Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Wear 265 (2008) 155166

Wear progression of carbide tool in low-speed end

milling of stainless steel
W.Y.H. Liew a, , X. Ding b
a Centre of Materials and Minerals, School of Engineering and Information technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Locked Bag 2073, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 88999, Malaysia
b Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 638075

Received 15 March 2007; received in revised form 19 August 2007; accepted 20 September 2007
Available online 14 November 2007

Abstract
A study was undertaken to investigate the wear of PVD-coated carbide and uncoated carbide tools during milling of STAVAX (modified AISI
420 stainless steel) at low speeds. No significant change in the tool wear was observed when the cutting speed was increased from 25 to 50 m/min.
It was found that increasing the hardness of the workpiece from 35 to 55 HRC caused a marked increase in the flank wear and a change in the
dominant wear mechanism. In machining STAVAX with a hardness of 35 and 40 HRC, the coated tool was predominantly subjected to abrasive
wear throughout the duration of testing. During machining STAVAX with a hardness of 55 HRC with the coated tool, three distinct stages of tool
wear occurred, (i) initial wear by abrasion, followed by (ii) cracking and chipping, and (iii) the formation of individual surface fracture at the cracks
which would then enlarge and coalesce to form a large fracture surface. The coated tool showed much higher fracture resistance than the uncoated
tool. The high fracture resistance exhibited by the coated tool could be attributed to the effectiveness of the coating in preventing the formation of
cracks which would act as preferential sites for fracture to take place. The experimental results also show that coating prevents edge chipping and
enhances the abrasive wear resistance of the tool. Both the ductility of the workpiece and the tool wear appeared to have influences on the surface
finish of the workpiece. It was found that the cutting fluid was effective in preventing catastrophic failure of the tool.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Coating; End mill; Machining; Stainless steel; Tool wear

1. Introduction
Tool wear plays a vital role in influencing both the ease of
cutting and the quality of the resultant machined surface. Many
researchers have studied the wear of cutting tool in milling of
steel. Gu et al. [1] found that in milling steel, the tool wear was
sensitive to the speed and feed rate. Machining at high feed rate
could cause high stress acting on the tool and thus tool edge
to chip. They also found that attrition wear occurring at low
speeds was due to the unstable built-up edge (BUE) formed at
the chiptool interface. Sun et al. [2] observed that when the
adhesive strength between the work material and the tool was
increased by diffusion and recrystallization of work material,
attrition wear was reduced because the work material became
less likely to be detached from the tool. While attrition wear was
Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 88 320000; fax: +60 88 320348.
E-mail address: wyhliew@ums.edu.my (W.Y.H. Liew).
the dominant wear mechanism at low speeds, the tool wear was
governed by thermal cracking and thermo-chemical wear (such
as diffusion and oxidation) at high speeds [1,37].
In milling process, the tool is heated during cutting and cooled
when it leaves the cutting zone. Temperature variation can cause
periodic expansion and contraction of the tools leading to the for-
mation of comb cracks. These cracks are also known as thermal
cracks. The use of coolant increases the thermal variation and
therefore makes comb cracks more likely to form. The forma-
tion of comb cracks can lead to chipping of tool edge [3,4,8].
Comb cracks are more likely to form at high speeds since the
amplitude of the temperature variation increases with increas-
ing speed [9,10]. Several researchers had reported the formation
of comb cracks at speeds of higher than 100 m/min [4,8,10,11].
Below this speed, no comb crack was formed, but attrition and
chipping, due to mechanical loading and the unstable nature of
the built-up edge, occurred.
Coating can effectively improve the tool life in milling steel.
Endrino et al. [12] found that diffusion of aluminium to the sur-

