Durability of cutting inserts coated with ion-plated AlTiN thin films

Abstract

It is known that during the cutting processes, due to the high contact pressures, to the high temperatures, to the relative velocities and shocks between the contact surfaces tool-part can lead to a wear more or less pronounced of the metal carbide cutting inserts. Are known numerous coating processes regarding the increasing the durability of the used cutting inserts, namely by deposition of different materials, having protection role for the cutting inserts locating and clearance surfaces, methods as: vapor chemical deposition at low pressure, pulverization, cathodic arc ion plating, vacuum thermal evaporation and condensation from the vapor phase. Researches carried out by authors in this paper, have followed the deposition of aluminum and titanium materials (AlTiN) in thin layers, on surface of some metal carbide cutting inserts profiled. The depositions of AlTiN materials are new coatings which consists in deposition of the compound solid of AlTiN in the form of vapor in thin layers on different tools or/and the cutting inserts. In the purpose of increasing the cutting inserts durability, they used deposition method by cathodic arc ion plating in vacuum. The authors chose this method due to its advantages, which can be enumerate: the relatively low costs of the equipment, the simplicity in operation, the possibility to be used also to realize researches and industrial installations. As a result of using this method was found a considerable increase of the durability for the metal carbide cutting inserts coated with AlTiN materials, used in the cutting process compared to cutting inserts which were not coated.