ASM Specialty Handbook: Tool Materials Copyright © 1995 ASM International® Joseph R
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ASM Specialty Handbook: Tool Materials Copyright © 1995 ASM International® Joseph R. Davis, Editor All rights reserved www.asminternational.org General Guidelines for Selecting Cutting Tool Materials SELECTING Tiffi PROPER CUTIING Because of the wide range of conditions and • TYpe, capability, and condition of the machine TOOL MATERIAL for a specific machining ap requirements, no single cutting tool material tool to be used plication can provide substantial advantages, in meets the needs of all machining applications. • Rigidity of the tool and workpiece cluding increased productivity, improved quality, Each tool material has its own combination of • Production requirements influencing the and reduced costs (Ref 1). Increased productivity properties that makes it best for a specific opera~ speeds and feeds selected can be obtained by increasing cutting speeds tion. The fol1owing factors affect the selection of • Operating conditions, such as cutting forces and/or feed rates. Increasing the speeds and feeds, a cutting tool material for a specific application and temperatures however, is limited by the capability of the cUt (Ref 1): • Tool cost per part machined, including initial ting tool material and machine tool. Speeds and tool cost, grinding cost, tool life, frequency of feeds must be kept low enough to provide an • Hardness and condition of the workpiece rna~ regrinding or replacement, and labor cost. The terial acceptable tool life. Otherwise, tool changing and most economical tool is not necessarily the one • Operations to be performed (optimum tool se~ grinding costs can outweigh the advantages of providing the longest life or having the lowest lection may reduce the number of operations faster machining rates by increasing the cost per initial cost. part produced. Machine tool downtime for re required) placement of dull or broken tools is a major • Amount of stock to be removed • Accuracy and finish requirements deterrent to increasing productivity. Desirable Properties In evaluating a cutting tool material in a ma chining operation, the applicability is dependent Toughness on having the correct combination of physical Transverse rupture Abrasion resistance prbperties. Because maximizing one property strength, MPa (ksi) Hardness, HRA typically means lowering some other property f-----, (e.g., extremely wear-resistant materials gener High-speed 3447-4826 ally have poor toughness, as shown in Fig. 1), the stee I l ~6.5 (500-700) (60-70 HRC) workpiece properties and cutting operations f---, strongly influence the selection of a cutting tool Cast 2068-2413 81-84 alloy l material. Similarly, developing an understanding (300-350) Taii:65 HRC) of the tool properties and their relationship to Micro grain cutting performance is the key to understanding 2758-3723 91.5-92.0 carbide l l the potential application range. (400-540) Properties of primary concern in cutting tool C-1 and C~2 1655-2241 90.0-92.0 design are fracture resistance (toughness), plastic carbide l l (240-325) or thermal deformation resistance, and wear re C-3and C4 sistance. Also of concern is the resistance of the '1207-1793 92.0-93.0 carbide l l material to cracking, notching, cratering, and, in (175-260) the case of coated inserts, spalling (poor coating and C-6 adherence). C-5 1379-2068 90.0-92.5 carbide l I Machine tests have been developed to measure (200-300) the resistance of cutting tools to these failure C-7 and C-8 689.5-1724 92.0-95.0 mechanisms. This is accomplished by matching carbide I (100-250) the workpiece and tool materials, adjusting ma e:---. chining parameters over the likely application Ceramic ~-758.4 93.5-94.0 I range, and then carefully evaluating the failure (80-110) modes and their relationship to basic physical properties of materials. Common failure mecha Polycrystalline 6500·8000 HK diamond ~379 nisms are shown in Fig. 2. The cutting tool prop (100-200) erties of most concern in evaluating these failures are described below. Additional information on Fig. 1 Comparison of toughness and wear resistance for various cutting tool materials. Source: Metcut Research Associates, Inc. cutting tool failures can be found in the articles 4 I Materials for Machining and Grinding "Cemented Carbides" and "Wear and Failure Modes for Cutting Tools" in this Volume. Predominant failure mechanisms Toughness is commonly defined by cutting tool users as the resistance of the cutting edge to Heavy roughing Roughing Semifinishing Finishing breakage or fracture under unfavorable condi Fracture Chipping Wear land Deformation tions, which typically include one or more of the Chipping Deformation Deformation Crater following: Deformation Cracking Crater Wear land Crater • High feed rates • Moderate-to-severe interruptions Increasing feed \ Increasing speed • Inconsistent or difficult workpiece material ~---------------------t--------------------~ • Lack of rigidity Fig. 2 Predominant failure mechanisms of coated carbides when machining steels Flank Wear Resistance. The