Impacts of the structure and processing conditions on the voltage arise in machining of gray cast irons

Purpose: Machining is one of the most widely used manufacturing processes. The machining of gray cast iron is important because of wide application of these materials in various industries. The machinability studies have been carried out for these materials and it was reported that the amount of graphite in cast irons was one of the influential factor in tool wear during machining. This study is aimed to provide new approach to examine tool life by considering voltage arise during machining of gray cast irons. Design/methodology/approach: The experimental study carried out to measure voltage values during various machining conditions such as cutting speeds, feed rates and depth of cut. Chemical compositions of the four different gray cast irons were machined and the experimental results were compared to the machining of brass and steel. The selected machining conditions were 0.16, 0.32 and 0.48 mm feed rates, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mm depths of cut and 125, 250 and 355 rpm spindle speeds, respectively. Findings: It was observed that the voltage difference was detected during the machining of cast iron specimens. This was due to increase of graphite particles within total intersections. This would lead to conclusion that high graphite particles would increase voltage and this would provide information about tool wear. Research limitations/implications: Because of being cheap, the usage of cast iron with lamella graphite particles in specific electric circuits to be used in industrial applications need to be further investigated. Also whether or not the cost iron with lamella graphite particles can be used as voltage storage under intensive stress needs to be investigated. Originality/value: Impacts of the structure and processing conditions on the voltage arise in machining of gray cast irons.