CUTTING TOO

OL MATERIALS
History of cutting to
ool materials

¾ Cutting tool used durin

ng the industrial
revolution in 1800 A
A.D
D

¾ First cutting tool was ccast using crucible

method (1740) and sliight hardened by H.T.

¾ 1868: R. Mushet found by adding Tungsten

we can increase hardness and tool life ( Air
Quenching)
History of Cutting tools

¾ F.W.Taylor in Pennsylvvania did the most basic

research in metal cutting between 1880-1905
1880 1905
ƒ Invented high speed ste
eel (better H.T. process)
ƒ B tt alloy
Better ll

¾ Tookk 3 decades
T d d b before
f e we gott Cemented
C t d
carbide, First used in Germany
G
Cutting tool materia
als

¾ Selection of cutting to
ool materials is very
important

¾ What properties should cutting tools have?

ƒ Hardness at elevated temperatures

ƒ Toughness
ƒ Wear resistance
ƒ Chemical stability
 Cutting Tool Materiials

‰ Hardness

HSS Cast Carbides Ceramics CBN Diamond

Alloys WC TiC
Hardness 83-86 83 86 82-84
82 84 1800
1800- 1800
1800- 2000
2000- 4000-
4000 7000-
7000
(N/mm²)         HRA HRA 2400 3200 3000 5000 8000
Relative time required to
t machine with
various tool materials
materials, indicating the year
the tool materials were introduced
Selection of Cutting
g Tool Materials

FIGURE: The selection of the cutting-tool material and geometry followed by the selection of cutting
conditions for a given applicationn depends upon many variables
Cutting
g Tool Material Hardness
Properties for Group
ps of Tool Materials
ps
General Characteristics of
o Cutting-Tool Materials
Carbon &  High  Cast  Cubic 
Unccoated  Coated 
Alloy  Speed  Cobalt  Ceramics Boron  Diamond
Carrbides Carbides
Steels Steels Alloys Nitride
Hot Hardness Increasing

Toughness
g Increasingg
Impact 
Increasing
Strength
Wear 
Increasing
Resistance
Cutting Speed Increasing
Thermal
Thermal 
Shock  Increasing
Resistance
Cost of Tool 
Increasing
Material
Light to  Light to  Light to  Light to  Light to  Light to  Light to 
Depth of cut Very Light
Medium Heavy Heavy eavy
He Heavy Heavy Heavy
Finish 
i i h Very  Very 
Rough Rough Rough ood
Go Good Excellent
Obtainable Good Good
Alloy steels:
Chromium: Improves strengtth, hardness, wear resistance,
and hot hardness. In significant proportions, Cr improves
corrosion resistance.

Manganese: improves the strrength and hardness of steel

steel.

Tungsten: increases toughness and hot hardness.

Molybdenum: increases toug

ghness and hot hardness.

Nickel: improves strength and

d toughness.

Vanadium: inhibit grain growtth during elevated

temperatures thereby enhanccing strength and toughness
off steel.
t l
Carbon Steels
Hi h Carbon
High C b steel
t l (0.6
(0 6 tto 1
1.5%
5% C
Carrbon)
b )

Small percentages of silicon, mang ganese, chromium and vanadium are

used to help refine grain size and in
ncrease tool hardness

Easily shaped and sharpened

Greater resistance to abrasive wea

ar

Do not have sufficient hot hardness

s (200°C) for cutting at high speeds

Widely used for files, saw blades, chisels,

c taps, broaches and reamers

Speeds – 5 m/min
 High Speed Steel
High speed tool steel differs from plain high carbon
c
steel in the addition of alloying elements to ha
arden and
strengthen the steel and make it more resista ant to heat
0
(600 C)

Commonlyy used alloying

y g elements: man
nganese,
g ,
chromium, tungsten, vanadium, molybde
enum, cobalt
and niobium

The M series (10% Mo, with Cr, V, W and Cobalt as

alloying elements) represents tool steels of the
molybdenum type and the T seriess (18% W, 4% Cr, 1%
V and Cobalt as alloying
y g elements)) represents
p those of
the tungsten type.

Weq = 2 ((%Mo)) + %W

Some of the High Speed

d Steels are now available in a
powdered metal (PM) fo
orm.
Cast Cobalt Alloys
A typical composition for this class of tool material was 45% Co,
21% W, and 2% C which gives a hot hardness of 750 °C)

Cast alloys provide high abrasion resistance and are thus useful
for cutting scaly materials

They are not as tough as HSS and

a are sensitive for interrupted
cutting operations.

When applying cast alloy tools, their

t brittleness should be kept in
mind and sufficient support shou
uld be provided at all times.

