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Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2020) 000–000
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Procedia Manufacturing 48 (2020) 598–605
48th
48th SME North American Manufacturing Research Conference, NAMRC 48, Ohio, USA
48th SME
SME North
North American
American Manufacturing
Manufacturing Research
Research Conference,
Conference, NAMRC
NAMRC 48,
48, Ohio,
Ohio, USA
USA
48th SME North American Manufacturing Research Conference, NAMRC 48, Ohio, USA
Machinability
Machinability
48th SME and
and Surface
Surface
North American Manufacturing Integrity
Integrity
Research Characterization
Characterization
Conference, in
in toHard
NAMRC 48 (Cancelled due Hard
COVID-19)
Machinability and Surface Integrity Characterization in Hard
Turning of AISI and
Machinability
Turning of 4320 Bearing
Surface Steel
IntegrityUsing Different
Characterization CBN Inserts
in Hard
of AISI
Turning Farbod
AISI 4320
4320
Akhavan
Bearing
Bearing
Niaki a*
Steel
Steel Using
Using Different
Different CBN
CBN Inserts
Inserts
a*, Eric Hainesa, Roman Dreussia, Gregory Weyeraa
a a
Turning Farbod
of AISI 4320
Akhavan Bearing
Niaki a*, EricSteel Using
Haines Different
a, Roman Dreussi CBN
a, Gregory Inserts
Weyer
Farbod Akhavan Niaki , Eric Haines , Roman Dreussi , Gregory Weyera
a* Canton,a,OH,
Farbod Akhavan
The Niaki , EricNorth
Timken Company,
a
The Timken Company,
a Haines
North Roman
Canton, OH, Dreussia, Gregory Weyera
44720, USA
44720, USA
The Timken Company, North Canton, OH, 44720, USA
a
a
TheE-mail
* Corresponding author: Tel.: +1-234-262-2198; Timkenaddress:
Company, North Canton, OH, 44720, USA
farbod.niaki@timken.com
* Corresponding author: Tel.: +1-234-262-2198; E-mail address: farbod.niaki@timken.com
* Corresponding author: Tel.: +1-234-262-2198; E-mail address: farbod.niaki@timken.com
* Corresponding author: Tel.: +1-234-262-2198; E-mail address: farbod.niaki@timken.com

Abstract
Abstract
Abstract
Abstract
The
The thermomechanical
thermomechanical interaction
interaction between
between thethe cutting
cutting tool
tool and
and the
the workpiece
workpiece in in any
any material
material removal
removal process
process isis aa key
key factor
factor in in
The thermomechanical
defining the efficiency interaction
and between
productivity of the
the cutting
process. tool
It and
is the workpiece
especially in any
important in material
cutting removal process materials
hard-to-machine is a key factor
such in
as
defining
The the efficiency
thermomechanical and productivity
interaction between of the process. It is especially important in cutting hard-to-machine materials such as
defining
titanium- the
and efficiency
nickel-basedand alloys
productivity
or of the cutting
thesteels.
process. tool
It and the workpiece
is especially in any
important in material
cutting removal process materials
hard-to-machine ismachining
a key factor
such in
as
titanium-
defining andefficiency
the nickel-basedand alloys or hardened
hardened
productivity of thesteels.
process.
The
The Itproductivity
productivity
is especially
of the
the process
processincan
of important can be
be defined
cuttingdefined in
in terms
terms of
hard-to-machine ofmaterials
machining such
time,
time,
as
titanium-
intervals and
of nickel-based
tool change alloys or hardened steels. The productivity of the process can be defined in terms of machining time,
intervals
titanium- of
andtool change (due
nickel-based (due to
to tool
tool
alloys or
wear)
wear)
hardened
and surface
and steels.
surfaceTheintegrity
integrity characteristics
characteristics
productivity
such
such as
of theaprocess as dimensional
dimensional tolerances,
tolerances, surface roughness
ofsurface roughness
intervals
and the of tool change (due
machining-affected to tool
zone. wear)
The and surface
objective of integrity
this work ischaracteristics
to conduct such ascan
comprehensive be defined
dimensional
study in terms
tolerances,
of the machining
surface
performance of time,
roughness
and the
intervals machining-affected
of tool change (due zone.
