Measurement of surface roughness and flank wear on hard martensitic stainless steel by CBN and PCBN cutting tools

Purpose: The experiments with different operating parameters using CBN and PCBN tools on hard AISI 440 C material were investigated in this paper. Design/methodology/approach: In this research AISI 440 C stainless was used under hard condition. The cutting tools are having three cutting edges and each edge repeated for 5 times. The test conducted by each cutting edge was termed as trail 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. The length of cutting was 150 mm and each trail. The surface roughness and flank wear, crater wear and BUE were measured by SEM. Findings: The surface roughness was low by CBN at high turning cutting speed and the flank wear was high. The surface roughness was high by PCBN tool than CBN tool and flank wear recorded was low for PCBN tool than CBN tool. The chips produced were saw tooth in all operating parameters. The CBN tool was unable to withstand heat at cutting zone and hence more flank wear occurred. The PCBN tool sustained the temperature and less tool wear occurred. More crater wear formed on PCBN tools where as CBN tool produced less crater wear. The formation of crater wear on the rake face was due to rough surface of the saw tooth chips. Practical implications: The investigation results will provide useful information to applying CBN and PCBN cutting tools in hard turning stainless steels. Originality/value: Hard turning is a latest technology and possible to turn all hard materials. The hard turning produce net shaped products and reduces machining time, low cost per products, etc. The difficult to cut materials like stainless steels was turned by super hard cutting tools like CBN and PCBN to achieve good urface roughness, dimensional control and reduced tool wear.