Speeds – 45 to 60 m/min.
Carbides

Also known as cementted or sintered carbides

Because of their high hardness (1000

( °C), High elastic modulus,
thermal conductivity, abrasive re
esistance and chemical stability,
carbides are the most important
p t,, versatile and cost effective tool
and die materials for a wide
w range of applications

Most carbide tools in use todayy are either straight WC or multi

carbides of W-Ti or W-Ti-Ta, de
epending on the work material to
be machined.

Speeds – 125 m/min.

Cemented Carbide
e Inserts

FIGURE: P/M process for making ce

emented carbide insert tools.
Production of WC

Blended WC powder
powder, produced by
mixing WC (94%) with Cobalt (6%) Carbide blending equipment,
in a ball milling press Ball mill
Production of WC
Blended WC p
powder is then dried and
compacted using a pill press
The compacted
p p
powder is then sintered in
a sintering furnace at 1350 to 1600 °C
 Carbide Inserts

Typical carbide inserts with various shapes and chip‐breaker 
features; round insserts are also available.                                        
The holes in the inserts are st
The holes in the inserts are sttandardized for interchangeability.  
tandardi ed for interchangeability
Methods of attaching inserts to toll holders

(a) Clamping, and (b) Wing lockpins 
(c) threadless lockpins (d) Insert brazed on a tool shank 
Boring Head

FIGURE: Boring head with carbide insert cuttinng tools. These inserts have a chip groove that can
cause the chips to curl tightly and brreak into small, easily disposed lengths.
 Insert Strength

FIGURE: Relative edge strength and tendency for

chipping and breaking of inserts with various shapes.
shapes
Strength refers to that of the cutting edge shown by the
included angles. Source: Courtesy of Kennametal, Inc.

FIGURE: Edge preparations for inserts to improve edge

F
s
strength. Source: Courtesy of Kennametal, Inc.
Coated Carbide To
ools
Necessity: New alloys and enngineered materials, which have high
strength and toughness
toughness. Thesee materials are generally abrasive and
chemically reac
ctive with tool materials.

Need for improving the performa

ance in machining common engineering
materials has led to importtant developments in coated tools.

Coated tools don’t perform

m efficiently at low cutting speeds.

The thickness of these coa

atings is on the order of 2 to 10 µm.

Speeds – 200 to 250 m/min.

 Coating Materials
Titanium Nitride: Titanium Carb
C bide: Ceramics:
(Gold Color) (Gray Colorr) (Black Color)

Low friction These e High chemical

coefficients,
ffi i t coatings
ti on inertness low
inertness,
high WC inse erts thermal
hardness, have hig gh conductivity, high
resistance
i t to
t fl k we
flank ear thermal stability,
stability
high resistance resistance to flank
temperature in and crater wear.
andd goodd machinin
hi ing However ceramic
adhesion to abrasivve coatings bond
the substrate. materialls. weakly to the
substrate.
substrate
Cutting inserts indicating th
thee diverse range of shapes
Coating
g Materials

Titanium Carbo-Nitride
Carbo Nitride
Diamond Coatings:
Coatings:

Effective in machining abrasive Normally appears as the

materials intermediate layer of two or
three phase coatings.

Tool life will be improved by ten

f ld when
folds h compared d tto other
th Acts as a neutral layer
layer,
coated tools. helping the other coating
layers to bond into a
sandwich-like structure.
Poor adherence characteristics
and difference in thermal
expansion between diamond
and substrate materials
materials.
Triple
p Coated Carb
bide Tools

FIGURE: Triple-coated carbide tools provide resistance to wear and plastic deformation in
machining of steel, abrasive wear in cast
c iron, and built-up edge formation.
Triple Coated Carb
bide Tools

FIGURE: Triple-coated carbide tools provid

de resistance to wear and plastic deformation in
machining
hi i off steel,
t l abrasive
b i wear iin n castt iron,
i and
dbbuilt-up
ilt edge
d fformation.
ti
 Multiphase Coating
gs

The interrmediate The outer

The first layer l
layer sh ld
should layer should
should bond bond well and be resist wear
well with the compatib ble with and have low
substrate b th th
both the layers.
l thermal
conductivity

Heavy duty, Light,

High speed,
continuous interrupted
continuous
cutting: cutting:
tti
cutting:
TiC/Al2O3/TiN TiC/TiC +
TiC/Al2O3
TiN/TiN
 Multiphase
p e Coatings
g

Multiphase coatings on a tungsten‐carbide sub bstrate.  Three alternating layers of aluminum oxide 
are separated by very thin layers of titanium nitride.  Inserts with as many as thirteen layers of 
coatings have been made.  Coating thicknesses are typically in the range of 2 to 10 μm..
CVD Process:

FIGURE: Chemical vapor deposition is used to apply layers (TiC, TiN, etc.) to carbide cutting tools.
PVD Process

FIGURE: Schematic of PVD evaporation process

 Ceramics (Cement
( ted Oxides))
Ceramics are non-metallic materia
als produced by sintering process.

