j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l .

2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-materials-research-and-technology

Original Article

Characteristics and cutting perfomance of the CVD

coatings on the TiCN-based cermets in turning
hardened AISI H13 steel

Junbo Liu, Ji Xiong ∗ , Zhixing Guo, Chengtao Qin, Ya Xiao, Qianbing You
School of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, P.R. China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: CVD coatings were deposited on the cermets and cemented carbides tools. Uncoated cer-
Received 15 September 2019 mets, coated cermets and cemented carbides tools were used for hardened AISI H13 steel
Accepted 23 November 2019 machining. Face-centered cubic structure of the cermets attribute to the direct growth of the
Available online 12 December 2019 TiN coatings. TiN and TiCN shows (2 0 0) preferred orientation on the cermets. The hexag-
onal closepacked structure of the cemented carbides make the TiN coatings nucleate first
Keywords: and then grow. TiN and TiCN shows (1 1 1) preferred orientation on the cemented carbides.
Cermets When the cutting speed reaches and exceeds 700 r/min, the coated cermets have the longest
Structure life. The excellent diffusion and adhension wear resistance at elevated temperature of the
Coatings coated cermets result a better surface quality of workpiece.
Cutting performance © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the
CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

mechanical properties of H13 steel, it is still a challenge to

1. Introduction machine the dies and moulds made of hardened H13 tool
steel (∼50HRC) under high speed machining conditions [10].
Hard turning is a machining process without cutting fluids
In this case, the temperature in the cutting region increases
which is used on alloy steels with a high hardness over 45HRC
sharply. The mechanical properties of the cutting tools are
[1]. The operation is performed close to conventional grinding
seriously deteriorated by the high temperature [11]. Nowa-
but exhitbits more advantages such as high processing effi-
days, cemented carbides are the most used materials for this
ciency and friendly to environment [2–6]. It has been proved
kind of tools, but due to the poor thermal conductivity and
surfaces machined by turning may have a much longer fatigue
low hardness at the high temperature, the tool wear rates
life than the ones machined by ground with the same surface
increase severely, which causes a short tool life and impaired
finish [7]. For these reasons, hard turning has been applied in
surface integrity. For this reason, several materials have been
machining of forgings, molds, castings and other components
considered on machining the AISI H13 steels, among which
[8].
coated cemented carbides, ceramic tools, and PCBN are the
H13 steel has excellent high-temperature strength as well
main materials. Ding et al. [12] investigated the effects of cut-
as wear resistance, and thus has been widely used in hot
ting parameters on the surface roughness and cutting forces
extrusion, hot forging and pressure die casting [9]. For the
in machining of AISI H13 steel by using coated carbide tools.
Surface roughness Ra achieved 0.25 ␮m in the research, which
is comparable to the semi-finish grinding. However, ther-
∗
Corresponding author. mal softening of coated cemented carbide at the high speed
E-mail: 13668146429@163.com (X. Ji).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2019.11.065
2238-7854/© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1390 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399
Table 1 – Characteristics of the raw power.
Powers Total carbon (wt%) Free carbon (wt%)
Ti(C0.7 ,N0.3 ) 13.52 0.08
Mo2 C 6.03 0.20
WC 5.89 0.14
TaC 6.23 0.08
Ni 0.10 0.05
Co 0.03 – 0.50
matching result in rough surface. Besides, with the ceramic
tools, Suresh et al. [13] did some researches in the effect of cut-
ting parameters on tool wear when turned hardened AISI H13
tool steel. The results revealed that cutting speed and depth
of cut have a significant effect on feed force. Nose region is
the main region of tool wear which is easily broken due to the
brittleness of ceramics. Ng et al. [14] machined the AISI H13
steel by using PCBN tools and explored the effect of cutting
