Hard Turning Cutting Tool Materials used in Automotive and Bearing Manufacturing Applications – A review

Abstract

Hard turning for the machining of hardened steels by using super abrasive cutting tool materials is a comparatively newer manufacturing technology. Due to phenomenal advancements in super abrasive tool materials and machine tool technologies, hard turning becoming a potential alternate machining process to the traditional grinding. Hard turning offers many distinguished benefits over grinding process including fewer machining setups, shorter manufacturing time, lower manufacturing cost, achieving grinding comparable product quality. Fewer machining setups bring higher manufacturing flexibility, and lower the investment cost in machine tools in comparison to grinding. It is possible to carryout hard turning without coolant that eliminates the detrimental effect of coolants on the human health and environment. These benefits made hard turning a popular alternative for the automotive and bearing manufacturing industries for machining of cam shafts, gears, crank shafts, bearings, dies and mould. This paper reviews the researches that were performed on hard turning using cutting tool materials; cemented tungsten carbide (WC), poly-crystalline cubic-boron-nitride (PCBN) and ceramics. The research findings related to the effect of cutting parameters, tool geometry and surface coating on the tool life and tool wear phenomena of these hard turning tool materials in the hard turning of major steels used in automotive and bearing manufacturing industries have been discussed.