An overview of the machinability of alloy steel

Abstract

Machinability is an important aspect for the machining of any materials. In general, it is controlled by means of tool life, surface roughness, power consumption, chip morphology, cutting forces, cutting fluid and material removal rate. Furthermore, it is also affected the microstructure, grain size, hardness, yield, tensile strength and chemical composition of the work piece material and tool materials. Advanced materials such as alloy steel, structural ceramics, and hardened steel are difficult to machine using conventional tool materials. The machining parameters such as depth of cut, cutting velocity and feed rate play a very important role to achieve high quality of surface finish on the machined surface. High interface temperatures at the tool tip and work piece material resulted poor surface finish and increases cutting forces and tool wear. A high cutting speeds with high feed and depth of cut causes high heat generation which reduces the tool substrates bonding strength resulting in accelerated tool wear and reducing tool life. In this article influence of heat treatment to enhance machinability alloy steel reviewed in terms of tool life, surface roughness, cutting forces and chip morphology. This article will be very useful for the students, research scholar and industrialist working in the area of machining.