speed on the machinability. PCBN tools exhibit good cutting
performance at high cutting speed, but high price limits the
use on a large scale.
Ti(C,N)-based cermets exhibit excellent thermal deforma-
tion resistance, chemical stability, and oxidation resistance
[15–17]. In addition, Ti(C,N)-based cermets show higher hard-
ness, lower friction coefficient compared with the cemented
carbide, superior toughness than the ceramics and more cost-
effective than the PCBN. Recent advances in Ti(C,N)-based
cermets manufacturing technology have attribute to a new
generation of high performance cermets tools. Thus, cermets
is an attractive alternative used in the machining of hardened
AISI H13 steel. Besides, multilayer-coatings of hard refractory
materials such as, Ti(C,N), TiN and Al2 O3 , are today used in
order to further enhance the performance of the cutting tool
insert [18]. In the machining of steel, the multilayer-coatings
show a high chemical and thermal Stability [19]. Thus, in the
work, cermets cutting tools were prepared by traditional pow-
der metallurgy. Commercial cemented carbide tools used for
cutting hardened steel were compared as a control group. The
multilayer TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/TiN CVD coatings were deposited
on the cermets and cemented carbides tools. Uncoated cer-
mets, coated cermets and cemented carbides tools were used
for hardened AISI H13 steel machining. Characteristics of
the coatings and cutting performance with different cutting
parameters of the inserts were investigated.
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Preparation of Ti (C, N)-based cermets cutting
inserts
In the research, the cutting inserts were prepared by powder
metallurgy. The cermets were composed of Ti(C,N)-12Mo2 C-
6TaC-6WC-9Ni-9Co (wt%). The characteristics of raw powders
were given in Table 1. The concret details of the powder
metallurgy process were listed in our previous literature [18].
Commercial cemented carbide tools used for cutting hardened
steel were used for comparison.
Oxygen contents (wt%) FSSS (␮m)
0.30 1.85
0.52 1.55
0.30 1.01
– 0.98
0.10 2.60
1.50
2.2. Coating process
All the cermets and cemented carbides substrates were
ground and polished to the roughness of 0.2 ␮m prior to coat-
ing deposition. Then they were cleaned with alcohol. The films
were deposited by CVD reactor (Acti-C280, China). Multilay-
ers including four films were deposited on the specimens.
From the interior to the exterior, the coating was TiN, MT-
TiCN,␣-Al2 O3 and TiN respectively. The nominal thickness of
the corresponding layer was about 0.5 ␮m, 5.0 ␮m, 6.5 ␮m and
1.0 ␮m.
The reaction of TiN coatings was shown by the following
chemical reaction:
2TiCl4 (g) + N2 (g) + 4H2 (g) → 2TiN(s) + 8HCl(g)
The TiN deposition temperature was 950 ◦ C, the partial
pressures of TiCl4 , N2 , and H2 were 1.0 kPa, 16.0 kPa and
42.0 kPa. The deposition time for the inner and outer TiN layer
was 0.5 h and 1 h.
The reaction of MT-TiCN coating was shown by the follow-
ing chemical reaction:
TiCl4 (g) + 3/2H2 (g) + 1/3CH3 CN(g) → TiC2/3 N1/3 (s) + 4HCl(g)
The MT-TiCN deposition temperature was 850 ◦ C, the par-
tial pressures of TiCl4 , CH3 CN, H2 were 0.04 kPa, 0.02 kPa and
2.3 kPa. The deposition time was 4 h.
The reaction of ␣-Al2 O3 layer was shown by the following
chemical reaction:
CO2 (g) + H2 (g) → CO(g) + H2 O(g)
2AlCl3 (g) + 3H2 O(g) → Al2 O3 (s) + 6HCl(g)
The coatings were deposited in the H2 S-AlCl3 -CO2 -H2 -Ar
system. The deposition pressure was 0.02 kPa.The deposition
temperature is 1000 ◦ C. The deposition time was 4 h.
2.3. Cutting performance test
The coated and uncoated TNMF160408 type inserts of cermets
were used in the experiments. Fig. 1 showed the shape of the
inserts. Due to the serious wear of uncoated cemented car-
bide in the machining of hardened steel,in this experiment
only coated TNMF160408 type inserts of cemented carbides
were used. Hardened AISI H13 steel cylinder with a diameter of
50 mm was used as the machined workpiece. The Chemical
composition of AISI H13 tool steel was listed in the Table 2. The
hardness of the hardened steel was 50 HRC. The cuttings per-
formance test was conducted on the condition of continuous
turning without cutting fluids using a CY-K360n turning lathe
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399 1391

Fig. 1 – The shape of TNMF160408 type inserts.