0043-1648/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2007.09.003
156 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
Fig. 1. Two-flute end mill.
face of nano-crystalline AlTiN resulted in the formation of an
alumina protective layer that subsequently reduced the adhesion
between the stainless steel and the tool surface, and hence attri-
tion wear. Coating was also found to enhance the lubricity of the
tool, improve the oxidation resistance of the tool, protect the tool
against diffusion wear and reduce the temperature variation in
the tool, rendering it less susceptible to crack [3,8,13]. Similarly,
Liu et al. [4] reported that when the lubricity of the TiC-based
cermets tool was improved by TiN nano-powder addition, the
severity of attrition wear was reduced. In milling steel, where the
wear was governed by diffusion and oxidation, the nano-coated
tools exhibited higher wear resistance than the conventional
coated tools [14].
Most of the machining work discussed above were car-
ried out at cutting speeds of higher than 100 m/min and had
reported that the optimum speeds for milling steel are in the
range of 100150 m/min. In some cases, milling at low speeds
is inevitable. For example, if a small tool with a diameter of
2 mm is used, machining can be performed at speeds higher
than 100 m/min only if the spindle can be operated at speeds of
higher than 16,000 rpm. Small end mills are widely used pro-
duce small features such as pockets and slots on hard metal
surfaces.
Recently, we have investigated the machinability of STAVAX
using the ultra-precision and conventional turning machines, and
observed changes in the tool wear as the hardness of the alloy
Fig. 2. Forty-five kgf indentation on the (a) coated and (b) uncoated carbide. Radial cracks are evident on the surface of the uncoated carbide.
Fig. 3. Maximum flank wear occurred near the depth of cut (DOC) region.
was increased from 40 to 55 HRC [1517]. It was found that
the cutting parameters such as speed, depth of cut and feed rate
had significant influence on the effect of the hardness of the
alloy on the tool wear. When turning was carried out on the
conventional lathe at a cutting speed of 100 m/min, depth of cut
of 50 m and feed rate of 50 m/rev, decreasing the hardness
of the STAVAX from 55 to 40 HRC resulted in a significant
increase in tool wear. A converse of this situation was observed
when machining was performed on the ultra-precision machine
at a lower speed, feed rate and depth of cut of 44 m/min, 5 m/rev
and 20 m, respectively, where it was found that the tool wear
decreased with a reduction in the hardness of the workpiece.
The tool was subjected to abrasion resulting in either fracture or
groove wear, depending on the hardness of the workpiece. In this
work, experiments were carried out to study the performance
of uncoated and PVD-coated carbide tools during milling of
STAVAX at low speeds (25 and 50 m/min). In particular, the
effects of the hardness of the workpiece and cutting fluid on the
tool wear were investigated.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Cutting tests
Investigation on the wear of the cutting tools during milling
of STAVAX was performed on a Okuma CNC machine. Machin-
 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166 157

Fig. 4. Change in the flank wear of the coated carbide tools with distance in Fig. 5. Change in the flank wear of the uncoated carbide tools with distance in
milling 30, 40 and 55 HRC-SV at 25 and 50 m/min. milling 30, 40 and 55 HRC-SV at 25 and 50 m/min.

ing tests were conducted at cutting speeds of 25 and 50 m/min
with and without the application of an emulsified water-based
coolant (9% concentration of Shell Dormous BL oil) flood over
the chip and the tool rake face. The depth of cut, feed and width
of cut were kept constant at 0.2 mm, 0.04 mm/tooth and 0.4 mm,
respectively, within the range recommended by the tool supplier,
Sumitomo Electric [18]. It was intended to carry out all machin-
ing tests for a distance of 24 m. However, the machining tests
would be stopped before reaching this distance if the flank wear
reached to 0.2 mm or if catastrophic tool failure occurred.

