Chapter (1)

CUTTING TOOL MATERIALS

TOPICS :

Introduction
Carbon and medium
alloy steels
High speed steels
Cast-cobalt alloys
Carbides
Coated tools
Alumina-based
ceramics

Cubic Boron Nitride

Silicon Nitride
based ceramics
Diamond
Whisker-reinforced
tool materials

Introduction:
Characteristics of cutting tool :
Hardness (resistance to wear)
Hot hardness (capacity to retain hardness at high
temperatures
Toughness (resistance to impact forces on tool in
interrupted operations)
Chemical stability or inertness (to avoid adverse
reactions)

Cutting tool materials

Carbon & medium alloy steels

High speed steels
Cast-cobalt alloys
Carbides
Coated tools
Alumina-based ceramics
Cubic boron nitride
Silicon-nitride-base ceramics
Diamond
Whisker-reinforced materials

Carbon and Medium alloy steels :

Oldest of tool materials

Used for drills taps, broaches, reamers
Inexpensive, easily shaped, sharpened
No sufficient wear resistance
Limited to hand tools and low cutting speed
operation. (Red hardness temp.: 200 C)

High speed steels (HSS)

Hardened to various depths

Good wear resistance

Suitable for high positive rake angle tools

Two basic types of HSS

Molybdenum (M-series)

Tungsten (T-series)
M-series (6-6-4-2): Contains 6% molybdenum, 6% tungsten,
4% chromium, 2% vanadium & cobalt

Higher, abrasion resistance

H.S.S. are majorly made of M-series

T-series (18-4-1): Contains 18 % tungsten, 4% chromium, 1%
vanadium & cobalt

undergoes less distortion during heat treating

H.S.S.

available in wrought, cast & sintered

(Powder metallurgy)
Coated for better performance
Subjected to surface treatments such as casehardening for improved hardness and wear
resistance or steam treatment at elevated
temperatures
High speed steels (Red hardness temp.: 650 C)

Cast-Cobalt alloys

Commonly known as stellite tools

Composition ranges 38% - 53 % cobalt
30%- 33% chromium
10%-20%tungsten
Good wear resistance ( higher hardness)
Less tough than high-speed steels and sensitive to impact
forces
Less suitable than high-speed steels for interrupted cutting
operations
Continuous roughing cuts relatively high g=feeds &
speeds
Finishing cuts are at lower feed and depth of cut

Carbides :
(Hot hardness temp.: 1000 C)

These carbides are also known as cemented or

sintered carbides
High elastic modulus, thermal conductivity
Low thermal expansion

2-groups of carbides used for machining operations

tungsten carbide
titanium carbide

Tungsten Carbide

Composite material consisting of tungsten-carbide particles

bonded together

Alternate name is cemented carbides

Manufactured with powder metallurgy techniques

Particles 1-5 m in size are pressed & sintered to desired

shape in a H2 atmosphere furnace at 1550C
Amount of cobalt present affects properties of carbide tools
As cobalt content increases strength, hardness & wear
resistance increases

Titanium carbide

Titanium carbide has higher wear resistance

than tungsten carbide
Nickel-Molybdenum alloy as matrix Tic
suitable for machining hard materials
Steels & cast irons
Speeds
carbide

higher

than

those

for

tungsten

Cutting tool materials HSS alloying

Element

Properties

Tungsten

Increases hot hardness

Hard carbides formed, improving abrasion resistance

Molybdenum

Increases hot hardness

Hard carbides formed, improving abrasion resistance

Chromium

Depth hardenability during heat treat

Hard carbides formed, improving abrasion resistance
Some corrosion resistance

Vanadium

Combines with carbon for wear resistance

Retards grain growth for better toughness

Cobalt

Increases hot hardness, toughness

Carbon

Hardening element
Forms carbides

Inserts

Inserts

Individual cutting tool with severed cutting points

Clamped on tool shanks with locking mechanisms
Inserts also brazed to the tools
Clamping is preferred method for securing an insert
Carbide Inserts available in various shapes-Square,
Triangle, Diamond and round
Strength depends on the shape
Inserts honed, chamfered or produced with negative
land to improve edge strength

Insert Attachment

Fig : Methods of
attaching inserts to
toolholders : (a)
Clamping and (b)
Wing lockpins. (c)
Examples of inserts
attached to
toolholders with
threadless lockpins,
which are secured
with side screws.

Edge Strength
Fig : Relative edge
strength and
tendency for chipping
and breaking of
inserts with various
shapes. Strength
refers to the cutting
edge shown by the
included angles.

Fig : edge preparation of

inserts to improve edge
strength.

Chip breakers:
Purpose :
Eliminating long chips
Controlling chip flow during machining
Reducing vibration & heat generated
Selection depends on feed and depth
of cut, work piece material and type
of chip produced during cutting

Coated tools :
-

High strength and toughness but generally

abrasive and chemically reactive with tool
materials
(Hot hardness temp.: 1100 C)

Unique Properties :
Lower Friction
High resistance to cracks and wear
High Cutting speeds and low time & costs
Longer tool life

Coating materials
Titanium nitride (TiN)

Titanium carbide (Tic)

Titanium Carbonitride (TicN)

Aluminum oxide (Al2O3)

Diamond coating
Thickness range: 2-15 m (80-600 in)

Techniques used :

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)

Plasma assisted CVD

Physical-vapor deposition(PVD)

Medium temperature chemical- vapor

deposition(MTCVD)

Properties for Group of Materials

Fig : Ranges of properties

for various groups of
tool materials.

