Cutting Performance of CBN Tools in Cutting of Sintered Steel

Abstract

The tool life in turning of the sintered steels becomes shorter than that in turning of the melted steels such as carbon steels. In order to clarify the effect of the sintered elements in CBN tool on the cutting performance, the sintered steel was turned with the various CBN tools which have the different contents of the cBN grain and the different binding phase, at the cutting speed 5.0 m/s, the feed rate 0.05 mm/rev and the depth of cut 0.1 mm. The tool wear and the surface roughness were experimentally investigated.
The main results obtained are as follows:
(1) The wear progress of the CBN tool which has the TiN based binder is slowest.
(2) In the CBN tools, the tool wear decreases with the increase of the cBN grain contents.
(3) The surface roughness of the CBN tool which has the TiN based binder is smaller than that of the CBN tools which have the TiC, or Al₂O₃ based binder. Therefore, the CBN tool which has the TiN based binder is the most effective tool material for the turning of the sintered steel.