Fig. 6. SEM of the rake face, flank face and center of the coated tools used to machine 40 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for (a) 12 m and (b) 24 m.
Throughout the duration of testing, wear was due to removal of coating and carbide particles by abrasion and attrition process.
158 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
Fig. 6. (Continued ).
2.2. Workpiece specimens and cutting tools
All experiments were performed with workpieces of
STAVAX (modified AISI 420 stainless steel with composition
by wt% 0.38% C, 0.9% Si, 0.5% Mn, 13.6% Cr, 0.3% V, bal-
ance Fe) with a hardness of 35, 40 and 55 HRC. This alloy is
widely used as the moulding tool material on account of its
high strength, corrosion resistance and machinability. The heat
treatment process used to produce workpieces to these hard-
ness values consists of the following steps. The workpieces
were heated to 650 and 850 C and held at each tempera-
ture for 30 min. They were then further heated to 1030 C and
soaked at this temperature for 45 min for formation of homo-
geneous austenite. Nitrogen gas was used as quenching media
to quench the workpieces. To obtain workpieces with a hard-
ness of 55 HRC, they were tempered twice at 200 C for 2 h
after quenching. Workpieces with a hardness of 35 and 40 HRC
were obtained by tempering them twice at 550 and 650 C,
respectively for 3 h.
The uncoated and TIAlN PVD-coated carbide end mills used
in this work were obtained from Sumitomo Electric. The end
mill had two flutes with a diameter of 2 mm and a helix angle
of 30 . After machining, the wear on the tool center, and the
rake and flank faces (Fig. 1) were examined using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM).
2.3. Indentation test
Indentation tests were carried out on the uncoated and coated
carbide using a Rockwell hardness tester with 30 and 45 kgf
loads. The radial cracks which were visible on the surface were
examined under the microscope. The purpose of the test was to
study the cracking resistance of the tools.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Indentation test
Radial cracks were formed when the uncoated carbide was
subjected to 30 and 45 kgf loads. At 45 kgf load, the amount and
the length of the radial cracks produced in the coated cardide
(Fig. 2(a)) were less than those formed in the uncoated tools
(Fig. 2(b)). Thirty kgf load did not cause any radial crack to
form in the coated tools. These results show that the uncoated
 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166 159

carbide has lower cracking resistance than the coated carbide.
It has been reported that hard coatings such as TiN are effective
in inhibiting crack initiation and propagation at the substrate
[19,20].
3.2. Flank wear
with uncoated tools were halted at the distance of 16 and 12 m,
respectively as the flank wear had reached to 0.2 mm at these
distances. In the tests involving machining of 55 HRC-SV with
the uncoated tool, the change in the flank wear was measured
only up to 2 m length of cut as catastrophic failure occurred at
the distance of between 2 and 4 m.

The highest flank-wear width was observed at the flank face
near the depth of cut (DOC) zone (Fig. 3). Figs. 4 and 5 show
the change in the maximum flank-wear width VB with cutting
distance in machining 35 HRC-SV (STAVAX with a hardness of
35 HRC), 40 HRC-SV (STAVAX with hardness of 40 HRC) and
55 HRC-SV (STAVAX with a hardness of 55 HRC) under wet
condition at 25 and 50 m/min. Since the variation of the flank
wear obtained for a given cutting condition is between 5 and
8% from the mean value, it can be concluded that increasing
the speed from 25 to 50 m/min does not affect the tool wear. It
was found that the flank wear increased with the hardness of the
workpiece. The coated tool exhibited higher wear resistance than
the uncoated tool. The tests carried out on 35 and 40 HRC-SV
3.3. Morphology of the coated tool
The worn surface at both the rake and flank faces of the coated
tool used to machine 35 and 40 HRC-SV under wet condition
at all distances tested showed evidence of grooves (Fig. 6). This
feature is indicative of abrasive wear [21,22]. Abrasive wear is
likely to take place at low cutting speeds as the work material
is hard enough (due to low heat generated) to plough into the
tool [1]. Cavities as small as a carbide particle were observed
on the groove surface. Increasing the cutting distance from 4
to 24 m resulted in an enlargement of the grooves and cavities.
Unstable BUE, which tends to form during machining steel at
low speed, can cause carbide particles to be plucked out from

