Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

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Journal of Manufacturing Processes

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A comparative study in machining of AISI D2 steel using textured and non- T

textured coated carbide tool at the flank face
⁎
Sanjib Kr Rajbongshi , Meinam Annebushan Singh, Deba Kumar Sarma
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong, 793003, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Surface texturing over a cutting tool in machining is a process where a tribological alteration occurs in the tool-
Surface texturing chip interfaces. The present work analyzes the influence of surface texturing of the coated carbide tool on the
Non-textured tool flank face during machining. Linear microgrooves are prepared on the flank face of the coated carbide tool
Textured tool orthogonal to the cutting edge. The experiments are conducted in the dry turning of AISI D2 steel (45 HRC) using
Dry turning
both textured and non-textured tool. Total eight experiments are conducted considering three factors (cutting
White layer
Micro-hardness
speed, feed, and depth of cut) having two levels each. The responses of flank wear and surface roughness are
studied for comparison of the performance of textured tool with the non-textured tool. In all the cases, flank wear
of the textured tool is found to be less as compared to the non-textured tool. Other hand, except few in most of
the cases, surface roughness is found to be lower with textured tool as compared to non-textured tool. The
analysis of machined samples revealed that texturing helps in reducing the formation of white layer thickness
and micro-hardness as compared to the non-textured tool. The decrease in white layer thickness at the machined
surface is supported by the decrease in temperature at the tool-chip interface using the textured tool as compared
to the non-textured tool. Thus, texturing in flank face of coated carbide tool improves the machinability in terms
of flank wear and tool life.

1. Introduction
The tribological phenomenon of machining is an important topic in
the manufacturing sector. The change in tribological condition at the
tool-chip interface is an important criterion to be studied in machining
domain. Several benefits may be obtained by the tribological change at
the tool-chip interfaces in machining. Among different tribological
phenomenon, surface texturing of cutting tools constitutes an important
area in machining by which machinability performances can be en-
hanced. Several authors have studied the surface texturing phenom-
enon and provided their justification for improving machinability with
different techniques for performing surface texturing at the tool. Their
experiences have brought some new inventions to the tribological ef-
fects during machining with textured tool. The present work is to study
the effects of surface texturing on the flank face of the coated carbide
tool in machining of AISI D2 steel and make a comparison with a non-
textured coated carbide tool. The texturing is performed to investigate
the performance of machinability and to improve the tool life of the
cutting tool.
In machining, the most important things to improve the machin-
ability are to improve the tool life of the cutting tool and produce good
surface finish of the machined surfaces. The researchers have used
different techniques to enhance the texturing phenomenon. Most of the
surface texturing are carried out in the rake face of the cutting tool
using laser irradiation, grinding wheel, Rockwell hardness tester,
electric discharge machining etc. Jayal et al. [1] used surface texturing
on cemented carbide cutting tool using grinding techniques in ma-
chining of AISI 1020 steel and found that surface texturing on the tool
surfaces have a significant effect on the cutting forces. Using femtose-
cond laser technique, Lei et al. [2] produced holes with finite dimension
(micro in nature) on the tool rake surfaces and oil and solid lubricants
were inserted in the holes. In this texturing process, the authors found
lower machining forces, reduced tool-chip contact lengths etc. with
respect to conventional tools. Kawasegi et al. [3] introduced microscale
and nanoscale textures on the rake faces of uncoated cemented carbide
tool using femtosecond laser technology in machining of A5052 alu-
minum alloy in near dry and flood-cooled turning. The authors found
lower machining forces when the texture directions were parallel to the
cutting edge. Enomoto and Sugihara [4] have used nano-/micro-tex-
tured surfaces at the rake surfaces in face milling of aluminum alloy.
With surface texturing at the rake faces, the authors found that the
lubricity and the anti-adhesive properties of the tool were improved.

