Local Residual Stress Distribution at the Tooth Root Surface of a Broached Steel Component

Abstract

Broaching is an important technique for creating tooth structures in mechanical components. In the present work, the effects of the broaching process on the material state in the near surface region at the root of the tooth was analyzed. The studies were carried out on broached plates made from case hardening steel SAE 5120. The cutting speed and machining condition (cooling lubricant, dry machining) were varied. During broaching with a TiAlN coated tool the cutting forces were monitored. Subsequently, the local residual stresses at the root of the tooth were determined using X-ray diffraction. Further, surface roughness and micro hardness measurements as well as microstructure analysis complement the results. The results indicate that cutting forces have a high influence on the development of the residual stress state at the machined surface whereas no significant effect on changes in surface hardness and microstructure could be observed. Dry cutting with relatively high cutting speeds (≥ 30m/min) result in low cutting forces and hence in high tensile residual stresses in broaching direction.