Fig. 7. SEM of the rake face, flank face and center of the coated tools used to machine 55 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for (a) 8 m, (b) 10 m, (c) 12 m
and (d) 24 m. Removal of coating and carbide particles by abrasion was the dominant wear mechanism in the initial stage of machining (a and b). This followed by
cracking, chipping (c) and fracture (d).
160 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
Fig. 7. (Continued ).
the tool resulting in the formation of cavities. This wear mech-
anism is known as attrition [1,12,23]. The numerous cavities
on the rake face shows that the wear at the rake face results
not only from abrasion but also from attrition (Fig. 6(b)). The
extensive attrition wear at low speeds could also be caused by a
less laminar and more intermittent flow of the chip at the rake
face. It was observed that very few cavities were formed at the
flank face and abrasion grooves were the dominant feature at
the flank face throughout the test. This shows that abrasion is
the dominant wear mechanism at the flank face. The severity of
the abrasion had significant influence on the flank-wear rate. In
machining 35 HRC-SV, a prevailing low flank wear was obtained
throughout the duration of testing. However, in milling 40 HRC-
SV, where the flank face was subjected to a more severe abrasion
resulting in the formation of more pronounced grooves, the flank
wear increased gradually in the initial distance of 10 m. This was
followed by a significant increase in the flank wear.
Fig. 7 shows the change in the wear of the coated tool in
machining 55 HRC-SV with distance under wet condition. In
the initial cutting distance of 8 m, the coating on the tool center,
rake and flank faces was removed, exposing the carbide substrate
(Fig. 7(a)). Increasing the cutting distance from 8 to 10 m caused
more coating and carbide particle to be removed, resulting in an
enlargement of the worn surface on the flank face (Fig. 7(b)).
The worn surface shows evidence of grooves which indicate that
the tool material is removed by abrasion. The marked increase
in the flank wear at the initial distance of 10 m (Fig. 4) could be
attributed to rapid removal of the coating and carbide particle
by abrasion. Increasing the cutting distance from 10 to 12 m led
to the formation of cracks (Fig. 7(c)). The cracks were confined
to the worn surface adjacent to the DOC region. It was found
that the cracks were formed on the region where the coating had
been removed. This can be anticipated as the cracking resistance
of the tool is reduced after the coating has been removed. The
cracks appeared on the flank face were parallel to the cutting
edge. It has been reported that the mechanical impact between
the tool and workpiece can cause cracks to form at the flank
face. These cracks, which are often referred as mechanical crack,
propagate in a direction parallel to the cutting edge [1,23]. The
cracks initiated at the flank face adjacent to the cutting edge
would then propagate to the rake face (Fig. 7(c)). The cracks
appeared on the rake face were perpendicular to the cutting edge.
It was observed that several cracks formed at the flank face some
distance away from the tool edge did not propagate to the rake
 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
Fig. 8. SEM of the coated tools used to machine 55 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for 12 m. Chipping occurred at the crack.
Fig. 9. SEM of the coated tools used to machine 55 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under
wet condition for 16 m. It is evident that the fracture is initiated at the crack.
face (Fig. 7(c)). The cracks weakened the tool edge and thus
caused chipping more likely to take place. SEM examination
of the tool revealed that chipping occurred at the cracked site
(Fig. 8). Further increase of the cutting distance from 12 to 14 m
caused fracture to take place at the cracks (Fig. 9). The individual
surface fracture initiated at the cracks would then enlarge and
coalesce to form a large fracture surface (Fig. 7(d)). In machining
55 HRC-SV, cracking and fracture also took place at the tool
center (Fig. 7(c and d)).
Fig. 10. SEM of the coated tool used to mill 55HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet
condition for 6 m. Catastrophic failure occurred at the cutting distance of 5 m.
161
When machining of 40 and 55 HRC-SV was performed
with the coated tool under dry condition, chipping and frac-
ture occurred at a cutting distance of less than 4 m. Catastrophic
failure due to excessive fracture occurred at cutting distance
less than 6 m (Fig. 10). Short tool life and poor surface finish
are the two main problems encountered in machining stainless
steel, which is generally regarded as difficult-to-machine mate-
rial [24]. Several researchers had found that in milling steel at
high speeds, coolant promoted comb cracking, reduced the tool
life, increased the flank wear and deteriorated the surface finish
[1,4,9,13]. On the other hand, it had been reported that in milling
STAVAX, coolant reduced the adhesion between the alloy and
the tool, and improved the surface finish [25]. In this study, the
cutting fluid was found to be effective in preventing catastrophic
failure of the coated tool. The cutting fluid functions as a coolant
at high speeds and as a lubricant at low speeds. While the effec-
tiveness of the cutting fluid in preventing cracking, fracture and
catastrophic failure of the coated tool could be attributed to the
lubrication effect brought about by the fluid at the interfaces, fur-
ther work involving the use of more lubricous liquids is essential
to determine a more effective cutting fluid for low-speed milling
(i.e. a cutting fluid that is more effective in preventing fracture
and cracking of tool and reducing abrasive wear). In particular,
it had been found that in turning of this particular stainless steel
at low speed where the tool wear was predominantly governed
by fracture and abrasive wear, lubricous fluid such as paraffin
Fig. 11. Abrasion grooves and crater were the features appeared on the uncoated
tool in the initial stage machining of 40 HRC-SV.
162 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166