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sanjibraj09@gmail.com (S.K. Rajbongshi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2018.10.041
Received 16 May 2018; Received in revised form 27 August 2018; Accepted 31 October 2018
Available online 06 November 2018
1526-6125/ © 2018 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Kosy and Tovey [5] introduced areal and parallel linear textures on the
rake surfaces of high-speed steel with the help of electric discharge
machining. Chang et al. [6] used a focused ion beam (FIB) method for
making grooves on the cutting over the rake surface. They found that
structures in perpendicular direction to the flow of chips improved the
reduction of cutting forces, surface roughness and the coefficient of
friction. Obikawa et al. [7] investigated the effects of different micro-
structures on the rake faces of cemented carbide tool using spattering,
photolithography and wet etching methods in the machining of alu-
minum alloy. The authors found improved machining performances
when the textured dimensions were smaller and deeper. Enomoto et al.
[8] used periodical stripe grooves structures on rake surfaces of a
TiAlN-coated tool in face milling of steel material. With their developed
structures and coating of the tool materials, the tool wear was improved
significantly. The authors found that the areal structure was more
beneficial as compared to parallel structure and the minimum force
experienced when the textured region was a little bit far from the
cutting edge. Jianxin et al. [9] studied the effect of three micro-
structures made by lasers (type: HDM-50) created on the rake faces of
the carbide tool in machining of AISI 45 steel. The authors reported that
with this type of texturing, cutting forces, the temperature at the tool-
chip interface and coefficient of friction can be reduced. They suggested
that lubricating film formed by rake face structured solid lubricant
caused this reduction. Ze et al. [10] wrote the benefits of rake or flank
face fabricated structures of carbide using molybdenum disulfide in the
textured places in the dry cutting of Ti-6Al-4 V alloy. With this texturing
the authors were able to get improved machining performances in
terms of cutting forces, cutting temperature, chip thickness ratio, and
tool wear. Sugihara and Enomoto [11] found that surface texturing on
cemented carbide tool at the rake and flank faces in parallel cutting
edge direction caused reduction of crater and flank wear while ma-
chining of medium carbon steel. The performance of a soft coated
tungsten disulfide carbide tool and uncoated carbide tool was studied
by Lian et al. [12] in machining of AISI 45 steel at a cutting speed of
50–250 m/min. The authors reported that cutting forces and tempera-
ture were reduced with the soft-coated carbide tool as compared to
uncoated carbide tool. This was due to the formation of tungsten sulfide
coating over the tool surface. Xing et al. [13] used femtosecond laser
technology for the treatment of the rake faces of Al203/TiC ceramic
cutting tools in the dry cutting of hardened AISI 1045 steel. They re-
ported that there was not much improvement in the performance
parameters using laser pre-treated tools compare to conventional tools.
The authors found that using high pulse energy, cutting temperature
and tool wear rate reduced as compared to the conventional tool. Su-
gihara and Enomoto [14] reported that dimple textures on the rake
faces were more effective as compared to grooved structures in face
milling of medium carbon steel (C: 0.51-0.55%). Micro-dimples on the
rake faces supported the crater wear resistance of the tool. The tex-
turing at the rake face shows a lot of improvement in machinability.
Zhang et al. [15] used femtosecond laser technology for nano-scale
textures on the rake faces of tungsten carbide cobalt based TiAlN tools
in machining AISI 1045 steel. Tungsten disulphide was inserted on the
nano-scaled textures. It was found that with the help of textured tool
the cutting forces, temperature, friction coefficient and tool wear were
reduced as compared to the conventional tool. Ma et al. [16] used finite
element methods for studying the effect of micro-bump textured ce-
mented carbide tool on the rake in machining AISI 1045 steel. The
performance of textured tool was compared with a non-textured con-
ventional tool. Using the FEM analysis, it was found that with the
textured tool, the main cutting force and thrust force were reduced as
