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Investigation of Al 2 O 3 /TiC ceramic cutting

tool materials with the addition of SiC-coated
h-BN: preparation, mechanical...

Article in International Journal of Materials Research (formerly Zeitschrift fuer Metallkunde) June 2016
DOI: 10.3139/146.111395

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Investigation of Al2O3/TiC ceramic cutting tool materials with the addition of SiC-coated h-BN:
preparation, mechanical properties, microstructure and wear resistance

Hui Chen a, b, c, Chonghai Xu a, b, c*, Guangchun Xiao a, b, Zhaoqiang Chen a, b, c, Guangyong Wuc, Mingdong Yi a, b
a
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, China
b
Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing and Measurement and Control Technology for Light Industry in

Universities of Shandong, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, China

c
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China

SiC-coated h-BN powders ((h-BN)/SiC) were used to substitute h-BN as solid lubricants to prepare

Al2O3/TiC/(h-BN)/SiC self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials using hot pressing. Microstructure and

mechanical properties of the material were studied. Overall improvements in Vickers hardness and fracture toughness

were obtained compared with that of Al2O3/TiC/h-BN. The coating of SiC blocks the direct contact between h-BN and

Al2O3/TiC and hence enables h-BN particles to bond more closely with Al2O3/TiC. The density of the material was

dramatically improved because of the decrement of voids around h-BN particles. Dry turning tests were carried out to

investigate the wear resistance of the materials when cutting 40Cr quenched and tempered steel. Enhancement in wear

resistance, which may result from the improvement in mechanical properties, was observed.

Keywords: Self-lubricating material; Ceramic cutting tool; Mechanical properties; Microstructure; Wear resistance

Introduction

Because of its excellent performance, such as high hot hardness, high thermal stability and good chemical inertness,

Al2O3-based ceramic cutting tools are hightly suited to dry cutting of high-hardness workpiece materials [13]. And

dry cutting has become more and more popular as an environment-friendly and cost-saving machining technology [4

7]. However, there are high cutting temperature, high friction coefficient and high wear rate in dry cutting without the

cooling and lubricating effect of cutting fluids [8, 9]. These severe conditions during dry cutting and the intrinsic high

friction coefficient between Al2O3-based ceramic tool and workpiece during the machining process [10, 11] will

inevitably result in severe tool wear and hence reduce the tools lifespan.

Previous studies have reported that the addition of solid lubricants can improve the tribological performance of

ceramic materials by forming a lubricating film in the working zone [1214]. However, the mechanical properties of

the ceramic composites with the addition of solid lubricants were dramatically decreased [1517]. Therefore,

considerable efforts had been made to improve the decreased mechanical properties of the self-lubricating ceramic

materials. Xu et al. [18, 19] designed and fabricated an Al2O3/(W,Ti)C/CaF2 multi-component graded self-lubricating

ceramic cutting tool material; the flexural strength, hardness, and fracture toughness of the graded self-lubricating

ceramic cutting tool material, which exhibited a better wear resistance as well, increased by about 25 %, 19 %, and
1
6 %, respectively, as compared with the corresponding homogeneous material. MoS2 solid lubricants were burnished

into the textures fabricated on the surface of the Al 2O3/TiC ceramic tool in the work of Xing et al. [20]; the friction

coefficient and tool wear of the textured self-lubricated tools are significantly reduced compared with the conventional

tool in dry cutting tests without decreasing the mechanical properties of the Al2O3/TiC ceramic tool.

Li et al. [21] developed a novel Al2O3-TiC-4vol.% Co (ATC) composite from cobalt-coated ceramic powders

where a cobalt layer was coated on the surfaces of Al2O3 and TiC powders by chemical electroless deposition; overall

improvement in fracture toughness (7.8 MPam1/2) and bending strength (782 MPa) was obtained in ATC composite

without obvious decrease in hardness. In the present study, a novel idea, that is introducing a powder coating

technique into the preparation of self-lubricating ceramic tool materials, is proposed to diminish the adverse effect on

mechanical properties caused by the addition of solid lubricants. The Al2O3/TiC/(h-BN)/SiC self-lubricating ceramic

tool materials were prepared using a hot pressing technique. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the

material were studied to determine the effects of (h-BN)/SiC, by comparing with the Al2O3/TiC/h-BN material. Dry

turning tests were designed so as to investigate the wear resistance of the Al2O3/TiC/(h-BN)/SiC inserts when

machining 40Cr quenched and tempered steel.