to toolThe objective
wear) and of
surfacethis work
integrity is to conduct
characteristics a comprehensive
such as study
dimensional of the performance
tolerances, surface of three
three
roughness
and the
different machining-affected
industrial-grade CBNzone. The
cutting objective
inserts of
during this
hard work is
turning to
of conduct
AISI a
4320 comprehensive
case-carburized study
steel. of the
The performance
CBN inserts allofhadthree
the
different
and the industrial-grade
machining-affected CBN cutting
zone. The inserts during
objective of hard
this turning
work is of
to AISI
conduct 4320
a case-carburized
comprehensive steel.
study The
of CBN
the inserts
performance allofhad the
three
different
same industrial-grade
geometry but used CBN cutting
different edge inserts during
preparation andhard turning
coating of AISI
technologies. 4320To case-carburized
quantify tool steel. The
performance, CBN
the inserts
cutting all had
forces the
and
same geometry
different but used
industrial-grade different
CBN edge
cutting preparation and coating technologies. To quantify tool performance, the cutting forces and
same
tool geometry
wear were but used different
measured at edge inserts duringand
preparation hard turning
coating of AISI 4320
technologies. Tocase-carburized
quantify tool steel. The CBN
performance, inserts
theincutting all hadand
forces the
tool
same wear were but
geometry measured
used at consistent
consistent
different edge
intervals
intervals and
preparationandandthe surface
thecoating integrity
integrity of
surfacetechnologies. of the
the
To
workpiece
workpiece
quantify
was
was
tool
characterized
characterized
performance, the
terms
incutting of
of surface
terms forcessurface
and
tool wear
roughness, were
white measured at consistent intervals and the surface integrity of the workpiece was characterized in terms of surface
roughness,
tool wear white and
were and dark
darkat layer
layer depths, micro-hardness
depths,intervals
micro-hardness and residual
theand residual stresses.
stresses. Results
Results show
show that
that the stability
wasthe stability of the
the cutting
of in cutting edge on
of edge on
roughness,
two of the whitemeasured
tested and dark
inserts playsconsistent
layer
andepths,
important role and
micro-hardness
in surface
and
determining integrity
residual
tool life of the
stresses.
(where 60%workpiece
Results show tool
higher that characterized
the
life stability
was of theterms
achieved cutting
compared surface
edge
to on
the
two of the
roughness, tested
white inserts
and darkplays an
layer important
depths, role in determining
micro-hardness and tool
residual life (where
stresses. 60%
Resultshigher
show tool
that life
the was achieved
stability of the compared
cutting to
edge the
on
two
otherof the
testedtested
insertinserts
with plays an
unstable important
cutting role in determining tool life (where 60% higher tool life was achieved compared to the
other
two tested insertinserts
with plays
unstable cutting edge),
edge), cutting
cutting force
force stability
stability
tool lifeand
and the formation
the 60%
formation of compressive
higherof compressive residual stresses
stresses on
residualcompared on the
to the
otheroftested
surface the
of tested
theinsert
turnedwith
workpiece an important
unstable role in
cutting edge), determining
cutting force stability (where
and the formation oftool life was achieved
compressive residual stresses on the
the
surfacetested
other of the turned workpiece
surface of theinsert
turnedwith unstable cutting edge), cutting force stability and the formation of compressive residual stresses on the
workpiece
surface
© of theAuthors,
turned workpiece by Elsevier B.V.
© 2019
2019 The
2020 The Authors, Published
Published by Elsevier B.V.
© 2019 The Authors.
Authors, Published by Elsevier B.V. B.V.
This
© is
2019 an open
The under access
Authors, article under
Published the CC BY-NC-ND
by Elsevier B.V. committee license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer
Peer review
review under the
the responsibility
responsibility of
of the
the scientific
scientific committee of NAMRI/SME
Peer-review responsibility of the Scientific Committee of of
theNAMRI/SME
NAMRI/SME.