compared to the conventional tool. However, the researchers tried to
improve the machining performances using the technique of surface
texturing at the tool flank face. Anand et al. [17] studied the effect of
texturing of cemented carbide tool on flank face using grinding op-
eration. The machining was carried on AISI 1045 steel by orthogonal
process and observed the improvement in reducing machining forces.
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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372
Fatima and Mativenga [18] used femtosecond laser technology at the
tool flank faces in machining of AISI 4140 steel. It was found that the
tool sticking phenomenon, cutting force, feed force and tool wear rate
were decreased in texturing. Sugihara et al. [19] used surface texturing
techniques in CBN tool on the flank face for machining Inconel 718alloy
with a high speed cutting. The edge chipping of the cutting tool was
found to be reduced while the tool life performance was extended. Fang
and Obikawa [20] studied the micro-texture effect at the flank face of
PVD coated TiAlN insert using high pressure coolant jet in machining of
Inconel 718. An improvement in heat transfer rate from the tool by the
coolant was achieved with incorporation of pin fins, plate fins and pits.
From the above literature, it is observed that the surface textures
made on the rake and flank faces of a cutting tool having immense
influence in improving the machinability performances. It is also no-
ticed that the researchers are mainly focussing the surface texturing on
the rake face rather than flank face. There are limited reports on surface
texturing on the flank face. Most of the surface texturing work has been
carried out using laser technology. The use of micro-EDM in flank face
surface texturing on coated carbide is very limited. In the present work,
linear micro-grooves are created using micro-EDM on the flank face of
coated carbide tool and used in machining of AISI D2 steel in a dry
condition. The study is mainly focussed on the performance of surface
roughness and tool wear. Another major objective of this study is the
effect of the formation of the white layer and micro-hardness which are
not reported by any researchers in texturing. To understand the per-
formance of the textured tool, a comparative study is carried out using
both the textured (T) and non-textured (NT) tool. The research is then
carrying forward to understand the physics behind in improving the
machinability of the textured tool.
The description of the paper is arranged as follows: The first part
describes the introduction of the proposed work with the available
literature survey. Also, it identifies the gap of the present work with the
existing literatures. The second part is about the experimental set up.
Here the tool fabrication process is described elaborately along with the
machinery used for the experiments. The third part describes the results
and discussions of the advantages of textured coated carbide tool over
non-textured coated carbide tool considering the responses of surface
roughness and flank wear in machining of AISI D2 steel. The final part
is the conclusions of the findings of experimental work.
2. Experimental set up
The tool material for texturing is considered as coated carbide tool
of Make: Sandvik, Model: SNMG 12 04 08-KM3215. The texturing is
done in micro-electric discharge (μ-EDM) machining of Make: Synergy
nano systems, Model: Hyper-15 (Fig.1). The process of texturing in
micro-EDM is as follows.
(i) In the beginning, a microelectrode tool is required in micro-EDM to
do the texturing over a cutting tool. A molybdenum wire of dia
120 μm is inserted in a hollow copper tube of dia 500 μm and then it
is brazed (Fig. 2). Linear grooves of 200 μm length with a gap of
50 μm between each line are made on the flank face in a perpen-
dicular direction of the cutting edge. The distance of the first linear
groove from the cutting edge of the tool is 50 μm and the depth is
20 μm. At first, the gap between two lines is maintained with 20,
30, 40 and 50 μm and then some experiments are conducted.
However, the optimum value in terms of tool wear and surface
finish is found suitable for 50 μm only. Similarly, for depth of the
groove, the depth values are considered for 5, 10, 15 and 20 μm.
Base on the results of tool wear and surface finish, 20 μm depths is
found to be a satisfactory result. Hence, all the texturing is carried
out with a gap of 50 μm and depth of groove as 20 μm.
