NANOSTRUCTURED CUTTING TOOLS COATINGS FOR MACHINING TITANIUM

Abstract

Abstract Innovative nanostructured tool coatings were developed in order to machine titanium-based alloys. Two dedicated coatings, AlSiTiN and TiCN, were applied by PVD on WC-Co tool inserts, developing nanostructured layers exhibiting superior performances, laboratory tests results being confirmed by machining experiments. Coatings surface qualification included tribological evaluation by ball-on-disc set-up, ball-erosion test, nanoindentation, scratch test, surface texture analysis and SEM observation with EDS analysis. The results have been compared to machining performances in wet and MQL turning, showing a marked pattern of agreement among different indexes. Keywords: CharacterizationCoatingsCutting toolsMachiningNanostructuresTitanium ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to thank the staff of the Institute for Science and Technology of Ceramics for their help in conducting the experimental work that lead to preparation of this article. The present research has been made possible by the funding of Region Piedmont, under the framework of the NANOMAT project. Notes Average and range computed over 5 sampling intervals. Average and standard deviation obtained from 10 replications.