Fig. 13. SEM of the flank face of the uncoated tools used to machine 40 HRC-SV
at 50 m/min under wet condition for 12 m. Fracture was formed at the cracks.

Fig. 14. Cracks appeared on the cutting edge of the uncoated tool used to mill
40 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for 12 m. Crack type I: crack, at
the flank face adjacent to the DOC zone, propagated in a direction parallel to
the cutting edge. Crack type II: crack perpendicular to the tool edge.

less evident and eventually disappeared as more carbide particles

Fig. 12. SEM of the rake face, flank face and center of the uncoated tools used to
machine 40 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for 12 m. The tool showed
evidence of severe abrasion, and fine-scale fracture and cracking. Crater, formed
at the tool edge in the early stage of machining (see Fig. 10), disappeared after
numerous carbide particles at the tool edge were removed by abrasion.
at the tool edge were removed by abrasion (Fig. 12). Fine-scale
cracking and fracture were also found to take place at the tool
center and the flank face adjacent to the DOC zone (Fig. 12).
From Fig. 13, it can be seen that fracture takes place at the cracks.
In contrast, the coated tool used to cut the same material for a

oil was effective in preventing the occurrence of this wear mode

and improving the surface finish [26].

3.4. Morphology of the uncoated tool

The uncoated tools used to mill 40 HRC-SV at all cutting

distances tested under wet condition showed evidence of deep
grooves (Figs. 11 and 12). This feature indicates the dominance
of abrasive wear. The machining test was stopped at the distance
of 12 m as the length of the grooves had reached to the maximum
width of the flank face. The coated tool had much higher abrasion
Fig. 15. Schematic diagram showing the tool region where the cracks were
resistance and therefore exhibited much lower flank-wear rate. formed. Crack type I: crack, at the flank face adjacent to the DOC zone, propa-
Fig. 11 shows the crater formed at the edge of the uncoated tool gated in a direction parallel to the cutting edge. Crack type II: crack perpendicular
by chipping in the early stage of machining. The crater became to the tool edge.
 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166 163

Fig. 16. SEM of the uncoated tools used to machine 55 HRC-SV at 50 m/min under wet condition for (a) 1.3 m and (b) 2 m. During machining 55 HRC-SV, large-scale
cracking and fracture occurred. Fracture was initiated at the crack.

Fig. 17. Variation of the Ra value of 35, 40 and 55 HRC-SV with distance under Fig. 18. Variation of the Rt value of 35, 40 and 55 HRC-SV with distance under
wet condition. wet condition.