(ii) The other technical specifications for surface texturing at the flank
face with micro-EDM is considered as 150 V with straight polarity
and 10 μs for ton and toff. The feed rate is considered as 1 μm/sec.
S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Fig. 1. Micro-EDM set up for surface texturing.
Fig. 2. In house μ-EDM tool fabrication of molybdenum wire using hollow Cu
tube.
The discharge energy is an important parameter which governs the
resulting surface texture using micro-EDM. The calculation of the
discharge energy used in the micro-EDM process is done based on
the equation as follows:
CV 2
E=
2 (1)
Where, C is the capacitance of the capacitor and V is the potential
across the capacitor (Hyde et al. [21], Bartkowiak and Brown [22]).
This is the maximum theoretical discharge energy generated in a single
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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372
discharge cycle. The value of C and V for the present work is 100 pF and
150 V respectively. The discharge energy used in the present work is
1125 nJ and it falls into the category of “micro”-machining (Hyde et al.
[21], Bartkowiak and Brown [22]). All the grooves have been machined
using the same discharge energy 1125 nJ. Fig. 3 (a) shows different
types of texture patterns at the flank face and Fig. 3 (b) shows the image
of texture pattern considered for the present work (perpendicular to the
cutting edge) as adopted by Sugihara et al. [19]. From the figure, it is
observed that the textures are prepared by linear grooving using micro-
EDM tool; however, some dimensional deviation between two lines of
grooves is occurred. This is happening because of the wear of mo-
lybdenum wire and forced vibrations produced during the texturing
process. But, utmost care is taken to prevent the major dimensional
deviation during texturing on the flank face of the carbide tool.
The machinery used for the turning operation along with other
devices for measurement of surface roughness, tool flank wear, hard-
ness, white layer, temperature and surface topography is detailed as
follows.
(i) For turning operation, high-speed conventional lathe (Make:
Tussor Machine Tools India Pvt. Ltd.; Model: SC250) is used. The
motor power of the lathe is 5.5 kW, spindle speed range of
40–2300 rpm, longitudinal feed 0.05-0.752 mm/rev and cross feed
0.020–0.296 mm/rev.
(ii) For surface roughness measurement, surface roughness tester
(Make: Taylor Hobson; Model: S-128) is used. The gauge range of
the instrument is 0–400 μm and sampling length range is
0.25–8 mm.
(iii) For tool flank measurement, optical microscope of Make:
Olympus; Model: BX51 M is used. The magnification range is 50X-
1000×.
(iv) For hardness analysis, Vickers micro-hardness tester (Make: Fuel
Instruments Engineers & Pvt. Ltd.; Model: MV1-PC) is used. The
maximum capacity of the tester is 1000 gf.
(v) For white layer analysis, FESEM (Make: Zeiss; Model: ƩIGMA) is
used.
(vi) For temperature measurement, Thermal image camera (Make:
Testo; Model: T885) is used.
(vii) For surface topography of the textured and non-textured surface of
coated carbide tool, Atomic Force Microscope (Make: NT-MDT
Technology, Model: NTEGRA Prima) is used.
The work piece for machining is considered as hardened AISI D2
steel of 45 HRC.
3. Results and discussions
The range of the cutting parameters for machining is selected as per
the recommendations of the tool manufacturer as well as from the lit-
erature as shown in Table 1.
Table 2 shows the cutting parameters along with their responses
using textured and non-textured tool.
3.1. Effect of surface texturing on flank wear and surface roughness and its
comparison with a non-textured tool
Areal texture analysis of the textured and non-textured tool at the
flank face is studied using atomic force microscope (AFM). Figs. 4 and 5
shows the image rendered from the textured and non-textured surface
of coated carbide tool respectively at the tool flank face in (a) 2D and
(b) 3D view for a scan size of 100 μm × 100 μm. From Fig. 4 (a) & (b), it
can be observed that the height of the surface profile is distributed over
the region of – 2.3 μm to 1.9 μm from the mean plane. Similarly, Fig. 5
(a) & (b) show the height of the surface profile for a non-textured
cutting tool which is distributed over the region from – 0.4 μm to
1.0 μm from the mean plane. The areal roughness parameters Sa
S.K. Rajbongshi et al. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