Table 2 – Chemical composition of AISI H13 tool steel (%).

C Si Mn Cr Mo V P S

0.32–0.45 0.80–1.20 0.20-0.50 4.75–5.50 1.10–1.75 0.80–1.20 ≤0.03 ≤0.03

Table 3 – Parameters in the cutting performance test.
Experiment Number Vc (r/min) Ap (mm)
1 300 0.2
2 500 0.2
3 700 0.2
4 300 0.2
5 300 0.4
6 300 0.6
7 300 0.2
8 300 0.2
9 300 0.2
(Yunnan Machine Tool Factory, China). The cutting parameters
(feed rate, cutting speed and depth of cut) were listed in the
Table 3. The flank wear VBB value was evaluated by the VMS-
3020 F image measuring instrument (Wanwei, China). Flank
wear VBB value was measured every 2 min. According to the
standard ISO 3685, when the cutting Flank wear VBB value
reaches 0.3 mm, the tools are thought to be destroyed.
2.4. Characterization
PW-1700 apparatus using CuKɑ radiation (␥ = 1.54056 Å).
Young’s modulus, poisson’s ratio ␯, nanohardness of the
F (mm/r)
coatings, cermets, cemented carbides were measured by the
0.05 NanoTest Vantage (Micro materials, U.K.). The nanotest inden-
0.05 ter was pressed into the depth of 1/10 thickness of the
0.05 different layers to measure the corresponding nanohardness.
0.05
The thermal conductivity were measured by thermal con-
0.05
0.05
ductivity tester (DRE-2c, Xiangke, China). Thermal expansion
0.05 coefficient were tested by hot expand coefficient measure
0.07 instrument (ZRPY-1400, Xiangke, China). Heat capacity were
0.09 tested by heat capacity tester (TF-BRA, Nanjing Nanda Wanhe
Technology Co., Ltd., China). Archimedes method was used
to measure the density by precision electron balance model
BSA124S (Beijing Sarturius Co., Ltd., China). The properties
of the inserts materials, coatings and workpiece were listed
in Table 4. The adhesion level of the TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/ TiN
coatings were measured by scratch test for coating adhesion
use an automatic scratching instrument WS-2005. The acous-
tic emission (A.E.) signals were continuously recorded during
scratch testing. The adhension strength and nanohardness of
the coatings were listed in Table 5.

The microstructure, element distributions and the worn sur-
face after cutting performance test were examined using
a scanning electron microscope (S-4800: Hitachi company,
Japan) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. X-
ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were conducted on a Philips
2.5. FEM analysis
Numeral temperature filed analysis was conducted by Advant-
Edge FEM (Beijing, China). Power Law Materials Model was
used. The element meshes were divided by self-adaptive mesh
1392 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399

Table 4 – Properties of materials.

Materials Young’s modulus Poisson’s ratio ␯ Themal Thermal Heat capacity Density ␳ (kg/m3)
E/GPa conductivity expansion (KJ/kg /◦ C)
k/(W/m·K) coefficient
␣/(10 − 6 K − 1)

H13 steels 211 0.21 28.47 12.2 0.469 7846

TiN 590 0.23 19.2 9.4 0.719 5400
Al2O3 400 0.27 25.0 8.4 0.750 3980
TiCN 450 0.25 23.0 7.8 0.725 5200
Cemented Carbides 560 0.29 60 6.4 0.502 13200
Cermets 430 0.19 78 9.03 0.821 7980

Table 5 – Properties of coatings.