Peer review under the responsibility of the scientific committee of NAMRI/SME
Peer review under the responsibility of the scientific committee
Keywords: hard-turning; surface integrity; white layer; residual stress of NAMRI/SME
Keywords: hard-turning; surface integrity; white layer; residual stress
Keywords: hard-turning; surface integrity; white layer; residual stress
Keywords: hard-turning; surface integrity; white layer; residual stress
1. material.
material. However,
However, solely
solely measuring
measuring these
these parameters
1. Introduction
Introduction material. However, solely measuring these
parameters
parameters
1. Introduction may
may not
not provide
provide enough
enough information
information on
on the
the surface
surface
1. Introduction material.
may not
integrity However,
provide solely
enough
characteristics measuring
information
of the these
on
workpiece. parameters
the surface
Surface
The productivity of any machining operation
The productivity of any machining operation is tied is tied integrity characteristics of the workpiece. Surface
The productivity of anyfactors.
machining operation may not
integrity provide enough
characteristics information
of the on
workpiece.the surface
Surface
to
to several
several interconnected
interconnected factors. However,
However, one is
one
tied
factor
factor
roughness,
roughness, dimensional
dimensional of tolerances,
tolerances, microstructural
microstructural
The productivity
to several of
interconnected any machining
factors. operation
However, is tied
one factor integrity
roughness,
change characteristics
and dimensional
residual the
tolerances,workpiece. Surface
microstructural
that
that plays aa critical
critical role
role in
plays interconnected defining
infactors.
defining productivity
productivity is
is the
the change
roughness, residual stress
and dimensional stress are
are some of
of the
the surface
some microstructural
tolerances, surface
to
thatseveral
plays a critical role
thermo-mechanical in defining
interaction However,
between theone
productivity
toolfactor
is and
the change and
integrity residual stress
parameters in are someoperations
machining of the surface that
thermo-mechanical interaction between the tool and integrity
change parameters
and residual in machining
stress arethesome operations
of the process that
surface
that plays a critical
thermo-mechanical
workpiece, which role in defining
interaction
dictates tool productivity
between
change the toolis and
intervals the
and integritybe
cannot parameters
easily in from
inferred machining operations
measurable that
workpiece, which dictates tool between
change intervals and cannot
integritybe easily inferred from the measurable process
thermo-mechanical
workpiece,
duration which
the duration interaction
dictates
of undesired
undesired tool change
machining the tool and
intervals
downtime. and cannot be parameters
parameters. easily
Thus, an inoffline
inferred machining
from the
study operations
measurable
is required that
processto
the of machining downtime. parameters.
cannot be Thus,
easily an
inferred offline
from study
the is required
measurable processto
workpiece,
theThe
duration which dictates
of undesired
tool-workpiece tool
machining
interaction change
can intervals
downtime.
be studied and
from parameters.
establish this Thus, an
relationship.offline study is required to
The tool-workpiece interaction can be studied from establish
parameters.this relationship.
Thus, an offline study is required to
the duration of undesired
The tool-workpiece machining
interaction downtime.
can bepoint
studied from establish
In this relationship.
different
different standpoints. From
standpoints. From the process
the process point of view,
of view, In the
the bearing
establish bearing
this
manufacturing
manufacturing industry,
relationship. industry, hard
hard turning
turning
The
differenttool-workpiece
standpoints. interaction
parametersFromsuchthe can
processbe studied from
pointvibration
of view, is In the bearing
aa material manufacturing
removal strategyindustry, hard
employed turning
as
measurable
measurable parameters such as force,
as force, power,
power, vibration is In material removal strategy employed as anan
different
measurable
and toolstandpoints.
parameters
wear can From
such
be the process
as force,
analyzed point
power,
to of view,
vibration
study the is a the
alternativebearing
material
to manufacturing
removal
grinding. strategy
It hasindustry,
gained hard
employed turning
as an
significant
and tool wear can be analyzed to study the alternative
is to
a material grinding.
removal It has
strategy gained
employed significant
as an
measurable
and parameters
tool wear of aa can such as force,
be tool
analyzedonpower,
to vibration
the study the alternative
attention to the
over grinding.
past It has gained significant
performance
performance of cutting
cutting tool and on
and the workpiece
workpiece attention
alternativeover
to the past two
grinding. twoItdecades
decades
has
due
due to
gained
its
its higher
tosignificant
higher
and tool wear can be analyzed to
performance of a cutting tool and on the workpiece study the attention over the past two decades due to its higher
2351-9789 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. attention over the past two decades due to its higher
performance of a cutting tool and on the workpiece
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of the NAMRI/SME.