Fig. 3. (a) Different types of texture pattern at the flank face (b) Linear micro-grooves made at the flank face perpendicular to the cutting edge of coated carbide tool
using micro-EDM.

Table 1 (arithmetical mean height), Sz (maximum height), Sp (maximum peak

Cutting parameters along with their levels. height), Sv (maximum pit height), Sq (root mean square height), Ssk
SI No Cutting parameters Level (low) Level (high)
(skewness) and Sku (kurtosis) are shown in Table 3 for both textured
and non-textured surface respectively. It has been observed that the
1 Speed (m/min) 100 150 value of the areal roughness parameters is higher for textured surface
2 Feed (mm/rev) 0.05 0.15 compared to non-textured surface.
3 Depth of cut (mm) 0.25 0.55
The machining is conducted by both textured (T) and non-textured
(NT) tool to make a comparative study with the performance para-
Table 2 meters such as flank wear (FW) and surface roughness (SR). Full fac-
Cutting parameters along with their response values using textured (T) and non- torial design is considered with three process parameters having two
textured (NT) tool. levels each. A set of 8 experiments are performed based on the con-
sidered input parameters. The repeatability of the experiments is per-
SI No v (m/min) f (mm/rev) d SR (μm) FW (mm)
(mm)
formed using new cutting edge over a machining length of 30 mm.
NT T NT T Three samples per each test are used for the responses of flank wear and
surface roughness and then the average value of the responses is con-
1 100 0.05 0.25 1.01 0.97 0.104 0.078 sidered. The tool wear and surface roughness are measured after every
2 100 0.05 0.55 1.26 1.12 0.122 0.092
3 150 0.05 0.25 1.04 0.98 0.096 0.086
pass. Depending on the feed and speed, cutting time is measured for
4 150 0.05 0.55 1.38 1.05 0.104 0.098 each of the experiments. Figs. 6 and 7 shows the comparison of flank
5 100 0.15 0.25 0.85 0.96 0.104 0.081 wear and surface roughness for textured and non-textured coated car-
6 100 0.15 0.55 0.92 0.97 0.101 0.088 bide tool for low speed turning and high speed turning with error bar
7 150 0.15 0.25 0.94 0.91 0.106 0.083
graph. The error bar graph is a statistical analysis carried out with Error
8 150 0.15 0.55 1.01 0.99 0.126 0.094
Bar Charts procedure. The standard deviation and standard error is
found out for three samples (i.e three replications) for each test. The
error bar graph is then plotted for the responses flank wear and surface

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S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Fig. 4. Image rendered from the textured surface of coated carbide tool using AFM for a scan size of 100 μm × 100 μm (a) 2D image, (b) 3D image.
Fig. 5. Image rendered from the non-textured part of coated carbide tool using AFM for a scan size of 100 μm × 100 μm (a) 2D image, (b) 3D image.
Table 3
Areal roughness parameters for textured and non-textured surface of cutting tool.
Scan size Nature of surface Sa (nm) Sz (nm)
100 μm × 100 μm Textured 262 3773
Non-textured 94 1367
roughness as shown in the Figs. 6 and 7. The blue error bar graph stands
for the standard error for textured tool and red error bar graph stands
for the non-textured tool. This error bar represents the deviation of the
responses from the mean value. In the present work, the parameter VB
is used for flank wear measurement as per ISO 3685 (1993) of tool
failure criteria and Ra (arithmetical average roughness or centre line
average roughness) is used for surface roughness as per ISO 4287:1997.
As evident from the experimental data, it is observed that the tool
flank wear (FW) of the textured tool is generally less in comparison
with the non-textured tool for both low and high cutting speed [Fig. 6].
A significant difference of flank wear for the textured and non-textured
tool is observed and found higher in case of low cutting speed compared
to high cutting speed [Comparing all Fig. 6]. Generally, flank wear
occurs due to abrasion and in due course of time the temperature in-
creased with progression of wear. When the tool is textured at the flank
face, the contact area at the interface of tool & work piece is decreased.
For the less contact area, the tool and work piece friction reduces and as
a result the abrasion and adhesion is also reduced. Subsequently, the
width of wear land at the flank face also reduces. Due to less tool wear,
the induced stress also decreases in the tool. Other hand, due to tex-
turing on the flank face, the contact length of the cutting tool reduces
and tool behaves as a sharp tool. As a result, the cutting forces gener-
ated during machining become less compared to non-textured tool. The
reduction of cutting forces helps to decrease the induced stresses at the
tool tip and thus enhancing the tool life.
Fig. 7 shows the variation of surface roughness (SR) with cutting
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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372
Sp (nm) Sv (nm) Sq (nm) Ssk Sku
1885 1888 355 0.10 2.12
989 379 120 0.46 1.62
time for low cutting speed and high cutting speed for textured and non-
textured coated carbide tool. In most of the cases, the textured tool
helps in reducing the surface roughness in comparison to that of the
non-textured tool. However, for low cutting speed with high feed, the
surface roughness of the textured tool is found to be higher as compared
to non-textured tool [Fig. 7 (c) and (d)]. The reason for less surface
roughness using textured tool is due to an action of thick adhesion layer
produced over the textured surface in the flank face. Since, there are no
observations of flaking or cutting edge chipping, the micro-grooves are
stabilised and this adhesion layer after machining produces a rubbing
action over the machined surface and produce a good surface finish.
However, this action is not observed in case of non-textured tool.
During machining, the temperature is measured at the interface of
tool flank face and the work piece using thermal image camera. The
field of vision per minimum focusing distance is considered as 30° ×
23°/0.1 m. The spatial resolution of the measurement point for the
present work is 1.06 mrad. It describes the total coverage of the mea-
surement area in a single pixel. The spatial resolution gives a mea-
surement of the accuracy of temperature or detail of a graphic display
which is expressed as dots per inch, pixels per line and lines per mil-
limetre. So, it gives a measurement of how fine a temperature image is
getting with respect to minimum focusing distance between source of
focus and the contact region of the tool flank face & work piece. Fig. 8
shows the photograph of the temperature measurement location at the
interface of the tool tip (focused on the flank face) and work piece by
thermal image camera. Initially, the ambient temperature is recorded
S.K. Rajbongshi et al. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