Materials Lc1 (N) Lc2 (N) Nanohardness on cermets Nanohardness on
(Gpa) cemented carbides (Gpa)

Coatings on cermets 93 154 – –

Coatings on cemented carbides 117 167 – –
TiN (top) – – 21.0 21.8
Al2O3 – – 23.2 25.4
TiCN – – 23.5 25.8
TiN (buttom) – – 21.2 22.5

Fig. 2 – The microstructure of the cutting inserts: (a) cermets, (b) cemented carbides.

technique. The minimum element edge length of chip bulk
was 0.03966 mm. The minimum element edge length of cutter
edge was 0.03033 mm. The radius of refined region of cutter
edge was 0.14998 mm.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microstructure of the cutting inserts
Fig. 2 shows the microstructure of the cutting inserts. Obvi-
ously, typical core/rim structure of conventional cermets is
observed in the Fig. 2a. There exists two kinds of structures,
one is the “black core-gray rim” structure and the other is
the “white core-gray rim” structure. White cores are formed
mainly by undissolved WC during the sintering stage [20].The
average grain size of core-rim phase is 1.8 ␮m. In the Fig. 2b,
The white grains of irregular shape with angles are formed
mainly by WC while the dark grains of irregular shape are
(W,Ti)C solid solution. The cemented carbide shows an average
WC grain size of approximated 2.0 ␮m and an average (W,Ti)C
grain size of 1.3 ␮m.
3.2. Structure of the coatings
Fig.3 shows the cross-sectional morphology of the multilayer
TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/TiN CVD coatings on the cermets (Fig. 3a) and
cemented carbide (Fig. 3b).The total thickness of the coating
on the cermets and cemented carbides are 12.42 ␮m, 11.28 ␮m,
respectively. The columnar grain can be evidently seen in the
TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/TiN coatings, and the grain size is finer along
with the substrate. Fig. 4 shows the X-ray diffraction patterns
of the multilayer coatings on the two substrates. The diffrac-
tion patterns shows the orientation of (0 1 2), (1 0 4), (1 1 1),
(2 0 0), (1 1 6), and (2 2 0) planes. As for the TiN and TiCN
coatings, the (1 1 1), (2 0 0), (2 2 0) orientations indicates a
face centered cubic structure. TiN and TiCN shows (2 0 0) pre-
ferred orientation on the cermets while shows (1 1 1) preferred
orientation on the cemented carbides. During the deposition
procedure, the conditions (temperature, atmosphere, etc.) are
totally same for the two substrates. Thus, when the coating
is deposited on the cermets and cemented carbides, the grain
size and the crystalline structure of the substrate may influ-
ence the grow of the coating on the substrate. The cermets
in this research possess smaller grain size than the cemented
carbides, so there are more nucleation points in the cermets.
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399
Fig. 3 – The cross-sectional morphpology of the multilayer TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/TiN CVD coatings on the (a) cermets and (b)
cemented carbide.
Fig. 4 – The X-ray diffraction patterns of the multilayer
coatings on the (a) cermets and (b) cemented carbide.
On the other hand, as for the cermets, there are three kinds
of nucleation regions for the coatings, i.e., cores, rims and
binder phase. Generally, the cores and grey rims are formed
mainly by (W, Mo, Ti) (C, N) solid solution which show the
face-centered cubic structure and the binder phase formed
mainly by Ni show face-centered cubic structure [21–24]. As
for the cemented carbides, nucleation regions for the coatings
are WC grains, (W,Ti)C solid solution grains and binder phase,
which all show the hexagonal closepacked structure. When
deposited on the cermets, the grains of the TiN coatings which
have the face-centered cubic structure may grow more easily.
Whereas on the cemented carbides, the TiN coatings nucleate
first and then grow. As a consequence, coatings deposited on
the cemented carbides are thinner and denser.
3.3. Properties of the coatings
To evaluate the properties of the coatings on the cermets and
cemented carbides, scratch test was conducted. The results
are listed in Table 5. Lc1 is the critical load for the first crack-
ing: a kind of sporadic failure before continuous failure during
the test. Lc2 is the critical load for the continuous cracking
which shows the real adhesion [25]. From the results, it is
1393
obvious that Lc2 of coatings on the cermets is slightly lower
than that of the cemented carbides at the same deposition
condition. Fig. 5 exhibits the scratching response of the coat-
ings on the cermets (Fig. 5a) and cemented carbides (Fig. 5b) at
the load of Lc2. Plastic deformation, cracks and some grooves
are illustrated clearly in the Figure. For the coatings on the
cermets, severe cracking and fragmentation take place earlier
than the ones on the cemented carbides. As a result, coat-
ing fragments are detached along the scratch grooves on the
cermets while detached at the end of the scratch grooves on
the cemented carbides. In addition, as shown in Table 5 the
nano-hardness of different layers of the CVD coatings on the
cemented carbides is higher than the ones on the cermets.
Hardness enhancement models mostly deal with the inter-
faces of crystal/crystalline multilayers. In these systems, the
dislocation glide plane across the interface is always distinct,
which consequently acts as a barrier dislocation transfer. Gen-
erally, the material not only depends on the interatomic bond
strength, but also determined by the deformation mechanism.
The hardness of the material is also relevant to the dislocation
structure as well as its interaction with other microstructural
characteristics. In the system, growth of the relative inner
layer is interrupted by the outer layer. For example, growth of
the column TiN layers is interrupted by the Ti(CN) layer. Thus,
the dislocation between the two layers attribute to a high hard-
ness of the composite coatings. Compared with the cermets,
coatings on the cemented carbides show a denser and thinner
structure, and there are more grains growing on the cemented
carbides. Consequently, more dislocation among the layers
result in a higher hardness for the cemented carbides. On the
other hand, (1 1 1) oriented coatings have high grain boundary
cohesion which enhances the grain boundary strength [18].
Thus, coatings on the cemented carbides show better mechan-
ical properties.
3.4. Cutting performance
3.4.1. Tool life
Generally, cutting performance mainly determined by work-
piece material, cutting fluid and cutting parameters. The wear
of the inserts is the most important factor which determines
the tool life. Additionally, flank wear is regarded as the main
failure mode of tool wear during machining. Flank wear is
always used to evaluate the tool life. It shows a major negative
effect on the tools dimensional accuracy, workpiece surface
1394 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399