much longer distance of 24 m showed no evidence of chipping,
cracking and fracture. Cracks, perpendicular to the cutting edge
similar to the comb crack, appeared at the tool edge adjacent to
the tool center after machining for 8 m. These cracks, referred
as crack type II in Fig. 14, did not appear to play a dominant role
in the tool wear observed throughout the machining test as they
did cause chipping and fracture to occur. The cracks formed at
the flank face adjacent to the DOC zone are referred as crack
type I in Fig. 14. Fig. 15 illustrates where the crack types I and II
were formed. When machining was performed on a workpiece
with a lower hardness of 35 HRC, the flank face was subjected
to less severe abrasive wear, resulting in a lower flank wear.
It was also found that both types of cracking and chipping of
tool edge occurred, and small-scale fracture formed at the crack
type I. However, no cracking and fracture took place at the tool
center.
During machining 55 HRC-SV at 25 and 50 m/min under
wet condition, large-scale cracking and fracture occurred at
distance less than 2 m (Fig. 16). Fracture was initiated at the
crack (Fig. 16(a)). The tool failed catastrophically due to exces-
sive fracture at the distance of between 2 and 4 m. With the
coated tool, fracture occurred at a much longer distance. This

Fig. 19. SEM of the surface of (a) 40 HRC-SV and (b) 55 HRC-SV machined with the coated tool at 50 m/min under wet condition for 2 m. The surfaces were
burnished.
164 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166

Fig. 20. SEM of the surface of (a) 40 HRC-SV and (b) 55 HRC-SV machined with the coated tool at 50 m/min under wet condition for 8 m. Numerous work materials
were adhered onto the 40 HRC-SV.

could be attributed to the effectiveness of the coating in prevent-

ing the formation of cracks (as shown in the indentation tests)
which would act as preferential sites for fracture to take place.
Results obtained in the milling tests show that the coated tool
has higher abrasion, cracking and fracture resistance than the
uncoated tool. Earlier study on the wear of cutting tool in low-
speed turning of stainless steel had also reported that coating
enhanced the fracture and abrasion resistance of the carbide tool
[26].

3.5. Morphology of the machined surface

Figs. 17 and 18 show the variation of the Ra and Rt values of

the machined surface with distance. The coated tool produced
much better surface than the uncoated tools. When milling was
carried out with the coated tools, the Ra and Rt values (measured
in the direction of the feed rate) of 40 and 55 HRC-SV increased
slightly despite the tool wear increased significantly. The Ra
and Rt values of 55 HRC-SV were lower than those of 35 and
40 HRC-SV. The surfaces of 35, 40 and 55 HRC-SV machined
with coated tool for 2 and 4 m were burnished (Fig. 19). At the
cutting distances greater than 4 m, wavy marks spaced at a dis-
tance equal to the feed rate appeared on the surfaces (Fig. 20).
Increasing the distance beyond 8 m resulted in the formation
of metal debris that had been sheared and compressed on the