10.1016/j.promfg.2020.05.087
 Farbod Akhavan
Niaki et Niaki Manufacturing
al./ Procedia et al. / Procedia00Manufacturing 48 (2020) 598–605
material removal rate, ease of setup for different part
geometries, and good surface finish quality compared
to grinding [1]. Several studies have been conducted
on the performance of different cutting tools and their
effect on the efficiency of the hard-turning process.
Among all the cutting tools tested, cubic boron nitride
(CBN) inserts are the most widely used in hard
turning, thanks to their high hardness and good wear
resistivity of the CBN material [2].
A review of wear failure mechanisms and wear
models in hard turning with CBN tools was conducted
by Huang et al. in which abrasion, adhesion and
diffusion were found to be the most dominant wear
mechanisms contributing to the wear pattern [3]. But
due to the high cost of CBN inserts, there also have
been several attempts to study ceramic and carbide
tools as alternatives. For example, Dogra et al.
compared the performance of coated carbide tools in
hard turning to that of a CBN tool and tried to optimize
the cutting conditions of the carbide tool in order to
make it perform similarly to the CBN tool in terms of
tool wear and white layer formation depth [4]. They
concluded that in interrupted cutting, the carbide tool
did not perform as well as a CBN tool. However, they
were able to optimize the cutting conditions for
continuous cutting to get results similar to those of
CBN tools.
Shalaby et al. conducted a comparative study on
wear mechanisms and tool life between
polycrystalline CBN, coated CBN and ceramic tools
in cutting D2 tool steel and found that better tool life
results were achieved with ceramic tools [5]. A similar
study was conducted by Sobiyi et al. where the
performance of ceramic and CBN tools was compared
in terms of surface topography and wear mechanisms
[6]. Finally, a review of different cutting tool
materials, respective wear mechanisms and force
generation can be found in the work of Shihab et al.
[7].
White layer formation on the surface of the turned
workpiece is one of the most important aspects to
control in hard turning. It is believed that both phase
transformation due to high temperatures at the cutting
zone and plastic deformation due to frictional force
between the tool tip and the workpiece contribute to
white layer formation. However, despite several
proposed theories about the formation of the white
layer, its true nature and properties are not very well
understood. In a study by Bedekar et al., different
inserts were used to produce white layers on the
surface of a bearing steel. Transmission electron
microscopy and glancing angle x-ray diffraction were
utilized to study the white layer zone in nano-scale [8].
Ramesh et al. studied white layer formation in 52100
(2020) 000–000 599
steel and showed that at higher surface speeds, a
martensite phase transformation occurs at the white
layer [9]. Zhang et al. studied white layer formation
and the amount of retained austenite content in
sequential cuts and concluded that with an increase in
cutting speed, phase transformation — rather than
plastic deformation — contributes most significantly
to white layer formation [10]. Recent work on white
layer formation can be found in [11–14]. A
comprehensive review of the state of the art in hard
turning, including force and temperature modeling,
lubrication and cooling and surface integrity, can be
found in reference [15].
While hard turning has been the subject of many
studies, very little of the published literature has
considered this process from the industrial point of
view. It is known that the use of coolant can reduce
tool life by increasing the possibility of micro-
chipping due to temperature shock at the CBN cutting
edge. It is also known that a significant temperature
rise at the cutting zone in dry cutting conditions can
increase the depth of the white layer, leave undesired
residual stress on the surface and distort the
workpiece. Therefore, wet cutting conditions may be
desirable from the industrial standpoint to improve
surface integrity and dimensional accuracy.
This work seeks to conduct a comprehensive study
on measurable process outputs (i.e., tool wear and
cutting forces) and surface integrity parameters (i.e.,
white layer, surface roughness, micro-hardness and
residual stress) using several CBN inserts in a wet
turning operation, which is a feasible strategy in the
bearing manufacturing industry.