Fig. 5 – The scratching response of the coatings on the two substrates at the load of Lc2: (a) cermets, (b) cemented carbides.

Fig. 6 – Flank wear VBB values of uncoated cermets, coated cermets and coated cemented carbides inserts with different
cutting speed: (a) 300 r/min, (b) 500 r/min, (c) 700 r/min.

finish and the stability of the machining process when the of the VBB is regarded as the end of the tool life during machin-
flank wear land width VBB value reach a certain level [26]. ing. As shown in Fig. 6–8, it can be seen that with the increase
Therefore the flank wear VBB value is used to evaluate the of the cutting speed (Fig. 6), depth (Fig. 7) and feed rate (Fig. 8),
cutting performance. According to ISO standard 3685, 0.3 mm the flank wear was accelerated. The protective effect of the
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399 1395

Fig. 7 – Flank wear VBB values of uncoated cermets, coated cermets and coated cemented carbides inserts with different
depth of cut: (a) 0.2 mm, (b) 0.4 mm, (c) 0.6 mm.

Fig. 8 – Flank wear VBB values of uncoated cermets, coated cermets and coated cemented carbides inserts with different
feed rate: (a) 0.05 mm/r, (b) 0.07 mm/r, (c) 0.09 mm/r.
1396 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399

Fig. 9 – Flank wear VBB values of uncoated cermets, coated cermets and coated cemented carbides inserts with different
cutting speed: (a) 900 r/min, (b) 1100 r/min.

Fig. 10 – The microstructure of the Flank wear of the (a) uncoated cemets, (b) coated cermets and the (c) coated cemented
carbides at the cutting speed of 1100 r/min, the cutting depth of 0.2 mm, and the feed rate of 0.05 mm/r.

