Influence of material structure on deep hole machinability of super high strength steels: application to crankshaft manufacturing

Abstract

The gain of productivity in machining is generally sought through tools and/or cutting conditions optimization however an increase in productivity is achievable too through the workmaterial optimization. The metallurgical structure as well as the chemical composition of steels widely influence their ability to be machined. Mittal Steel Europe R & D develops new steel grades such as the Super High Strength Steels whose tensile stresses may reach 1000 or 1200 MPa. A cooperative research program between Mittal Steel Europe R&D and ENSAM tends to propose a methodology able to sort the steel grades in terms of ability to be manufactured (in forging and machining). This study focuses on such an industrial application : the heavy vehicles crankshaft manufacturing. The operation investigated consists in deep hole drilling and is concerned with the lubrication holes. This paper proposes some relevant criteria to compare the different steel grades and/or structures. Some experimental results are proposed.