Alternative Low Cost Cutting Tools for Hard Turning of Aisi D2

CBN is known as the dominant tool material for hard turning applications due to its high hardness, high wear resistance, and high thermal stability. However, the prohibitive cost of CBN inserts is some of the concerns in furthering the implementation for hard turning. The objective of this paper is to study some important characteristics such as the tool life, wear mechanism and surface roughness produced in the turning of a hardened cold work tool steel AISI D2 (60 HRC) using mixed (Al2O3 + TiCN) ceramic coated with TiN cutting tools as a low cost alternative cutting tool to address these concerns. In the tool life testing, it shows that mixed (Al2O3 + TiCN) ceramic coated with TiN performed better than CBN cutting tools. The wear mechanism of mixed ceramic cutting tools coated with TiN is subjected to not only abrasion, adhesion, chipping and notching, especially when machining at high cutting speed. Generally, hard turning with mixed ceramic tools with TiN provide the lowest surface finish for all cutting conditions.