Fig. 6. Variation of flank wear (FW) with cutting time for low cutting speed and high cutting speed with textured and non-textured coated carbide tool.

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Fig. 7. Variation of surface roughness (SR) with cutting time for low cutting speed and high cutting speed with textured and non-textured coated carbide tool.

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S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Fig. 8. Photograph of temperature measurement location at the interface of
tool tip (focussed on the flank face) and work piece by thermal image camera.
and then maximum temperature is measured in each of the location at
the tool-work piece interface. Finally, the average temperature value is
calculated. As an example, for a cutting condition of speed 100 m/min,
feed 0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.25 mm, the average temperature
Fig. 9. Temperature profile using Thermal image camera for cutting speed 100 m/min, feed rate 0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.25 mm (a) with non-textured tool
(b) with textured tool and (c) graphical representation of the comparison of temperature for both textured and non-textured tool.
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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372
at the tool work piece interface is 200 °C for textured tool. However, for
the same cutting condition, the average temperature is 262 °C for non-
textured tool.
Figs. 9 and 10 show the temperature distribution of low & high
cutting speed respectively for 100 m/min and 150 m/min with feed
0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.25 mm for both textured and non-
textured tool. From the figures, it is observed that the average tem-
perature at the tool work piece junction is less in the textured tool as
compared to the non-textured tool. At low cutting speed, the average
temperature for the non-textured tool is around 262 °C while for the
textured tool it is 200 °C as shown in Fig. 9. Similarly, the average
temperature at the tool work piece junction for the non-textured tool is
267 °C and for the textured tool it is 248 °C for high cutting speed as
shown in Fig. 10. From these results, it is observed that the texturing
has an effect in reducing the temperature at the tool work piece junc-
tion. The microgrooves of the textured tool in the flank face acts like a
fin and help in dissipating the heat from the flank face. The rate of heat
release in the textured tool is very fast in comparison to the non-tex-
tured tool. Initially, flank wear is increased for both textured and non-
textured tool, but as the cutting time increases, the rate of growth of the
flank wear for the textured tool is found to be less in comparison to the
non-textured tool. It implies that tool life of the textured tool is more
compared to the non-textured tool which can be explained as follows-
S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Fig. 10. Temperature profile using Thermal image camera for cutting speed 150 m/min, feed rate 0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.25 mm (a) with non-textured tool
(b) with textured tool and (c) graphical representation of the comparison of temperature for both textured and non-textured tool.
when the geometry of the flank face changes due to texturing, it helps in
reducing tool-chip interface contact area thereby reducing the cutting
force. Reducing cutting force lowers the abrasion and adhesion process
of tool wear and thus reduces wear land and enhancing the tool life.
Fig. 11 shows a typical representation of the progression of flank
wear with cutting time up to 5 passes for a combination of cutting speed
100 m/min, feed 0.15 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.55 mm for (a) non-
textured tool and (b) textured tool respectively. From the figure, it can
be noticed that the rate of progression of flank wear is lesser in textured
tool as compared to the non-textured tool. The micro-grooves of tex-
turing reduce the contact length of the tool over the work piece and
reduce the interface temperature during machining. Due to reduction of
the interface temperature, the flank wear is also reducing; thereby en-
hancing the tool life. A comparative statement of the improvement of
tool flank wear rate for the non-textured tool with textured tool is
shown in Table 4. It is observed that the tool flank wear rate is im-
proved almost by 6–25% for the textured tool.
3.2. White layer formation and surface analysis of the machined surface
using textured and non-textured tool
Since the machining was conducted on hard material, a white layer
formation is observed over the machined surface. A comparative study
is carried out using both textured and non-textured carbide tool for a
cutting speed of 100 m/min, feed 0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut of
0.25 mm (Fig. 12). The study shows that the thickness of white layer for
textured machined surfaces is 39.99 μm while for non-textured ma-
chined surfaces it is about 51.10 μm. Similarly, the white layer
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Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372
thickness for the machined surface with textured tool is 31.11 μm and
for the non-textured tool it is about 39.99 μm for a cutting speed of
150 m/min, feed 0.15 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.55 mm (Fig. 13). The
reason for less thickness of white layer for the textured tool is due to the
less flank wear i.e. less deterioration of the cutting edge that generates
less tensile residual stress and alters less surface microstructure as
compared to the non-textured tool. The explanation is as follows: With
an increase of flank wear, the temperature at the work piece surface
becomes high. Due to high temperature, high thermal expansion occurs
that makes the surface layer in compression. But at the later stage when
the surface becomes cool, it tends to shrink causing the surface layers in
tension. Thus, tensile residual stresses are generated and become high
at the surface during high flank wear. However, if the tool is textured,
the tool flank wear is found to be less which generates less temperature
at the work piece surface. Concurrently, the tensile residual stress be-
comes less at the work piece surface. In both the cases, the white layer
thickness was found less when the flank wear is less. It represents that
less tensile residual stress influence in reducing the thickness of the
white layer. It has been noticed that with the increase of cutting speed,
the thickness of the white layer decreases for both textured and non-
textured tool (Figs. 12 and 13). The observation of the decrease in
thickness of white layer with the increase of cutting speed is in line with
Bosheh and Mativenga [23]. The reason for the decrease in white layer
thickness with the increase of cutting speed is due to decrease in tem-
perature at the tool-work piece junction with respect to less time of
friction. Other hand, at low cutting speed, rapid heating and the cooling
rate due to the unheated mass and environment caused the surface
layer hard and it increased the white layer thickness. Another reason for
S.K. Rajbongshi et al. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