resistance of the cutting tool to flank wear is a primary concern in the applicability of the material to a cutting opera The resistance of whisker-reinforced ceramics to Other alloying elements include tungsten, chro tion. The tool must have adequate resistance to this crack formation is one reason they have been mium, vanadium, and cobalt. These steels reach both abrasive and chemical wear, so the chemical successful in cutting this type of material. ·exceptionally high hardness after heat treatment inertness of the material as well as its hardness Chipping is a less severe and more common and can maintain that hardness at relatively high must be considered. Figure 3(a) shows a typical form of breakage. If the strength of the cutting temperatures. wear land generated during a turning or facing tool material is exceeded in localized areas due to Type T steels also have high carbon contents, operation. The balancing of abrasive and chemi chatter, variations in the workpiece, or buildup on with tungsten as the primary alloying element. cal wear resistance, along with toughness, gives the cutting edge, small fragments of the cutting Chromium and vanadium are present as alloying each tool material family its own application edge break away during the cutting operation elements in all type T steels; most also contain range. Generally, as the cutting speed increases, (Fig. 3!). Edge preparation plays an important cobalt. The tungsten types tend to be less tough, chemical wear resistance becomes more impor role in minimizing chipping. more resistant to heat, and slightly higher in abra tant. Therefore, inert materials such as oxides and Ultimately, the intent in targeting application sion resistance than type M high-speed steels. nitrides perform better at higher cutting speeds. ranges is to avoid fracture of the insert (Fig. 3g). Compositions and properties of both types can be Deformation. A secondary effect of high cut When this occurs, the insert (and often the work found in the articles "Wrought High-Speed Tool ting speeds is plastic deformation due to in piece) is rendered unusable. Steels" and "Powder Metallurgy High-Speed creased cutting temperatures . .Under these condi Tool Steels" in this Volume. tions, the binder phase of a cemented carbide When compared with competing cutting tool cutting tool material may soften and deform, materials, high-speed steels are characterized by causing a bulging effect (Fig. 3b). Such an effect Cutting Tool Materials moderate wear resistance and high transverse can cause breakage, a higher flank wear rate, or rupture strengths (Fig. 1), giving them wide ap spalling of the coatings. This effect is accentuated The classes of tool materials currently in use plicability on machining operations. Their pri under high chip loads and is a typical failure for machining operations are high-speed tool mary limitation is speed/metal removal rate, as mode for rough cutting, in which the toughness steels, cobalt-base alloys, cemented carbides, cer they typically suffer plastic deformation at rela requirements prevent the use of ceramic or other mets, ceramics, polycrystalline cubic boron ni tively low cutting speeds (30 to 60 rn!min, or 100 binderless cutting materials. tride, and polycrystalline diamond. The different to 200 sfm). As a result, their primary applica Crater Resistance. A secondary result of abra materials vary greatly in wear resistance and tions are in form cutters, reamers, taps, drills, and sive and chemical wear is the formation of a toughness. Figure 4 shows schematically their small-diameter end mills. High-speed steels are crater on the rake surface of the insert. In this relative application ranges in terms of machining also used in the milling of high-temperature ma case, the chips formed during the operation rub speeds and feed rates. Higher machining speeds terials and on older machines with less rigidity and weld on the rake face, causing a dish-shaped require tool materials with greater wear resis and limited speed capability. depression to form (Fig. 3c). As a result of this tance, whereas higher feed rates require tools Cobalt-based cutting tools have been avail formation, cutting forces can increase and, cou with increased toughness. High-speed tool steels able since about 1920 (Ref 1). These materials are pled with the weakening of the insert, can result are the toughest materials; however, their rela generally cast cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloys in catastrophic failure due to chipping or break tively low wear resistance limits their application with carbon and other alloy additions. They are age. Crater formation can be inhibited, however, to lower-speed machining operations. At the not heat treatable, and the maximum hardness (55 with the proper chip-breaker geometry. other end of the spectrum, ultrahard materials to 65 HRC) occurs near the cast surface. As a Cracking occurs under heavy mechanical load such as CBN and PCD are highly wear resistant result, cast alloy tools must be used as-cast with and/or as a result of rapid and repeated tempera and can be employed at high speeds.