The main constituent is Al2O3, up

p to 10% oxides of Mg, Ti and Cr

Extremely high resistance to abrasive wear and cratering.

Extremely high hot hardness (1400

0 °C) and low thermal conductivity

The application of ceramic cutting too

ols is limited because of their extreme
brittleness. The transverse ruptture strength (TRS) is very low.

The strength
g of ceramics under compress
p ion is much higher
g than HSS and carbide
tools and they can be used at speeds up to 250 m/min.

To use ceramic tools successfully, insert shape, work material condition, machine tool
capability set
capability, set-up,
up and general mach hining conditions must all be correct
correct.
Various sizes and shapes of hot and cold pressed ceramics
Sialon (Si-Al-O-N)
(Si Al O N)

P d
Produced
dbby milling
illi ttog
gether
th Si3N4, Aluminium
Al i i
nitride, alumiina and yttria.
Dried and pressed to shape
s and sintered at a
temperature off about 1800 °C

Sialons are considerablly tougher than alumina.

Can be used successsfully during machining

involving inte
errupted cuts.

Cutting speeds – 200 to 300 m/min.

Cermets

C
Cermets
t are basically
b i ll a combb
bi ti off ceramic
bination i and
d titanium
tit i
carb
bide.

The manufacturing processs for cermets is similar to the

process used for hoot pressed ceramics.

The materials, approximately 70% ceramic and 30% TiC.

The strength of cermets is grreater than that of hot pressed

ceramics. Therefore,, cermetss p
perform better on interrupted
p
cu
uts.
However, when compared to solid
s ceramics, the presence of
30% TiC in
i cermetst decre
d eases theth hot
h t hardness
h d and
d
resistance to abrasive wear.
Diamond

Diamond is the hard

dest material known

Diamond tools have high h hardness, good thermal

conductivity very low friction,
conductivity, ction non
non-adherence
adherence to
most materials, the abiility to maintain a sharp
edge for a long time and a good wear resistance.

Diamond cutting tools sho ould only be used for light

finishing cuts of precision
n surfaces. Feeds should
b very lilight
be ht and
d speeds
ds are usually
ll iin excess off
5000 SFPM
S
Disadvantages of D
Diamond

Rigidity in the machine tool and the setup is very critical

Because diamonds are pure p carbon, they have an

affinity for the carbon in the ferrous
f materials. Therefore,
they can only be used on non-ferrous metals
metals.

Diamond has a tendency to revert at high temperatures

(7000 C) to graphite and/or oxidize in air.

Diamond is very brittle and costly to shape into cutting

ols.
too
Polycrystalline
Di
DiamonddTToolsl

FIGURE: Polycrystalline diamond tools are

carbides with diamond inserts.

They are restricted to simple geometries.

Polycrystalline diamond mate
erial bonded to a carbide base.
Polycrystalline Cubic B
Boron Nitride (PCBN)

CBN is similar to diamond in itts polycrystalline structure and

is also bonded ((a layer
y of 0.5 to
t 1.0 mm PCBN)) to a carbide
basse.
While the carbide provides shoock resistance, the CBN layer
provides
id very hi
highh wear re
esistance
i t and
d cutting
tti edge
d
stren
ngth.

CBN should
h ld mainly
i l b be connsidered
id d as a fifinishing
i hi ttooll
material because of its extrem
me hardness and brittleness.

Machine tool and set-up rigiditty for CBN as with diamond is

critical
 Cubic Boro
on Nitride

Construction of a polycrystalline cubic boron Inserts with polycrystalline cubic boron nitride
nitride or a diamond layer on a tungsten-carbide tips (top row) and solid polycrystalline cBN
i
insert.
t i
inserts
t (bottom
(b tt row).
)
Improvements
p in Cutting
C g speeds
p

FIGURE: Improvements in cutting tool materials have led to significant increases in cutting speeds
(and productivity
y) over the years.
 Approximate Cost of S
Selected Cutting Tools

TABLE
Tool Size (in.) Cost ($)
High-speed
High speed steel tool bits 1/4 sq.x 2 1/2 long 11–22
1/2 sq. x 4 3–7
Carbide-tipped (brazed) tools for turning 1/4 sq. 2
3/4 sq.
sq 4
Carbide inserts, square 3/16"thick
Plain 1/2 inscribed circle 5–9
Coated 6 10
6–10
Ceramic inserts, square 1/2 inscribed circle 8–12
Cubic boron nitride inserts, square 1/2 inscribed circle 60–90
Diamond coated inserts
Diamond-coated 1/2 inscribed circle 50 60
50–60
Diamond-tipped inserts (polycrystalline) 1/2 inscribed circle 90–100