viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF TABLES xii
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
LIST OF SYMBOLS xix

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 MACHINING OF HARD MATERIALS 1
1.2 CERMET CUTTING TOOLS 3
1.3 COATING ON CUTTING TOOLS 5
1.4 CRYOGENIC TREATMENT 7
1.4.1 Ramp Down 8
1.4.2 Soak 8
1.4.3 Ramp up 9
1.5 NEED FOR THE PRESENT STUDY 10
1.6 OBJECTIVES 11
1.7 SCOPE OF THE PRESENT STUDY 12
1.8 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 13

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 16
2.1 REQUIREMENTS OF CUTTING TOOLS 16
2.2 CERMET CUTTING TOOL MATERIALS 17
2.3 COATED CUTTING TOOLS 19
2.3.1 Ti-Al-N Coating 21
2.4 CRYOGENIC TREATMENT 23
 ix

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

2.5 TOOL WEAR / FAILURE MECHANISMS 26

2.5.1 Abrasive Wear 30
2.5.2 Adhesive Wear 32
2.5.3 Diffusion Wear 34
2.5.4 Plastic Deformation 35
2.5.5 Fatigue Failure of the Cermet Cutting Tools 37
2.5.6 Micro Spalling 38
2.5.7 Chipping, Cracking and Fracturing 38
2.6 TYPES OF CUTTING TOOL WEAR 40
2.7 MACHINING STUDIES USING
CRYOGENICALLY TREATED
CUTTING TOOLS 47
2.8 MACHINING STUDIES USING CERMET
CUTTING TOOLS 51
2.9 MODELLING OF CUTTING TOOL’S LIFE 56
2.10 INFERENCE FROM LITERATURE SURVAY 58

3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE 60
3.1 CUTTING TOOL INSERTS 60
3.2 CRYOGENIC TREATMENT 64
3.3 TI-Al-N COATING 65
3.4 WORK MATERIALS 67
3.4.1 AISI 4340 Steel 68
3.4.2 AISI D2 Steel 70
3.5 EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS 71
3.6 OBSERVATIONS 72
 x

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

4 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
THE CERMET CUTTING TOOLS 74
4.1 MACHINING PERFORMANCE OF
THE CERMET CUTTING TOOLS WHILE
MACHINING AISI 4340 STEEL (HRC 45) 75
4.1.1 Flank Wear 75
4.1.2 Wear Mechanisms of the Cermet Tools
While Machining AISI 4340 Steel 86
4.1.3 Surface Roughness 92
4.1.4 Cutting Force Observation 96
4.1.5 Chip Formation 101
4.2 MACHINING PERFORMANCE OF
THE CERMET CUTTING TOOLS WHILE
MACHINING AISI D2 STEEL (HRC 50) 110
4.2.1 Flank Wear 110
4.2.2 Wear Mechanisms of the Cermet Tools
While Machining AISI D2 Steel 115
4.2.3 Surface Roughness 120
4.2.4 Cutting Force Observation 123
4.2.5 Chip Formation 126

5 TOOL LIFE ANALYSIS 133

5. 1 REGRESSION ANALYSIS 133
5.2 ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) 135
5.3 TOOL LIFE ANALYSIS 139
 xi

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

6 CONCLUSION 147
6.1 MACHINING PERFORMANCE OF
THE CERMET CUTTING TOOLS WHILE
MACHINING AISI 4340 STEEL (HRC 45) 148
6.2 MACHINING PERFORMANCE OF
THE CERMET CUTTING TOOLS WHILE
MACHINING AISI D2 STEEL (HRC 50) 151
6.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 153

REFERENCES 155

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 172

CURRICULAM VITAE 174

 xii

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

3.1 Lathe specifications 61

3.2 Elemental composition details of the cermet cutting tool 62
3.3 Details of the cutting tool insert’s specifications 62
3.4 Specifications of cryogenic processor 64
3.5 Properties of BALINIT®FUTURA NANO coating 67
3.6 Work piece materials and their hardness after
heat treatment 68
3.7 Composition of AISI 4340 steel by weight
Percentage 69
3.8 Composition of AISI D2 steel by weight Percentage 70
3.9 Experimental Conditions for AISI 4340 steel 71
3.10 Experimental Conditions for AISI D2 steel 71
3.11 The specifications of the surface roughness measuring
instrument 73
5.1 Tool life model of the form T= CT v f and the
indicators of analysis of variance R2 value
and R2 adj value in the machining of AISI 4340 steel
(HRC 45) 135
 xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