CVD coating is obvious. The coated cermets has a longer tool
life than the uncoated ones. On the one hand, compared with
the uncoated cermets, the surface of the coated ones possess
a higher hardness. Generally, the abrasion wear resistance of
tools is determined by the hardness. Thus, the coated cermets
show a better abrasion wear resistance. On the other hand,
coatings reduce the diffusion of Fe from H13 steels to cermets
which consists of Fe family elements, i.e. Ni and Co. Therefore,
coated cermets has a longer life than the uncoated ones. It is
also noted that the cutting speed has a dominant impact on
the tool life. A larger cutting speed attributes to a higher tem-
perature in the contact area. The elevated temperature causes
more severe thermal stress and reduction of the tool proper-
ties. Different from the Fig. 6a and 6b, when the cutting reaches
700 r/min, the coated cermets show a better anti-wear proper-
ties than the coated cemented carbides as shown in the Fig. 6c.
The increase of the speed gives rise to a drastic increase of
the temperature. Owing to much higher metal composition in
the cermet, the thermal conductivity value of the cermets is
higher than cemented carbide [27,28]. In this case, lower cut-
ting temperature of the coated cermets attributes to a longer
work life. In Figs. 7 and 8, with the increase of depth of cut
and the feed rate, the cutting force increase a lot. Because of
a lower toughness, cracks iniate and propagate more easily in
the coated cermets. Thus, the coated cermets show a shorter
tool life than the coated cemented carbides.
As is discussed above, the coated cermets have a longer
life than the coated cemented carbides when the speed reach
700 r/min. It seems that higher speed with small depth and
feed rate is much more suitable for the coated cermets than
the coated cemented carbides. Thus, in order to further deter-
mine the high speed cutting behaviors of the coated cermets
and coated cemented carbides, cutting performance test is
conducted at the depth of 0.2 mm and feed rate of 0.05 mm/r,
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399 1397

and the speed is 900 r/min and 1100 r/min. The results are
shown in Fig. 9. It demonstrates that the uncoated cermets
are destroyed easily. The coated cermets have the longest life.

3.4.2. Wear mechanism

Fig.10 shows the microstructure of the Flank wear of the
uncoated cermets (Fig. 10a), coated cermets (Fig. 10b) and the
coated cemented carbides (Fig. 10c) at the cutting speed of
1100 r/min, the cutting depth of 0.2 mm, and the feed rate of
0.05 mm/r. Obviously, the uncoated cermets were worn badly
and severe fractures are caused on the tool edge. As for the
coated cermets and coated cemented carbides, there exist
many fine grooves which is paralleled to the direction of feed.
The worn area of the coated cemented carbides is definitely
wider than the coated cermets and there are adhesive wear
region on the coated cemented carbides. In general, abrasive
and adhesive wear, oxidation as well as diffusion usually take
place during the cutting procedure [29]. During the machin-
ing process, abrasive particles generates due to the relative
motion between the the workpiece and the tool flank face.
The particles are mainly composed of the hard carbide parti-
cles and martensite. Tool material is removed by microcutting,
ploughing and scoring with the hard phases. Compared with
the coated cemented carbides and cermets, diffusion of the
Fe atoms take place more easily in the interface between the
steel and the uncoated cermets. Due to the Ni and Co con-
stituents in the cermets which are in the Fe family, the direct
contact of the steel and the cermets make adhesive wear more
severe as shown in the Fig. 11. The Fe content on the uncoated
cermets is much higher than the other two tools. In addition,
the temperature rise a lot with the cutting process as shown
in Fig. 12. Thus, thermal cracks are initiated and as a result,
fracture of the tool occurs. As for the coated cemented car-
bides, lower thermal conductivity of the cemented carbides
substrate than the coated cermets result in a higher tem-
perature and in this case, adhesive and diffusion wear can
not be inhibited. Besides, due to the poor mechanical proper-
ties at the elevated temperature, abrasive and adhesive wear
cause a wider worn region in the flank of the coated cemented
carbides. For the coated cermets, higher thermal conductiv-
ity, higher mechanical properties and chemical stability of
cermets at high temperature [22] attribute to excellent wear
resistance and the diffusion and adhension can be avoided.