Fig. 11. Progression of flank wear (a) non-textured tool and (b) textured tool with cutting time for v = 100 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev, d = 0.55 mm.

Table 4 surface as compared to the non-textured tool.

Tool wear improvement rate for textured tool as compared to non-textured tool. Figs. 16 and 17 show the machined surface along with its compo-
SI NO. Cutting parameter F.W (mm) Tool wear
sitional gradients using electro dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis
settings improvement rate (%) for both textured and non-textured tool for a typical combination of
cutting speed 150 m/min, feed 0.15 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.55 mm.
v (m/ f (mm/ d (mm) NT T From this combination, it is observed that the amount of carbon content
min) rev)
is increased in the modified layer of the machined surface produced by
1 100 0.05 0.25 0.104 0.078 25.00 the non-textured tool. The cause of the increase in carbon content is due
2 100 0.05 0.55 0.122 0.092 24.59 to the diffusion of carbon in the work piece. During machining, the
3 100 0.15 0.25 0.096 0.086 22.11 temperature at the machined surface is increased because of the car-
4 100 0.15 0.55 0.104 0.098 12.87
burization effect of carbon content with the environment, which leads
5 150 0.05 0.25 0.104 0.081 10.41
6 150 0.05 0.55 0.101 0.088 5.76
to high hardness and thicker white layer formation. The carbon content
7 150 0.15 0.25 0.106 0.083 21.69 in the surface produced by the textured tool is less as compared to the
8 150 0.15 0.55 0.126 0.094 25.39 non-textured tool which proves that the hardness and white layer
thickness is less at the machined surface using the textured tool. It is
also observed that the main component of AISI D2 steel with high
decrease in white layer thickness is due to the decrease in plastic de- chromium content, found to be less in case of non-textured machined
formation with the increase of cutting speed which caused a decrease in surface as compared to the textured surface. The iron content is also
cutting forces. found to be less at the machined surface of non-textured tool. On the
Figs. 14 and 15 show the FESEM images of topography i.e. the other hand, the content of oxygen in the machined surface is found
physical appearance of the machined surface produced during ma- higher when machining is done by non-textured tool. The reason for the
chining of AISI D2 steel with textured & non-textured tool. Fig. 14 re- enrichment of oxygen is due to the chemical reaction with the high
presents the surface for a cutting combination of speed of 100 m/min, temperature at the machined surface and the environment during ma-
feed 0.05 mm/rev, depth of cut 0.25 mm and Fig. 15 represents for a chining by non-texturing tool. However, the oxygen content using
combination of speed 150 m/min, feed 0.15 mm/rev & depth of cut textured tool is not so much high at the machined surface, so there is
0.55 mm. In both the cases, glossy finish is observed in the surface less possibility of oxidation reaction, thus making the machined surface
during machining with the textured tool while the same is not observed less hardness and shallow white layer formation. Thus, surface tex-
in the non-textured tool. Though the reason of change of this mor- turing also helps in maintaining the relative compositional gradients of
phology is not fully understood, but due to the high temperature gen- the work piece along with the reduction of thickness of white layer.
eration in the non-textured tool the surface topology may be changed.
However, it is observed that texturing helps in generating a good