The organization of this paper is as follows: In
section 2, the experimental setup and cutting
conditions are explained. Results are given in section
3, followed by detailed discussion. Conclusions and
future directions are discussed in section 4, followed
by acknowledgment and references sections.
2. Experimental Setup
Hard-turning tests were conducted on a DMG
MORI horizontal lathe machine in flood cooling
conditions with a ~7% coolant concentration. The
experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1. The cutting
conditions in all the experiments were kept constant
with a surface speed of 180 m/min, feed of 0.06
mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.1 mm. AISI 4320 steel
samples were chosen with an initial diameter of 76 mm
and were turned for the length of 205 mm at each pass.
All the samples were case-carburized to a 2.5mm
depth with 58–62 Rockwell hardness. Both the
microstructure (see Fig. 1) and the micro-hardness
600 Farbod Akhavan
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al./ Procedia et al. / Procedia00Manufacturing 48 (2020) 598–605
(see Fig. 3) of the heat-treated samples were examined
before conducting the experiments to ensure testing
was stopped before reaching the soft core of the
material.
Fig. 1: Schematic of experimental setup
Fig. 1: Micrographs of the carburized case showing the change in
microstructure from the near surface to the depth of transition from
case to core. (a) 0.25 mm, (b) 1.5 mm and (c) 2.5 mm
Three different CBN inserts were used from two
different manufacturers, referred to as Grade A, Grade
B and Grade C in this paper. The major coating
component of all three inserts was titanium aluminum
nitride (TiAlN). All the inserts were DNGA432 grade
with a 55° tip and 0.8 mm tool nose radius, with
chamfered and honed (S-land) edge preparation. The
edge specifications of each grade are given in Table 1.
Each test per insert was repeated three times to ensure
the repeatability of the process, with a total of 9 tests.
The forces in the tangential and feed directions were
captured using a Kistler force dynamometer with
sampling rate of 200 Hz. Tool wear was measured
using a KEYENCE VH-Z500R optical microscope at
Niaki Manufacturing
(2020) 000–000
constant intervals. Testing was stopped before flank
wear reached the width of 150 µm. All the samples
were cleaned and trued with sacrificial inserts after
being clamped to the machine to remove any out of
roundness, followed by replacement with a new sharp
insert to initiate each replication. Surface roughness
was measured in both average roughness (Ra) and
peak-to-valley roughness (Rz) using a portable surface
profilometer Hommel T1000.
Fig. 2: Micro-hardness of heat-treated AISI 4320 samples before
hard turning
Table 1: Edge specification and coating of selected CBN inserts
S-land
Coating
Width [inch] Angle
Grade A TiAlN 0.005 25°
Grade B TiAlN 0.005 25°
Grade C TiAlN 0.005 45°
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Cutting Force Study
The cutting force in both the tangential (FT) and
feed (FF) directions was captured at constant intervals,
and the resultant force at the end of the cutting duration
was calculated and reported with respect to the cutting
time, as shown in Fig. 3. The resultant cutting force
generally trends in a linear manner with the increase in
cutting time (i.e., increase in tool wear). Among the
three insert grades, the Grade B tool withstood the
lowest degree of cutting forces (lower than either the
Grade A or Grade C insert), and the Grade A insert
withstood higher forces with larger force variations
between replications in comparison to Grade C.
It should be noted that even though the cutting
forces were higher with Grade A than with Grade C,
the Grade A insert demonstrated a higher wear
resistivity and therefore higher cutting time (~60%
more cutting time with respect to Grade C). Therefore,
cutting forces should not be considered as the sole
parameter in defining the performance of a cutting
tool. Other factors, such as cutting time before
 Farbod
Niaki etAkhavan NiakiManufacturing
al./ Procedia et al. / Procedia
reaching wear limit, should be considered
simultaneously (refer to section 3.2). Also, as shown
in Fig. 4, the cutting edge of the Grade C insert became
highly unstable and remained unstable after only 35
minutes of cutting time. Better edge stability (and,
consequently, cutting force stability) was observed in
both the Grade A and Grade B inserts.
