Improvement of cutting performance of SiAlON ceramic by texture engineering in turning superalloys

Abstract

High speed and high efficiency machining of superalloy is a big technological challenge faced by the cutting tool industry in the world. In the present study, cutting performance of nickel-based superalloy was significantly improved by engineering the texture of SiAlON ceramic cutting tools with grains oriented parallel to the cutting edge. Orientation of the rod-like grains played a significant role in the wear resistance of SiAlON ceramic. With the rod-like grains parallel to the cutting edge of the tool, the resistance to notched wear and peeling was much higher, resulting in slow and stable flank and rake wear. The tool life of the textured tool with rod-like grains parallel to the cutting edge was 17% higher than that of the untextured tool. On the other hand, for the tools with the grains perpendicular to the rake or flank face, the friction generated during machining would be parallel to the grain direction, which led to the rapid peeling on the tool surface along the moving direction of the workpiece or the chip flow direction, resulting in rapid tool wear. The preferred orientation of mechanical properties designed by engineering grain orientation provides the possibility to optimize the cutting performance of SiAlON ceramic tool in turning superalloys.