2. Experimental

Commercially available Al2O3 (average particle size ~1 m, Dandong Rijin Science and Technology Co., Ltd.,

China), TiC (average particle size ~0.5 m, Shanghai Chaowei Nanomaterials Science and Technology Co., Ltd.,

China) and h-BN (average particle size ~510 m, Shanghai Chaowei Nanomaterials Science and Technology Co.,

Ltd., China) were used. The method to fabricate (h-BN)/SiC composite powders comprises the steps: (a) preparing the

h-BN@SiO2 composite powders via hydrolysis and condensation reaction of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) in a

thermostatic water bath at 30 C. TEOS was added slowly, by drops, to the suspension of distilled water, aqueous

ammonia and h-BN powders and absolute ethanol. The reaction product was washed 3 times in absolute ethanol to

remove residue, and then dried in a vacuum dryer to obtain the (h-BN)/SiO2 composite powders. A detailed

description of the preparation of h-BN@SiO2 composite powders was given in our earlier work [22]; (b) carbothermal

reduction (in which phenolic resin was the carbon source) of the h-BN@SiO2 composite powders being performed at

1500 C for 2 h in a vacuum furnace to transform SiO2 to SiC; (c) removing the residual carbon at 700 C in air for 2 h

to get the (h-BN)/SiC composite powders.

The Al2O3/TiC/(h-BN)/SiC self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials were prepared using hot pressing in

vacuum at 1650 C for 20 min dwell time under a pressure of 30 MPa. The volume ratio of Al2O3 and TiC was 7:3 and

the volume fraction of h-BN (Vh-BN) was 5 % and 10 % respectively. MgO was used as a sintering aid. Compositions

of the ceramic cutting tool materials prepared in this study are listed in Table 1. The content of the h-BN in

(h-BN)/SiC composite powders (Ch-BN) was determined by the increased weight after coating, so it is easy to determine

2
the mass of (h-BN)/SiC composite powders added according to Vh-BN and Ch-BN. In this experiment, the mass ratio of

h-BN and SiC was measured to be about 1:0.4 in (h-BN)/SiC composite powders. For comparison, the

Al2O3/TiC/h-BN was prepared under the same process conditions.

Turning tests using 40Cr quenched and tempered steel (HRC~3844) as the workpiece were performed on a

CDE6140A lathe under dry cutting condition. In turning of 40Cr, the ATH5 and ATHS5 inserts were used. All inserts

were prepared according ISO SNGN120604 and with a chamfered cutting edge (20 0.2 mm). They were clamped

in a CSSNR2525M12MN7 H1BM I10 tool holder. The machining process was performed at the cutting speeds of

300 m min1, a constant feed rate of 0.102 mm rev1 and a constant depth of cut of 0.3 mm.

Phase identification and morphological observation of (h-BN)/SiC composite powders were performed using

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. Hot-pressed ceramic disks were cut,

ground and polished into 3 mm 4 mm 40 mm test specimens. The average surface roughness of the test specimens

was less than 0.1 m. The flexural strength was measured using the three-point-bending technique with a span of 20

mm at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm min1. The Vickers hardness was measured on the polished surface using a

Vickers hardness tester with a load of 196 N and a loading time of 15 s. The fracture toughness was evaluated by the

indentation method. Five specimens for each ceramic disk were tested to obtain the respective average values of

flexural strength, Vickers hardness and fracture toughness. The fracture surfaces of self-lubricating ceramic cutting

tool materials were examined under SEM. The average flank wear VBa of inserts was measured using an optical

microscope and the wear areas of ATHS5 inserts were examined under SEM.

3. Results

3.1. Characterization of (h-BN)/SiC composite powders

The coated and uncoated h-BN powders were examined under SEM, as shown in Fig. 1. Figure 1a shows the

morphology of the uncoated h-BN particles. The surface of uncoated h-BN particles is relatively smooth and clean,

this observation is further manifested in the high magnification image at the upper right of the figure. The morphology

of the SiC coated h-BN particles is shown in Fig. 1b. It can be seen that there exists a layer of SiC on the surface of

h-BN particles and the coating layer is quite complete and compact. The high magnification image upper right of the

Fig. 1b demonstrates that the coating layer is clustered and connected by SiC particles. Figure 2 shows the XRD

profile for (h-BN)/SiC composite powders. As can be seen in Fig. 2, no other phases were detected apart from h-BN

and SiC. The above-mentioned results indicate that a layer of SiC was coated on the surface of h-BN particles.

3
 Fig. 1. SEM micrographs of: (a) h-BN, and (b) (h-BN)/SiC powders

Fig. 2. XRD pattern of (h-BN)/SiC composite powders

3.2. Mechanical properties

The mechanical properties of the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials prepared in this study are listed in

Table 1. The Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials with the

addition of (h-BN)/SiC are much better than their counterparts with the addition of h-BN. With ATH5 and ATHS5, for

example, the Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of ATHS5 are measured to be 17.06 GPa and 7.02 MPa m1/2,

respectively, which are 12.8 % and 44.4 % higher, respectively, than those of the ATH5 material. The flexural strength

of (h-BN)/SiC is a little smaller than that of h-BN. The improvement in Vickers hardness and fracture toughness

indicates that the addition of (h-BN)/SiC, in lieu of h-BN, has a beneficial effect on the preparation of self-lubricating

ceramic cutting tool materials.

