conditions and consequently a nearly
constant average chip thickness (Rech,
2006).
The partial melting that occurred on the chip underside
could be expected to increase the rate of thermally activated
wear of the crater face of the PcBN cutting tools.

5.

Conclusions

(1) Flank wear and crater wear were the main wear modes for
cutting speeds in the range 50800 m/min.

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

The absolute value of the velocity exponent of the

Tay- lor cutting tool life equation suggested that abrasion
wear and thermally activated wear were the main wear
mech- anisms. These indications on
tool wear
mechanisms also emerged when considering the ank
wear rate, chip hard- ness and average chip thickness
curves.
At cutting speeds less than 150 m/min, abrasion wear
was the main wear mechanism. At these cutting
speeds, the fragmentation of chips and the instability of
the BUE, con- trolled the dynamic cutting forces.
At cutting speeds greater than 150 m/min, shear localization within the primary and secondary shear zones
of chips appeared to be the key-phenomenon that controlled the wear rate, the static cutting forces as well
as the dynamic cutting forces.
At cutting speeds greater than 150 m/min, the higher
tem- peratures subsequent to shear localization brought
about nano-sized equiaxed grains within the secondary
shear zone, via dynamic recovery, recrystallization and
proba- bly partial phase transformation. These nanosized grains probably increased the crater wear rate of
the PcBN cutting tools via diffusion route.
At cutting speeds greater than 150 m/min, the higher
tem- peratures subsequent to shear localization
favoured the partial melting of the chip underside. This
partial melting could be expected to increase the crater
wear rate of the PcBN cutting tools.
At cutting speeds greater than 600 m/min, the higher
temperatures subsequent to shear localization probably
favoured the oxidation wear of PcBN cutting tools.
Cutting speeds between 150 and 500 m/min were found
to be optimum for the production of workpieces with
accept- able cutting tool life, ank wear rate and lower
dynamic cutting forces.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their thanks to the
DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in strong materials, University
of the Wit- watersrand, for nancial support.

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