International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Inuence of the number of inserts for tool life evaluation

in face milling of steels
.R. Machado a, M.B. Da Silva a, E.O. Ezugwu b,
, J. Bonney b
A. Richetti a, A
a

Machining Research and Education Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, MG, Brazil
b
Machining Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology, South Bank University, 103 Borough Road,
London SE1 0AA, UK
Received 28 January 2003; accepted 5 February 2004

Abstract
Tool life tests are often employed to verify the behaviour of one or more inserts in a cutter in order to optimise machining productivity and minimise cost. In milling process, such tests are expensive and require many of tools and a lot of work material to
achieve any of the stipulated tool rejection criterion in any of the inserts. In practice, tool life tests are usually carried out using
only one or few edges in a face milling cutter in order to minimise cost. The aim of this study is to investigate the eect of the
number of tools used in face milling operation and how they relate to the establishment of tool life under specied cutting
conditions. Flank wear curves were evaluated for AISI 1045 and 8640 steels using 1, 2, 3 and 6 inserts in a face milling cutter.
Test results show that reduction in the number of inserts in the milling cutter led to a reduction in the amount of material
removed and also tend to increase tool life when machining at the same feed per tooth. Results obtained using reduced number of
inserts in a milling cutter should only be used for comparison between two or more conditions and should not be used to establish
tool life.
# 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Machinability tests; Face milling; Tool life; Cutting temperature; Volume of material removed

1. Introduction
The best machining conditions depend on the cutting
tool, workpiece, machine tool, cutting uids, and cutting parameters, thus machinability trials are therefore
essential. This selection process is justied by the problem encountered in choosing from a large number of
commercially available tools. Recommendations from
manufacturers should only be used as a guide since
better conditions may be found for other tools and cutting parameters. Machinability trials on each application are of major importance due to the economic
benets to be gained by manufacturing industries that
carry out large amount of machining operations [1].
The use of indexable inserts in face milling operation
is now very common. Commercially available milling
cutters are variable and comprise 4, 6, 8, 10, 64 or

Corresponding author. Fax: +44-20-7815-7681.

E-mail address: ezugwueo@sbu.ac.uk (E.O. Ezugwu).

0890-6955/$ - see front matter # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2004.02.007

more inserts per cutter. The cost of machining trials to

determine acceptable tool life is signicant especially
when a large number of inserts per cutter are used. The
increased cost is not only due to the number of inserts
used but mainly because of the large amount of
material required to reach any of the tool rejection criterion for one of the inserts. Cost of the tool life trials
becomes more signicant when expensive materials are
evaluated, e.g. titanium and nickel alloys, stainless
steels, composites, etc. [2].
The use of an alternative technique for tool life trials
in milling operation can therefore be justied by the
high cost of conventional trials. In practice, most of
the tool evaluation trials are carried out with reduced
number of inserts than the capacity of the milling cutter while maintaining the same feed per tooth for the
full capacity cutter. This is done to simulate a real
machining condition, where the cutter has all the
required number of inserts but, at the same time,
reducing the cost to an acceptable level [2,3]. There are,

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A. Richetti et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

and a P30 substrate were used. The nal geometry of

the inserts during machining are:

Nomenclature
AISI
HB
VB
Vf
vr
ks
fz
HP
Vc
ao
co

co 2

American Iron and Steel Institute

hardness Brinell
ank wear (mm)
feed rate (mm/min)
entry angle (degree)
back rake angle (degree)
feed per tooth (mm)
horse power
cutting speed (m/min)
clearance angle (degree)
rake angle (degree)