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S.K. Rajbongshi et al. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

Fig. 12. White layer analysis for (a) machined surface using non-textured tool (b) machined surface using textured tool at v = 100 m/min, f = 0.05 mm/rev,
d = 0.25 mm.

Fig. 13. White layer analysis for (a) machined surface using non-textured tool (b) machined surface using textured tool v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev,
d = 0.55 mm.

Fig. 14. SEM images for machined surface (a) non-textured tool (b) textured tool at v = 100 m/min, f = 0.05 mm/rev, d = 0.25 mm.

3.3. Micro-hardness test
The micro-hardness analysis is also carried out for white layer
produced by the textured and the non-textured tool. The hardness value
of the white layer produced by non-textured tool is 788 HV (64 HRC),
while it is 694 HV (60 HRC) for textured tool at a cutting speed of
100 m/min, feed 0.05 mm/rev and depth of cut of 0.25 mm. Similarly,
the hardness value of the white layer using non-textured tool is 744 HV
(62 HRC) and 678 HV (58 HRC) for the textured tool at a cutting speed
of 150 m/min, feed 0.15 mm/rev and depth of cut 0.15 mm. In both the

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S.K. Rajbongshi et al. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 36 (2018) 360–372

Fig. 15. SEM images for machined surface (a) non-textured tool (b) textured tool at v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev, d = 0.55 mm.

Fig. 16. EDS analysis of the machined surface at v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/
rev, d = 0.55 mm using non-textured tool.
Fig. 17. EDS analysis of the machined surface at v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/
rev, d = 0.55 mm using textured tool.
cases, the hardness of the machined surface is more than the parent
bulk material hardness (45 HRC). Table 5 shows a comparison of white
tool is analyzed by comparing with the performance of non-textured
layer thickness (WL) and micro-Vicker’s hardness (HV) of the white
tool in dry machining of AISI D2 steel. The major benefits gained
layer using textured and non-textured tool.
through the experimental results of texturing are briefly summarized
below:
4. Conclusions
1) It is found that the surface texturing at the tool flank face helps in
Surface texturing of the coated carbide tool has been performed on decreasing the flank wear rate as compared to the non-textured tool.
the flank face with the help of micro-EDM. The performance of textured

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S.K. Rajbongshi et al.
Table 5
Comparison of white layer thickness and micro-hardness value of the machined surface using textured and non-textured tool.
Sl. No. Machining conditions NT
WL (μm)
1 v = 100 m/min, f = 0.05 mm/rev, d = 0.25 mm 51.10
2 v = 150 m/min, f = 0.15 mm/rev, d = 0.55 mm 39.99
In most of the cases, surface finish is found to be less using textured
tool as compared to non-textured tool.
2) The decrease in the flank wear rate for textured tool is due to the
reduction of tool-chip contact length as well as area. The micro-
grooves at the flank face act as a fin for carrying away the heat
generated at the tool-chip interface.
3) The machined surface produced after machining by textured tool is
glossy as compared to the non-textured tool. Also, the average
temperature produced by textured tool is lesser than the non-tex-
tured tool.
4) The white layer formation and its hardness are analyzed for both
textured and non-textured tool. It is observed that thickness of white
layer produced by the textured tool is lesser as compared to the non-
textured tool. Also, the hardness of the white layer is comparatively
lesser for the textured tool.
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