Cutting Temperature and Tool Wear of Hard Turning Hardened Bearing Steel

A study was undertaken to investigate the performan ce of PCBN tool in the finish turning GCr15 bearing steel with different hardness between 30～64 HRC. The natural thermocouple was used to measure the cutting tem p erature, tool life and cutting temperature were investigated and compared. The m aterial can be heated by this instrument which using low voltage and high elec trical current, while PCBN can’t be heated by electrifying directly, so the ke ntanium layer coating over the PCBN is heated, so the PCBN is heated and its th ermoelectric property is got by this method. [TPP129,+60mm88mm,Y,PZ#] Fig.1 Effect of cutting depth and workpiec hardness on. the cutting temperatureThe objective was to determine the influence of the workpiece hardness on change s in cutting temperature and tool wear characterize. It can be found from Fig.1 that the cutting temperature show an increasing tendency with the improvement of workpiece hardness within the cutting speed scope when the workpiece hardness i s under HRC50. And on the other hand, it is found that the cutting temperature s how the downtrend with the improvement of workpiece hardness when the workpiece hardness is over HRC50. According to experimental results, the critical hard ness when turning hardened GCr15 bearing steel with PCBN tool is about HRC50. Th e wear causes of PCBN tool have been found out through taking photos on the micr o-shape of PCBN poly-laminate initial surface as well as face and flank of wea r tool and analysis on chemical elements. It is discovered that the PCBN tools a re not suitable for cutting the workpiece at nearly critical hardness, because n ear the critical hardness, PCBN wear at the highest speed. For researching the w ear rule of PCBN tool, the tool wear experiments have been carried on by using b earing steel GCr15 at hardness HRC40 and HRC60 with changing cutting speed. The indexes of tool life equations is gained under two kinds of conditions w hich are bigger than 0.6, so the effects of cutting speed on the PCBN tool are m uch less than that of carbide tool and ceramic tool.

White Layer of Hard Turned Surface by Sharp CBN Tool

White layers in hard turned surfaces were identified and measured as a function ot turning parameters based on the Taguchi method. It reveals that white layers generate on the machine surface in the absence of tool flank wear, and white layer depth varies with the different combinations of hard turning parameters. Turning speed has the most important impact on white layer depth, feed rate follows, and cutting depth at last. The white layer generation consequently suggests a strong couple relation to the heat generation and thermal process of hard turning operation. White layer disappears under an optimal combination of turning parameters by Taguchi method. It suggests that a superior surface integrity without white layer is feasible under some selected combinations of turning parameters by a sharp CBN cutting tool.