Cutting tool Characteristics for coating :

High hardness
Chemical stability
Low thermal conductivity
Good bonding
Little or no Porosity

Titanium nitride (TiN) coating :

Low friction coefficients

High hardness
Resistance to high temperatures
Good adhesion to substrate
High life of high speed-steel tools

Titanium carbide (TiC) coating:

Titanium carbide coatings on tungsten-carbide inserts have high flank

wear resistance.

Ceramics :

Low thermal conductivity ,resistance ,high temperature

Resistance to flank wear and crater wear
Ceramics are suitable materials for tools
Al2O3 (most commonly used)

Multi Phase Coatings :

First layer Should bond well with substrate

Outer layer Resist wear and have low thermal
conductivity
Intermediate layer Bond well & compatible with both
layers
Coatings of alternating multipurpose layers are also
formed.

Multiphase Coatings

Fig : Multiphase coatings on a

tungsten-carbide
substrate. 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 thick
nesses are typically in
the range of 2 to 10 m.

Diamond Coated tools :

Use of Polycrystalline diamond as a coating

Difficult to adhere diamond film to substrate
Thin-film diamond coated inserts now
commercially available
Thin films deposited on substrate with PVD & CVD
techniques
Thick films obtained by growing large sheet of
pure diamond
Diamond coated tools particularly effective in
machining non-ferrous and abrasive materials

New Coating materials :

Titanium carbo nitride (TiCN)

Titanium Aluminum Nitride(TiAlN)
Chromium Based coatings
Chromium carbide
Zirconium Nitride (ZrN)
Hafnium nitride (HfN)
Recent developments gives nano coating & composite coating

Ion Implementation :

Ions placed into the surface of cutting tool

No change in the dimensions of tool
Nitrogen-ion Implanted carbide tools used for alloy steels & stainless
steels
Xeon ion implantation of tools as under development

Alumina-Based ceramics:

Cold-Pressed Into insert shapes under high pressure and

sintered at high temperature
High Abrasion resistance and hot hardness (1200C)
Chemically stable than high speed steels & carbides
So less tendency to adhere to metals
Good surface finish obtained in cutting cast iron and steels
Negative rake-angle preferred to avoid chipping due to poor
tensile strength

Cermets, Black or Hot- Pressed :

70% aluminum oxide & 30 % titanium carbide

cermets(ceramics & metal)
Cermets contain molybdenum carbide, niobium carbide and
tantalum carbide.

Cubic boron Nitride ( CBN ) :

Made by bonding (0.5-1.0 mm) Layer of poly crystalline cubic

boron nitride to a carbide substrate by sintering under
pressure
While carbide provides shock resistance CBN layer provides
high resistance and cutting edge strength
Cubic boron nitride tools are made in small sizes without
substrate

Fig : (a) Construction of a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride or a diamond layer on a tungsten-carbide insert.
(b) Inserts with polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tips (top row) and solid polycrystalline CBN inserts
(bottom row).

Silicon-Nitride based ceramics (SiN)

They consists various addition of Aluminum Oxide ythrium oxide,

titanium carbide
SiN have toughness, hot hardened & good thermal shock
resistance

SiN base material is Silicon

High thermal & shock resistance

Recommended for machining cast iron and nickel based super

alloys at intermediate cutting speeds

Diamond :

Hardest known substance

Low friction, high wear resistance
Ability to maintain sharp cutting edge
Single crystal diamond of various carats used
for special applications
Machining copperfront precision optical
mirrors for (SDI)
Diamond is brittle, tool shape & sharpened is
important
Low rake angle used for string cutting edge

Polycrystalline-Diamond ( PCD ) Tools:

Used for wire drawing of fine wires

Small synthesis crystal fused by high pressure and
temperature
Bonded to a carbide substrate
Diamond tools can be used fir any speed
Suitable for light un-interrupted finishing cuts
To avoid tool fracture single crystal diamond is to
be re-sharpened as it becomes dull
Also used as an abrasive in grinding and polishing
operations

Whisker reinforced & Nanocrystalline

tool materials
New tool materials with enhanced properties :

High fracture toughness

Resistance to thermal shock
Cutting edge strength
Hot hardness

Whiskers used as reinforcing fibers :

Examples: Silicon-nitride base tools reinforced

with silicon-carbide (SiC)
Aluminum oxide based tools reinforced with
silicon-carbide with ferrous metals makes SiCreinforced tools
Progress in nanomaterial
development of cutting tools

has

lead

to

the

Made of fine grained structures as (micro grain)

carbides

Cutting-Tool Reconditioning

When tools get worned, they are reconditioned for further

use
Reconditioning also involves recoating used tools with
titanium nitride

Web site:
http://www.staff.zu.edu.eg/awafa/