Wear comparison of unstructured and structured tungsten carbide

Abstract

Surface structuring is a recognised technique to improve frictional properties of interfering surfaces. A sufficient number of studies have confirmed the successful application of structuring on mechanical seals, golf balls, engine cylinder, sliding bearings, hard disk drives, etc. Lately, structuring is applied to metal cutting tools. This study identifies the information regarding the manufacturing process with the vision to improve the machining performance. For this, a comparative analysis of friction and dry sliding wear behaviour of structured and unstructured tungsten cemented carbide was assessed. Tests were performed at different sliding speed at the constant normal load of 40 N. Results show that structuring carbide can improve friction and wear performance by 23%. Also, structuring can decreased the coefficient of friction by 7%. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis was conducted to quantify elements concentration. Microhardness tests were performed and results revealed the improvement in hardness of structured carbide. The case study confirms that structuring cutting tools can effectively elevate machining performance and improve environmental sustainability. This research is noteworthy for tool manufactures, engineering component/ machine designers and biomedical engineers, as it highlights the comprehensive understanding of structuring carbide.

Effect of rake face surface of cutting tool on tool crater wear

“…Micro hardness test is an effective technique to judge the consequence of strain hardening [29]. The samples were washed in ultrasonic tank for 3 min in plain water and the hardness test was performed randomly on the rake surface of the tool near the cutting edge and the contact area.…”

“…After cutting tests the percentage decrease in micro hardness of plain insert was 18.3%, 11.4% for coated insert and 12.2% for structured insert. In case of plain rake face insert, the drop in hardness could be a result of yielding of a binder material and carbide grains at the surface due to the chip flow [29]. The compressive and frictional stresses at the tool chip contact might has altered the surface matrix of the insert.…”

Tribological aspects of tool wear during turning Ti-15Mo alloy with cemented tungsten carbide cutting inserts prepared with different surface finishes

“…After sliding and turning tests carried out in AISI 4140 steel, Fatima et al 27 observed a reduction of friction coefficient and wear in the rake face when cutting inserts texturized with grooves perpendicular to chip flow were applied, which was attributed to the reduction of the real contact area between tool and chip. Previously, Ma et al 28 found similar results after simulating orthogonal turning of AISI 1045 steel by finite element method.…”