however, some restrictions related to the acceptance of

these test results since the dynamics of the milling process would completely change with variation in the
number of inserts in the cutter. The wear mechanisms,
impact stress, mechanical fatigue and thermal crack
formation are not expected to exhibit similar behaviour
with a real milling operation [4,5].
This paper investigates the inuence of the number
of inserts for tool life evaluation in face milling of
steels with uncoated and coated tools.
2. Experimental procedure
AISI 1045 steel with average hardness of 229 HB
(square section bar of 76:2  76:2  500 mm) and AISI
8640 steel with average hardness of 299 HB (square
section bar of 110  110  490 mm) were machined on
a CNC milling machine tool with 22 HP. The chemical
compositions of AISI 1045 and AISI 8640 steels are
given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. A constant feed
per tooth (fz) was used for all the milling trials irrespective of the number of inserts in the cutter. This is
ensured by adjusting the feed velocity relative to the
number of tools, i.e., for six insert cutter, the feed velocity was twice more than for three insert cutter, three
times greater than for two insert cutter and six times
greater than for one insert cutter. A constant depth of
cut of 1.0 mm was used in all the machining trials.
The AISI 1045 steel was machined with a 100 mm
diameter cutter with capacity for six inserts. A schematic illustration of the cutter is shown in Fig. 1, with
v
an insert exiting angle of approximately 40 . Cemented
carbide inserts with ISO designation SPUN 12 03 08

ao 9

ks 7

vr 75

These tests were carried out with 1, 2 (equally spaced

v
v
at 180 ), 3 (equally spaced at 120 ) and six inserts in
the cutter at cutting speeds of 300, 325 and 350 m/min
and feed per tooth of 0.075, 0.100 and 0.125 mm.
Combination of these parameters gave 36 tests in total.
The AISI 8640 steel was machined with an 80 mm
diameter cutter also with a capacity for six inserts. A
schematic illustration of the cutter position during
v
machining is given in Fig. 2. A 90 exiting angle was
v
obtained, out of the critical range (45+20 ) where the
foot forming phenomenon cause tool damage [1].
Coated carbide inserts of ISO designation SEMN 12 04
AZ class with P45 and M35 substrates were used. The
nal geometry of the inserts during machining are:
v

co 9 ao 20 ks 17 vr 45
For AISI 8640 steel, tests were carried out with 1, 2
v
v
(equally spaced at 180 ), 3 (equally spaced at 120 ) and
six inserts in the cutter at a cutting speed of 200 m/min
and a feed per tooth of 0.150 mm. This combination
involved only four tests which were used to verify
results obtained when machining AISI 1045 steel.
The position of the inserts was veried using a dial
indicator. The acceptable radial deviation was 0.01
mm. Flank wear (VB) was recorded at various intervals
during machining until the 0.7 mm tool rejection criterion was reached in any of the inserts tested. Flank
wear was recorded at 40 times magnication with a
microscope that allows the measurement without
removing the inserts from the milling cutter. This
microscope consist of a moving support to the cutter
and assembled on an XY coordinates table controlled
by a dial indicator.
3. Results and discussions
Flank wear curves were evaluated for AISI 1045
steel, in a rst stage by varying the number of inserts in
the cutter, cutting speed and feed per tooth. Figs. 38
show the maximum ank wear curves at various cutting conditions. The dierent ank wear rate/progression for 1, 2, 3 and 6 inserts in the cutter is clearly
demonstrated in Figs. 38. This behaviour is probably
a result of a combination of two thermal eects,
assuming that cutting temperature increases with the
number of inserts in the milling cutter. The rst is the

Table 1
Chemical composition of AISI 1045 steel (wt%)
C

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Mo

Al

Cu

Fe

0.48

0.25

0.67

0.019

0.038

0.12

0.09

0.03

0.032

0.11

Bal.

A. Richetti et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

697

Table 2
Chemical composition of AISI 8640 (wt%)
C

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Mo

Al

Cu

Fe

0.43

0.26

0.81

0.014

0.014

0.47

0.47

0.19

0.019

0.09

Bal.

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of cutter position when machining

AISI 1045 steel.
Fig. 4. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 300 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.125 mm.

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of the cutter position when machining

AISI 8640 steel.

reduction in the strength of the workpiece associated

with temperature, which facilitate the machining operation and the second is the thermally related wear
mechanism(s) that tend to lower tool life. In both
cases, the shortest tool life was always obtained with
six inserts in the cutter. This situation enable machining of the material with higher frequency and the generation of higher temperatures in the workpiece due to
the heat generated by each tool to facilitate the cutting

Fig. 3. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 300 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.100 mm.

Fig. 5. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 325 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.075 mm.

process. The generation of higher tool temperatures

signicantly reduces tool life as a result of thermally
activated wear mechanisms. Analysis of the curves in

Fig. 6. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 325 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.100 mm.

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A. Richetti et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

Fig. 7. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 350 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.1 mm.