1.1 A basic cryogenic treatment cycle 9

2.1 Abrasive wear mechanism in the
machining operation 31
2.2 Adhesive wear mechanism in the
machining operation 32
2.3 Diffusion wear mechanism in the machining operation 35
2.4 Illustration of the wear mechanisms on the
coated tool 40
2.5 Types of tool wear 43
3.1 Elemental composition details of the
cermet cutting tool using XRF 62
3.2 Image of the cutting insert used 63
3.3 Cermet insert specification details 63
3.4 Image of the cutting tool holder assembly 63
3.5 Cryogenic Process Schedule 65
3.6 Arc evaporation process 66
3.7 Optical micrograph showing the microstructure
of hardened AISI 4340 steel (HRC 45) 69
3.8 Electron Dispersive X- Ray Analysis
(EDAX) of AISI 4340 Steel 69
3.9 Electron Dispersive X- Ray Analysis
(EDAX) of AISI D2 Steel 70
 xiv

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

4.1 Typical flank wear propagation

characteristics against time 76
4.2 Zones of flank wear along the major
cutting edge of the turning tool 77
4.3 The progress of flank wear on the cermet
tool under different cutting conditions on
machining AISI 4340 steel 78
4.4 SEM micrograph of microstructure
(a) Plain cermet (UC&UT) (b) Cryogenically
treated (UC&T) 80
4.5 Electrical resistance Vs Temperature 81
4.6 SEM microstructure of the Ti-Al-N coated
cermet (UT&C) tool 83
4.7 Micrograph of the delamination of the
Ti-Al-N coating layer on the Ti-Al-N
coated and subsequently cryogenically
treated cermet (C&T)tool 85
4.8 SEM micrograph of the microstructure of the
(a) Ti-Al-N coated and subsequently cryogenically
treated cermet (C&T) and (b) the cryogenically
treated and subsequently Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C) 85
4.9 SEM micrograph of the plain cermet (UC&UT)
cutting tool a) At 170 m/min flank face region
b) At 140 m/min rake face region while
machining AISI 4340 steel 87
4.10 SEM micrograph of the cryogenically treated
cermet (UC&T) cutting tool at 140 m/min while
machining AISI 4340 steel 87
 xv

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

4.11 SEM micrograph of the Ti-Al-N coated cermet

(UT&C) cutting tool a) and c) the Flank face and
b) the rake face while machining AISI 4340 steel 89
4.12 SEM micrograph of the cryogenically treated and
subsequently Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C) cutting
tool at 140 m/min a) rake face b) flank face while
machining AISI 4340 steel 90
4.13 SEM micrograph of the Ti-Al-N coated and
subsequently cryogenically treated cermet
(C&T) cutting tool at 140 m/min while
machining AISI 4340 steel 91
4.14 Definition of the Rt, Rp and Rv amplitude parameters 93
4.15 Cutting speed Vs. Surface roughness while
machining AISI 4340 steel 94
4.16 Cutting force variation under different
cutting condition at different cutting speeds
on machining AISI 4340 steel 99
4.17 Chip formations of the plain cermet (UC&UT)
insert at a cutting speed of a) 170m/min b) 110m/min 102
4.18 Chip formation of the cryogenically treated cermet
(UC&T) insert at a cutting speed of a) 170m/min,
and b) 140 /min 104
4.19 Chip formation of the Ti-Al-N coated cermet (UT&C)
insert at a cutting speed of 140 m/min a) less coiled
b) primary and secondary serration c) chip surface 105
 xvi