3.4.3. Surface quality
Fig.13 exhibits the workpiece surface of coated cermets
and the coated cemented carbides at the cutting speed of
1100 r/min, the cutting depth of 0.2 mm, and the feed rate
of 0.05 mm/r. It is obvious that the quality of the work-
piece machined by coated cermets is better than the coated
cemented carbides [7]. This is attributed to the excellent dif-
fusion and adhesion wear resistance of the coated cermets
[26].
4. Conclusion
In the work, cermets cutting tools were prepared by tra-
ditional powder metallurgy. Commercial cemented carbide
tools used for cutting hardened steel were compared as a
Fig. 11 – The main elements distribution tested by EDS
mapping: (a) uncoated cemets, (b) coated cermets and the
(c) coated cemented carbides.
control group. The multilayer TiN/Al2 O3 /TiCN/TiN CVD coat-
ings were deposited on the cermets and cemented carbides
tools. Uncoated cermets, coated cermets and cemented car-
bides tools were used for hardened AISI H13 steel machining.
Characteristics of the coatings and cutting performance with
different cutting parameters of the inserts were investigated.
The main conclusions of the study are summarized as follows:
(1) Face-centered cubic structure of the cermets attribute to
the direct growth of the TiN coatings. TiN and TiCN shows
1398 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399

Fig. 12 – The temperature distribution simulated by FEM: (a) uncoated cemets, (b) coated cermets and the (c) coated
cemented carbides.

Fig. 13 – The workpiece surface of coated cermets and the coated cemented carbides at the cutting speed of 1100 r/min, the
cutting depth of 0.2 mm, and the feed rate of 0.05 mm/r: (a) coated cermets, (b) coated cemented carbides.

(2 0 0) preferred orientation on the cermets. The hexagonal
close packed structure of the cemented carbides make the
TiN coatings nucleate first and then grow. TiN and TiCN
shows (1 1 1) preferred orientation on the cemented car-
bides. Coatings deposited on the cemented carbides are
thinner and denser than the cermets.
(2) With the increase of the three parameters (cutting speed,
depth and feed rate), the flank wear is accelerated. The
coated cermets has a longer tool life than the uncoated
ones. With the increase of depth of cut and the feed rate,
the cutting force increase a lot. Because of a lower tough-
ness, cracks iniate and propagate more easily in the coated
cermets. The coated cermets show a shorter tool life than
the coated cemented carbides.
(3) At the depth of 0.2 mm and feed rate of 0.05 mm/r,
when the cutting speed reaches and exceeds 700 r/min,
the coated cermets have the longest life. The excellent
diffusion and adhension wear resistance at elevated tem-
perature of the coated cermets result a better surface
quality of workpiece.
Conflict of interest statement
We declare that we have no financial and personal rela-
tionships with other people or organizations that can
inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or
other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product,
service and/or company that could be construed as influenc-
ing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript
entitled “Characteristics and cutting perfomance of the CVD
coatings on the TiCN-based cermets in turning hardened AISI
H13 steel”
 j m a t e r r e s t e c h n o l . 2 0 2 0;9(2):1389–1399
Acknowledgments
The study is financially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (No. 51634006, No. 51575368,
No. 51901195), China National Science and Technology
Major Project (No. 2019ZX04007001), SCU-Panzhihua (No.
2018CDPZH-25), and SCU-Zigong (No. 2018CDZG). The authors
honestly thank the Chengdu Mingwu Technology Corp., Ltd.
of China, Chengdu Tool research institute Co., Ltd. of China.
We also appreciate Wang Hui from the Analytical & Testing
Center of Sichuan University for her help with SEM character-
ization. Thanks are also extended to the National Engineering
Research Center for Biomaterials of Sichuan University for the
testing of the samples.
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