Methods able to enhance surface integrity of machined components have been one of the emerging areas in manufacturing engineering, and a technique that has been providing satisfying results in the last years is cryogenic machining. Besides promoting surface integrity improvement, it is considered an alternative to the use of conventional cutting fluids, which is in accordance with the latest global trends for sustainable means of production. In this sense, replacing grinding operation, which uses large volumes of conventional cutting fluids, by hard turning assisted by liquid nitrogen, for example, could be a good choice. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of cryogenic cooling on the surface integrity of quenched and tempered AISI D6 tool steel after turning operation. Dry and cryogenic turning trials with polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tools were performed and the results of surface integrity (surface roughness and topography, microhardness and residual stresses, as well as the modified microstructure of the deformed layer) were analyzed for comparison. The results showed that cryogenic cooling played an important role in modifying the workpiece surface integrity, providing low values of surface roughness (similar to those obtained in grinding operations), as well as higher values of surface microhardness and compressive residual stresses as compared to the dry condition.

Sustainability is a concept which is widely considered nowadays, including in factories where machining operations are present. The search for methods able to improve the performance of industrial processes without damaging the environment or the worker's health has been the main goal of several investigations. In this context, cryogenic machining is a technique that has been studied as an alternative to the use of mineral oil-based cutting fluids, mainly in the machining of titanium and nickel alloys. Investigations on the cryogenic machining of hard tool steels are still scarce in the literature. This article presents results from a series of turning trials under dry and cryogenic conditions using a hardened AISI D6 tool steel bar (57 HRC) as the workpiece. For the cryogenic machining tests, liquid nitrogen was delivered to the flank face, rake face and on both faces of PCBN inserts. The main cutting parameters (cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut) were kept constant during the trials. Tool wear and chip morphology were the output variables studied. The results show that the liquid nitrogen was able to reduce the cutting tool wear, providing a tool lifetime around 50% longer compared with the dry process. Moreover, the frequency of chip segmentation was diminished under cryogenic conditions in comparison with the dry process.