Fig. 22. SEM of the surface of 40 HRC-SV machined with the uncoated tool at
Fig. 21. SEM of the surface of 35 HRC-SV machined with the coated tool at 50 m/min under wet condition for a distance of (a) 2 m, (b) 8 m and (c) 12 m. The
50 m/min under wet condition for 16 m. The surface consisted of flaws with machined surface deteriorated rapidly as the cutting distance increased from 2
ductile fracture. to 12 m.
 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
Fig. 23. SEM of the surface of 55 HRC-SV machined with the uncoated tool at 50 m/min under wet condition for a distance of (a) 0.7 m and (b) 2 m. The machined
surface deteriorated rapidly as the cutting distance increased from 0.7 to 2 m.
surface of the 40 HRC-SV (Fig. 20(a)) and step-like flaws on
the surface of the 35 HRC-SV (Fig. 21). The flaws showed evi-
dence of plastic flow with ductile fracture. Such surface defect
and adherent material were not seen on the 55 HRC-SV surface
(Fig. 20(b)). Since the tool center is in contact with the machined
surface, wear takes place on this part of the tool will have adverse
effect on the surface finish [5]. In machining 55 HRC-SV, despite
fracture occurring on both the tool center and flank face, the sur-
face finish was better than that of the 35 and 40 HRC-SV. The
poor finish of 35 and 40 HRC-SV could be attributed to the
high degree of adhesion between the work material and the tool.
During machining of these workpieces, the tool had high propen-
sity for work material adhesion due to the high ductility of this
material. Strong bonding between the adherent work material
and tool surface can result in the formation of BUE. When the
BUE and adherent work material on the tool become unstable,
they will adhere onto the underside of the workpiece resulting
in a deterioration of the surface finish. The flaws formed on the
35 HRC-SV could be due to fracture of the BUE in the vicinity
of the tool nose region [27].
In the initial stage of machining of 40 HRC-SV with
the uncoated tool, layers of work material adhered onto the
machined surface (Fig. 22(a)). As the tool condition deteriorated,
metal with sharp edge appeared at the ridges of the machined
surface (Fig. 22(b) and (c)). This surface defect gave rise to high
Ra and Rt values. In machining 55 HRC-SV, where the tool con-
dition deteriorated rapidly, the surface defect appeared at a much
shorter distance (Fig. 23) and this resulted in a marked increase in
the Ra and Rt over a short distance. Whereas in milling 35 HRC-
SV where the tool wear was much lower, a low Ra and Rt values
were obtained for a much longer distance before they increased
significantly due to the formation of sharp metal.
4. Conclusions
Experiments were carried out to study the wear of coated
and uncoated carbide tools during milling of STAVAX at low
speeds. It was found that the hardness of the workpiece had
significant influence on the tool wear mechanism. In machining
STAVAX with a hardness of 35 and 40 HRC, the coated tool was
predominantly subjected to abrasive wear throughout the entire
165
cutting process. Removal of coating and carbide particles by
abrasion was the dominant wear mechanism in the initial stage
of machining of STAVAX with a hardness of 55 HRC. After
the coating had been removed, cracking occurred. The cracks
weakened the tool edge and thus caused chipping more likely
to take place. This was followed by the formation of surface
fracture at the cracks which would then enlarge and coalesce to
form a large fracture surface. The experimental results show that
coating enhances the abrasive resistance of the cutting tool, and
prevents edge chipping, catastrophic failure and the formation of
cracks which act as preferential sites for fracture to take place. It
was found that increasing the hardness of the workpiece from 35
to 55 HRC caused a significant increase in the flank wear. This
could be attributed to the increase in the severity of abrasion and
the occurrence of fracture at the flank face.
The coated tool, which exhibited higher wear resistance than
the uncoated tool, produced better surface finish. Apart from tool
wear, the ductility of the workpiece appeared to have significant
influence on the surface finish of the workpiece. In particular,
it was found that in machining STAVAX with a hardness of
55 HRC, despite the tool being subjected to more severe wear,
the surface finish was more superior than that of the workpieces