Fig. 9. Length of cut for 1 (a) and 6 (b) inserts in the cutter in one
rotation.

Fig. 8. Flank wear curves for AISI 1045 steel when machining at a
speed of 350 m/min and a feed per tooth of 0.125 mm.

Figs. 38 indicates that machining with six inserts in

the cutter gave higher tool wear that can be attributed
to higher cutting temperatures generated during
machining relative to machining with cutters with
fewer inserts.
The longest tool life obtained when machining with
the one insert cutter may be associated with the shortest active cycle of the cutter relative to the idle cycle
(smaller cutting frequency), resulting in a lower cutting
temperature in comparison with other cutters tested.

This will also lead to very minimum (if any) reduction

in the strength of the work material. Furthermore, the
adjusted feed velocity is lower, contributing to maintaining the workpiece temperature at lower levels. The
lower cutting temperature will minimise thermally activated wear mechanisms during machining. In this case,
the wear reduction eect associated with reduction in
cutting temperature was greater than retention of the
strength of the work material, thus promoting longer
tool life.
A comparison of the results using the same feed per
tooth and dierent cutting speeds highlight the eect of
cutting temperature (e.g. Figs. 3 and 6 as well as Figs. 4
and 8). Tool life decreased considerably at higher cutting speed when machining with a cutter containing
only one insert. This indicates that the thermally activated wear mechanisms commence after exceeding a
critical cutting speed. For milling cutters containing 2,
3 and 6 inserts, reduction of tool life at higher cutting
speeds is more gradual, suggesting that the thermally
activated wear mechanisms were always present

Table 3
Tool life and volume of material removed when face milling AISI 1045 steel
Machining conditions
Vc (m/min) fz (mm)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

300 (0.075)
300 (0.100)
300 (0.125)
325 (0.075)
325 (0.100)
325 (0.125)
350 (0.075)
350 (0.100)
350 (0.125)

Tool life (min) for VB 0:7 mm (volume of removed material (cm3) for VB 0:7 mm)
Cutter with 1 insert

Cutter with 2 inserts

Cutter with 3 inserts

Cutter with 6 inserts

12.7 (69.3)
12.7 (92.4)
8.7 (79.2)
8 (47.3)
6.5 (51.3)
5.8 (57.2)
5 (31.9)
3.5 (29.7)
4 (42.5)

9 (98.2)
6.3 (91.7)
5.6 (102)
5 (59.2)
4 (63.2)
3.5 (69)
4 (51)
3 (51)
1.8 (38.2)

9.3 (155.2)
4.5 (98.1)
4.3 (117.3)
5.8 (102.9)
5 (118.2)
4 (118.2)
4.3 (82.2)
2.8 (71.4)
2 (63.6)

4.3 (141)
2.2 (96)
1.8 (98.4)
3.2 (113.4)
3 (142.2)
2.5 (147.6)
2.8 (107.4)
2 (102)
1.5 (95.4)

A. Richetti et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

because of the greater cutting frequency, independent

of cutting speed. Milling operations, however, present
more complexity than the analysis of tool wear and
heating of the workpiece during machining. This is evident from the fracture observed in many of the worn
tool edges, which adversely aect tool performance.
Thermal cracks were also observed on the worn tools
due perhaps to thermal fatigue mechanism. This will
consequently lead to tool embrittlement, which promote premature fracture of the insert edges during
machining. The use of higher feed velocities when
machining with more inserts in the cutter to maintain
the same feed per tooth suggests a proportional
increase in the length of cut as shown schematically in
Fig. 9. This increase in the length of cut could contribute to lowering tool life.
Table 3 shows results of tool life and volume of
material removed when face milling AISI 1045 steel
under various machining conditions. Tool life tends to
decrease with increasing cutting speed and feed per
tooth. It has been reported that increase in cutting
speed and feed per tooth accelerate thermally activated
wear mechanisms in addition to generating more
intense mechanical impact [6]. These promote an
increase in the thermal gradient which tend to lower
tool life as thermal cracks generation rate increases [7].
The volume of removed material during machining is
also aected by the number of inserts in the milling
cutter. Table 3 also shows that in spite of the lower
tool life obtained when machining with more inserts in
the cutter, the volume of material removed increased
with more inserts in the cutter. This suggests that the
eect of increasing the feed velocity, to maintain the
same feed per tooth, was greater than its eect in lowering tool life. In fact, more materials were removed at
the same cutting time when machining at higher speeds
despite the eect of the more adverse thermally activated wear mechanisms. Furthermore, prolonged
machining with more inserts in the cutter tend to
ensure that the work material remains hot, thereby
decreasing its shear strength and consequently facilitating the cutting process. It should, however, be noted
that some tests did not present coherent results due
probably to the random fracturing of the cutting edge.
Further analysis of the material removed per tooth
shows that the amount of material removed per tool
decreases with increasing number of inserts in the cutter, although the total volume of material removed
tend to increase.
In order to validate these results, tests were carried
out with AISI 8640 steel using 1, 2, 3 and 6 inserts in
an 80 mm diameter cutter. In these tests, the wear progression for each insert was evaluated and the volume
of material removed until tool rejection for one of the
tools was determined. The ank wear curves when
machining AISI 8640 steel (Fig. 10ad) presented a

