Wear development on cemented carbide inserts, coated with variable film thickness in the cutting wedge region

During the physical vapour deposition (PVD) of coatings, the orientation of cemented carbides insert surfaces to the plasma flux direction affects the film thickness distribution on the rake and flank, which, in turn, might influence the wear propagation in cutting processes. The cutting performance in milling of PVD TiAlN-coated cemented carbide inserts with various thicknesses on the rake and flank is introduced and, with the aid of FEM-supported calculations, explained. The investigation results revealed that a thicker film on the tool rake in comparison to the one on the flank, and, moreover, a thick and uniformly deposited film in the cutting wedge region significantly enhances the cutting performance in milling.