with a hardness of 35 and 40 HRC. It is essential to carry out
further experiments involving the use of more lubricous liquids
to determine a more effective cutting fluid for low-speed milling.
References
[1] J. Gu, G. Barber, S. Tung, R.-J. Gu, Tool life and wear mechanism of
uncoated and coated milling tools, Wear 225 (1999) 273284.
[2] F. Sun, Z. Li, D. Jiang and B. Chen, Adhering wear mechanism of cemented
carbide cutter in the intervallic cutting of stainless steel, Wear 214 (1998)
pp. 7982.
[3] J.A. Ghani, I.A. Choudhury, H.H. Masjuki, Wear mechanism of TiN coated
carbide and uncoated cermets tools at high cutting speed applications, J.
Mater. Process. Technol. 153154 (2004) 10671073.
[4] N. Liu, C. Han, H. Yang, Y. Xu, M. Shi, S. Chao, F. Xie, The milling perfor-
mances of TiC-based cermet tools with TiN nanopowders addition against
normalized medium carbon steel AISI1045, Wear 258 (2005) 16881695.
[5] S. Dolinsek, B. Sustarsic, J. Kopac, Wear mechanisms of cutting tool in
high-speed milling, Wear 350 (2001) 349356.
[6] K.A. Abou-El-Hossein, Z. Yahya, High-speed end-milling of AISI 304
stainless steels using new geometrically developed carbide inserts, J. Mater.
Process. Technol. 162163 (2005) 596602.
166 W.Y.H. Liew, X. Ding / Wear 265 (2008) 155166
[7] M. Nouari, A. Molinari, Experimental verification of a diffusion
tool wear model using a 42CrMo4 steel with an uncoated cemented
tungsten carbide at various cutting speeds, Wear 259 (2005) 1151
1159.
[8] M. Nordin, R. Sundstrom, T.I. Selinder, S. Hogmark, Wear and failure
mechanisms of multilayered PVD TiN/TaN tools when milling austenite
stainless steel, Surf. Coat. Technol. 133134 (2000) 240256.
[9] J.M. Viera, A.R. Machado, E.O. Ezugwu, Performance of cutting flu-
ids during face milling of steels, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 116 (2001)
244251.
[10] S.M. Bhatia, P.C. Pandey, H.S. Shan, The thermal condition of the tool
cutting edge in intermittent cutting, Wear 61 (1980) 2130.
[11] S.M. Bhatia, P.C. Pandey, H.S. Shan, Thermal cracking of carbide tools
during intermittent cutting, Wear 51 (1978) 201211.
[12] J.L. Endrino, G.S. Fox-Rabinovich, C. Grey, Hard AlTiN, AlCrN PVD
coatings for machining of austenite stainless steel, Surf. Coat. Technol.
200 (2006) 68406845.
[13] M. Arndt, T. Kacsich, Performance of new AlTiN coatings in dry and high
speed cutting, Surf. Coat. Technol. 163164 (2003) 674680.
[14] M. Sokovic, J. Kopac, L.A. Dobrzanki, M. Adamiak, J. Mater. Process.
Technol. 157158 (2004) 422426.
[15] W.Y.H. Liew, B.K.A. Ngoi, Y.G. Lu, Wear characteristics of PCBN tools
in the ultra-precision machining of stainless steel at low speeds, Wear 254
(2003) 265277.
[16] X. Ding, W.Y.H. Liew, B.K.A. Ngoi, J.G.K. Gan, Y.H. Yeo, Wear of CBN
tools in the ultra-precision machining of STAVAX, Tribol. Lett. 12 (2002)
312.
[17] W.Y.H. Liew, S. Yuan, B.K.A. Ngoi, Evaluation of machining performance
of STAVAX with PCBN tools, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 23 (2004)
1119.
[18] Sumitomo Electric Catalogue, Performance Cutting tools.
[19] W. Feng, D. Yan, J. He, G. Zhang, G.J. Chen, W. Gu, S. Yang, Micro-
hardness and toughness of the TiN coating prepared by reactive plasma
spraying, Appl. Surf. Sci. 243 (2005) 204213.
[20] M.R. Stoudt, R.C. Cammarata, R.E. Ricker, Suppression of fatigue crack-
ing with nanometer-scale multilayered coatings, Scripta Mater. 43 (2000)
491496.
[21] V. Marinov, Experimental study on the abrasive wear in metal cutting, Wear
197 (1996) 242247.
[22] C.Y.H. Lim, S.C. Lim, K.S. Lee, Wear of TiC-carbide tools in dry turning,
Wear 335229 (1999) 354367.
[23] A.C.A. de Melo, J.C.G. Milan, M.D. da Silva, A.R. Machado, Some obser-
vation on wear and damages in cemented carbide tools, J. Braz. Soc. Mech.
Sci. Eng. 28 (2006) 269277.
[24] H. Shao, L. Liu, H.L. Qu, Machinability study on 3%Co12%Cr stainless
steel in milling, Wear 263 (2007) 736744.
[25] http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/100002.html.
[26] W.Y.H. Liew, Y.G. Lu, X. Ding, B.K.A. Ngoi, S. Yuan, Performance of
uncoated and coated carbide tools in the ultra-precision machining of
stainless steel, Tribol. Lett. 17 (2004) 851857.
[27] M.M. Elkhabeery, J.A. Bailey, Surface integrity in machining solution-
treated and aged 2024-aluminium alloy, using natural and controlled
contact length tools. Part 1 unlubricated conditions, J. Eng. Mater. Tech-
nol., Trans. ASME 106 (1984) 152160.