699

Fig. 10. Flank wear recorded when machining AISI 8640 steel with
(a)
1
insert
(Vc 200 m=min,
fz 0:150 mm
and
Vf 119 mm=min); (b) 2 inserts (Vc 200 m=min, fz 0:150 mm
and Vf 239 mm=min); (c) 3 inserts (Vc 200 m=min, fz
and
(d)
6
inserts
0:150 mm
and
Vf 358 mm=min)
(Vc 200 m=min, fz 0:150 mm and Vf 716 mm=min).

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A. Richetti et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 695700

uniform and steady growth region from zero up to 0.2

mm in most of the tests. In this ank wear region, cutting forces and temperatures caused by the friction
between the clearance face and the workpiece surface
did not present signicant inuence on the wear process, hence the reduced wear at the initial stage of milling. This behaviour was not observed when machining
AISI 1045 steel. This could be due to the use of coated
cemented carbide which gave improved wear resistance.
Wear values in excess of 0.2 mm increased the cutting forces and temperatures as well as the wear rates.
Fracture of the cutting edge accelerated the wear rate
in some of the tests. This failure mode is associated
with thermal cracks (fatigue cracks), promoted by the
cyclic variation of the tool temperature during machining. These cracks embrittle the cutting tool, resulting in
fracture under thermal and mechanical impacts
encountered in an intermittent machining operation.
Results obtained when machining AISI 8640 steel
showed similar trend to those obtained when machining AISI 1045 steel, i.e., tool life decreased and the volume of removed material increased when machining
with more inserts in the cutter (Table 4). Increasing the
feed rate to maintain the same feed per tooth increases
the cutting temperatures, thus accelerating wear. Discrepancies observed in the volume of removed material
in Table 4 were probably caused by the fracture of the
cutting edge.
All the machining data obtained indicate that the use
of fewer inserts in a cutter for machinability trials
should be used only for comparison of two or more
machining conditions. The economic viability of these
alternative tests must be analysed prior to commencement. Determination of tool life can only be eectively
carried out under the same real conditions because the
change in the number of inserts in the cutter can com-

Table 4
Volume of removed material and tool lives recorded when machining
AISI 8640 steel with various number of inserts in the cutter at Vc
200 m=min and fz 0:15 mm
Cutter with Cutter with Cutter with Cutter with
1 insert
2 inserts
3 inserts
6 inserts
Tool life for
9.42
VB 0:7 mm
60.074
Volume of
removed material
(cm3)
Vf (mm/min)
119

4.18
48.4

239

4.72

1.87

89.174

72.124

358

716

pletely alter the wear conditions and the anticipated

results from such exercise.

4. Conclusions
1. Results from the milling test using lesser number of
inserts than the cutter capacity should be used as
comparison index of the machinability between two
or more machining conditions.
2. Machinability experiments with inserts less than the
full capacity must not be used to determine tool life
as they do not reproduce the real machining conditions.
3. The total volume of material removed tends to
increase with the number of inserts in the cutter for
the same machining time.
4. Flank wear rate tends to increase when milling with
more inserts in the cutter due to higher cutting temperatures generated.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the technical support
from Mr. Reginaldo Ferreira de Souza and to CAPES,
CNPq and FAPEMIG for nancial support.

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