Fig. 3: Resultant force comparison of different CBN insert grades
starting from sharp insert up to Vb < 110 µm
Fig. 4: Tangential and feed forces after 35 minutes of cutting: (a)
stable cutting using Grade A, (b) stable cutting using Grade B, and
(c) unstable cutting force using Grade C
3.2. Tool Wear Study
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to
capture images of the insert wear on the flank and
crater faces, as shown in Fig. 6. After comparing the
cutting edges between inserts, Grade B had the best
stability, while Grade C had the lowest edge stability.
Despite the newly generated cutting edge of the Grade
C insert in Fig. 6(c), there appears to be a buildup edge
created out of the workpiece material. But the energy
dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and elemental
analysis shown in Fig. 7 prove that the new cutting
edge contains mainly the coating and CBN elemental
contents, so the hypothesis of buildup edge generation
00Manufacturing
(2020) 000–00048 (2020) 598–605 601
on the Grade C insert can be rejected. Considering the
EDS results, it can be concluded that the binding of the
coating and CBN in the Grade C insert begins to
weaken earlier than in the other two due to the high
temperature and pressure at the cutting zone, which
shift the cutting edge and flank wear land as tool wear
Fig. 6: SEM images with 200x magnification at 100 µm of flank
wear for (a) Grade A, (b) Grade B and (c) Grade C
Fig. 7: Grade C insert: (a) EDS results at 200x magnification and
(b) 500x magnification; images 1, 2 and 3 are the elemental
analysis reports of the areas in (b) indicated by the yellow boxes
increases. This theory also explains the unstable
cutting force of the Grade C insert discussed in section
3.1.
The average tool life at the limit of 100 µm of flank
wear was calculated for each insert and is given in Fig
8. An insignificant difference between Grade A and
Grade B was observed; however, the Grade B insert
602 Farbod Akhavan
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(2020) 000–000

exhibited less variation in the test results. Therefore,

the wear behavior of Grade B is more predictable than
Grade A. On the other hand, the Grade C insert showed
very good repeatability but exhibited 60% shorter tool
life than the other two grades. Combining the results
shown in Fig. 6 and Fig 7 and the force comparative
study in section 3.1, it can be concluded that even
though lower forces are required to turn the material
with the Grade C insert, its wear resistivity (and wear
rate) is much lower than that of the other two grades.
This is of critical importance, since the wear rate of an
insert determines the tool replacement intervals and
directly influences machine downtime and Fig. 9: Evolution of average surface (Ra) roughness with an
productivity. increase in wear

Fig. 8: Tool life comparison of different insert grades Fig. 10: Evolution of peak-to-valley (Rz) surface roughness
with an increase in wear
3.3. Surface Roughness Study

Average roughness (Ra) and peak-to-valley

roughness (Rz) were measured and plotted with
respect to cutting time, as shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10.
In addition, Ra and Rz values at the tool flank wear
width below 150 µm are compared in Fig. 11.
According to this figure, an insignificant difference
between roughness values was observed. For Grade B
insert the surface roughness began to improve near the
end of its life. This improvement can be attributed to
several factors, including the change in the tool’s
contact length and nose radius as flank wear increased,
better chip breakage due to changes in tool geometry, Fig. 11: Roughness values at maximum wear below 150 micron
or the higher edge stability shown in Fig. 6(b).
Understanding and identifying these effects requires 3.4. White Layer Generation and Machining-Affected
further testing and were outside the scope of the Zone Study
current work.
The workpiece microstructure analysis for white
layer detection is shown in Fig. 12. A small sample
was obtained from each workpiece using wire-EDM
machine and mounted in resin and etched with nital (a
combination of nitric acid and alcohol). The samples
were then polished and were studied under optical
microscope with 500x magnification to observe any
micro-structural changes after hard-turning process. A
 Farbod Akhavan
Niaki et Niaki Manufacturing
al./ Procedia et al. / Procedia00
white layer was observed in all the experiments, with
maximum depths shown for Grades A, B and C,
respectively. The depth of the dark layer (heat affected
zone) below the white layer zone of each grade is also
quantified according to the depth of the deformed
grains, and is shown in Fig. 12 as well.
3.5. Micro-hardness and Residual Stress Study
The micro-hardness results are shown in Fig. 13.