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

4.20 Chip formation of the cryogenically treated and

subsequently Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C)
insert at a cutting speed of 140 m/min a) and
c) higly coiled b) with shiny surface 107
4.21 Chip formation of the Ti-Al-N coated and
subsequently cryogenically treated cermet
(C&T) insert at a cutting speed of 140 m/min a)
and d) less coiled chip b) flow-pattern in the
secondary shear zone c) chip surface 108
4.22 The progress of flank wear on the cermet tool
under different cutting conditions on machining
AISI D2 steel 112
4.23 SEM micrograph of the plain cermet (UC&UT)
cutting tool wear at a cutting speed of 118 /min 116
4.24 SEM micrograph of the cryogenically treated cermet
(UC&T) cutting tool wear at a cutting speed of 118 /min 116
4.25 SEM micrograph of the Ti-Al-N coated cermet
(UT&C) cutting tool a) showing layer thickness
b) at a cutting speed of 118 m/min and c) at 92 m/min 117
4.26 SEM micrograph of the Ti-Al-N coated and
subsequently cryogenically treated cermet
(C&T) cutting tool wear at a cutting speed of
a) 92 m/min b) 75 m/min 118
4.27 SEM micrograph of the cryogenically treated and
subsequently Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C)
cutting tool wear at a cutting speed of 118 m/min 119
4.28 Cutting speed Vs. Surface roughness while
machining AISI D2 steel 121
 xvii

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

4.29 Cutting force variation under different cutting

conditions at different cutting speed on machining
AISI D2 steel 124
4.30 Chip formation of the plain cermet (UC&UT)
insert at 118 m/min a) short, broken, irregular
shaped chips b) & c) strain marks on the chip
d) primary and secondary serration 127
4.31 Chip formation of the cryogenically treated
insert at 118 /min a) less coiled chip b) and
c) show sticking contact d) primary and
secondary serrations 128
4.32 Chip formation of the Ti-Al-N coated insert at
118 m/min a) less coiled chip b) and
c) less sticking contact d) primary and
secondary serrations 129
4.33 Chip formation of the cryogenically treated and
subsequently Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C)
insert at 118 m/min a) and b) continuous and
highly coiled chip c) shiny surface of the chip 131
4.34 Chip formation of the Ti-Al-N coated and
subsequently cryogenically treated cermet
(C&T) insert at 118m/min a) and b) saw
tooth chip c) sticking contact d) primary
and secondary serrations 132
5.1 ANN model for Flank wear 136
5.2 Network model created in MATLAB 138
 xviii

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

5.3 Effect of the number of iterations (Epochs)

on the sum of the squared error (Training -Blue) 139
5.4 Tool life prediction comparison of the plain
cermet (UC&UT) tool 140
5.5 Tool life prediction comparison of the
Ti-Al-N coated (UT&C) cermet tool 141
5.6 Tool life prediction comparison of the
cryogenically treated and subsequently
Ti-Al-N coated cermet (T&C) tool 142
5.7 Error comparison in the prediction of the tool
life of the plain cermet (UC&UT) tool using
neural network and regression analysis,
with the experimental result 143
5.8 Tool life Vs. cutting speed 144
5.9 Tool life Vs. Feed rate 145
 xix

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Symbols

Ra - Arithmetic mean value of surface roughness

av - Average squared error energy
FX - Axial cutting force
CT, , , - Constants
v - Cutting speed
a - Depth of cut
e j(n) - Error signal at the output neuron j
f - Feed rate
VB - Flank wear
(n) - Instantaneous error energy
yj - Output of neuron
FZ - Principal or main cutting force
FY - Radial cutting force
yi - Response of cutting performance results
K - Thermal conductivity
N - Total number of patterns
HV - Vickers hardness

Abbreviations
ANN - Artificial neural network
BP - Back-propagation
C&T - Ti-Al-N coated and subsequently cryogenically
treated cermet
HRC - Rock well hardness number
 xx

PVD - Physical vapour deposition

RA - Regression analysis
T&C - Cryogenically treated and subsequently Ti-Al-N
coated
Ti-Al-N - Titanium-aluminium-nitride
UC&T - Cryogenically treated and uncoated tool
UC&UT - Plain cermet without Ti-Al-N coating and without
Cryogenic treatment
UT&C - Ti-Al-N coated cermet without cryogenic treatment