The hardness readings were performed with an
indentation force of 0.5 kgf and dwell time of 10
seconds. Considering the white layer depth of less than
5 µm identified in Fig. 12, the micro-indenter was not
able to provide readings at nano-scale depth.
Examining hardness at the white layer zone would
have required a nano-indenter that was not available at
the time of writing this article.
Fig. 12:White layer and dark layer depth for different grades of CBN
inserts: (a) Grade A insert with depths of 2.79 µm for white layer and
6.75 µm for dark layer, (b) Grade B insert with depths of 1.96 µm for
white layer and 5.25 µm for dark layer, and (c) Grade C insert with
depths of 2.1 µm for white layer and 3.4 µm for dark layer
Fig. 13: Micro-hardness measurement results
at tool flank wear depth of 100 µm
Manufacturing 48 (2020) 598–605
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The residual stress results at the tool flank wear
depth of 100 µm in both the circumferential and axial
directions are shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15. The
initiation of micro-cracks in the early stages of product
lifecycles and reduced fatigue life are known to be
caused by tensile surface residual stresses.
Conversely, surface compressive stresses are
considered desirable since they improve surface
integrity and fatigue life.
Tensile residual stress is the result of excessive heat
generation at the cutting zone due to the extreme
rubbing action of the tool flank area on the workpiece
material. Excessive heat leads to expansion of the
surface, thereby creating tensile stresses. On the other
hand, mechanical shearing and plastic deformation at
the cutting zone compress the material, which results
in the generation of compressive residual stresses. By
studying the surface residual stresses, it can be
determined whether the cutting occurs as the result of
excessive heat generation or plastic deformation of the
material.
The surface residual stress results in Fig. 14 and
Fig. 15 show that both the Grade A and B inserts
produced tensile stress at the surface in the
circumferential direction (cutting direction), whereas
the Grade A insert produced compressive surface
stress in the axial direction (feed direction). The
residual stress results for the Grade C insert are
especially interesting because compressive stresses
were observed in both the circumferential and axial
directions, indicating that plastic deformation was
more dominant than heat generation.
It is our conjecture that the instability of the Grade
C cutting edge shown in both the force graph Fig. 5(c))
and SEM image (Fig. 6(c)) exposes new areas of the
flank and crater faces of the insert to the cutting zone.
These new areas originally acted as the secondary
contact area for the material removal process, but now
act as the primary contact areas on the cutting tool
responsible for chip formation. Therefore, these new
areas are more capable of chip generation by means of
plastic deformation rather than heat generation.
604 Farbod Akhavan
Niaki et
al./ Procedia et al. / Procedia00
Fig. 14: Residual stress in the circumferential direction
Fig. 15: Residual stress in the axial direction
4. Summary and Conclusions
This work was intended to study the machinability
and characterize the surface integrity of three different
CBN insert grades in wet hard turning of case-
carburized 4320 bearing steel. The metrics chosen for
evaluating machinability performance were force and
tool wear. The surface integrity parameters were
characterized by surface roughness, white/dark layer
depths, micro-hardness and residual stresses. Testing
with each insert grade was repeated three times to
ensure the repeatability of the experiments.
It was concluded that the stability of the CBN
cutting edge is the primary factor in determination of
the tool’s life. This edge stability was detectable in the
measured cutting forces and consequently resulted in
60% improvement of tool life in two of the tested
inserts compared to the third one. Also, the results of
residual stress measurement showed that the CBN
grades with higher tool life and stable cutting edges
produced tensile surface stresses at the limit of tool
wear, while the insert grade with the unstable cutting
edge was able to produce compressive residual stress
on the surface of the workpiece.
Niaki Manufacturing
Manufacturing 48 (2020) 598–605
(2020) 000–000
This work can be further expanded to identify the
cutting condition at which the surface residual stress
starts to shift from undesirable tensile stresses to
desirable compressive stresses. Also, investigation of
other unconventional cooling methods and the
possibility of eliminating white layer formation by
lowering the temperature at the cutting zone area could
be other future directions of study.
5. Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge The
Timken Company for support of this work and
permission to publish. In addition, the authors would
like to thank Sumitomo Electric Industries and
Kyocera Corporation for their support in providing
CBN inserts for these experiments.
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