Table 1. Compositions and mechanical properties of the cutting tool materials.

Al2O3+TiC Solid Fracture Flexural

Material Hardness(Gpa)
(7: 3)(vol.%) lubricants toughness(MPam1/2) strength(Mpa)

ATH5 94.5 5 15.12 0.43 4.86 0.39 638 43

ATHS5 94.5 5 17.06 0.52 7.02 0.25 538 42

ATH10 89.5 10 12.11 0.49 4.32 0.58 605 43

ATHS10 89.5 10 13.57 0.56 5.69 0.42 581 38

4
*The solid lubricants used in ATH5 and ATH10 were h-BN; the solid lubricants used in ATHS5 and ATHS10 were (h-BN)/SiC.

The volume fraction of the sintering aid MgO was 0.5 %.

3.3. Microstructure characterization

The density of ATH10 self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool material is approximately 95.1 % of its theoretical

density (determined by Archimedes technique), much lower than that of the Al2O3/TiC materials prepared using hot

pressing in the work of other researchers, mostly above 98 % [23, 24]. One may thus conclude that the addition of

lamellar h-BN causes decreased density in the Al2O3/TiC material. Figure 3a shows a micrograph of the fracture face

of the ATH10, where the main cause of density decrease in the composite can be seen: voids around h-BN particles,

caused by loose bonding with the Al2O3/TiC matrix.

When adding (h-BN)/SiC, in lieu of h-BN, the coating of SiC blocks direct contact between h-BN and Al2O3/TiC,

the density of the ATHS10 self-lubricating ceramic material was measured to be 98.9 %, a clear improvement over

ATH10. The coating of SiC on the surface of h-BN particles enables h-BN particles to bond more closely with

Al2O3/TiC, and the voids around h-BN particles dramatically diminish, as shown in Fig. 3b. The improvement in

density and microstructure is the primary factor for the increment in Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the

material.

Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of the fracture surfaces of self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials: (a)
ATH10, and (b) ATHS10

3.4. Wear resistance

Figure 4 illustrates the average flank wear VBa of ATH5 and ATHS5 self-lubricating ceramic cutting tools with

regard to cutting length during dry machining of 40Cr quenched and tempered steel at the cutting speed of 300 m

min1. It is clear that the VBa of ATHS5 is smaller than that of ATH5 at the same cutting length. The improvement may

contribute to the increase of Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of ATHS5 self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool

material. And the improvement would inevitably increase the lifespan of the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tools.

When VBa reaches 0.3 mm, the inserts are said to fail according to ISO 3685:1993. As shown in Fig. 4, the cutting
5
length of ATH5 and ATHS5 ceramic cutting tool was measured to be about 3191.8 m and 3797.8 m, respectively,

when VBa reaches 0.3 mm. The cutting length, as well as lifespan, of ATHS5 ceramic cutting tool is about 19.0 %

higher than that of ATH5 under the same cutting conditions. This suggests that the wear resistance of the ATHS5

self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool is much better than that of ATH5.

Fig. 4. Average flank wear VBa versus cutting length of ATH5 and ATHS5 ceramic cutting tools

Micrographs of the wear area, at rake face and flank face after VBa reached 0.3 mm, are shown in Fig. 5 for a

better understanding of friction behavior and wear mechanisms of ATHS5 inserts. There are no micro-chippings found

on rake face and flank face. Mild crater wear can be seen at the rake face (Fig. 5a) and indistinct grooves can be

observed in the high magnification image (Fig. 5b). Shallow grooves can be seen on flank face (Fig. 5c and d).

Examination of the ATHS5 tool indicates that the main wear mechanism is abrasive wear in dry cutting 40Cr

quenched and tempered steel.

Fig. 5. Micrographs of wear area at (a) and (b) rake face and (c) and (d) flank face on worn surface of ATHS5 tool

However the grooves observed here are very shallow and adhered workpiece materials are not found on wear area

and the wear surface is relatively smooth. The observations above demonstrate the same friction behavior of

self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials described in the works of Deng et al. [12, 14, 25, 26]. In their works,

ceramic cutting tools with the addition of solid lubricants exhibited good self-lubricating property.

4. Discussion
6
 The improvement in wear resistance in self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials with the addition of

(h-BN)/SiC can be explained by Evans expression [27]:

1
W C (1)
K H 1/ 2
3/ 4
IC

Where W is the wear rate, C is a constant that depends on friction conditions, KIC is fracture toughness and H is

hardness. And as for abrasive wear, KIC3/4H1/2 can be used as the coefficient of wear resistance according to some

studies [28, 29]. The coefficient of wear resistance of ATHS5 is 17.8, 4 % higher than that of ATH5. And the

coefficient of wear resistance of ATHS10 is 13.6, 3 % higher than that of ATH10.

As shown in Table 1, the Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool

materials with the addition of (h-BN)/SiC are higher than their counterparts with the addition of h-BN. The increase in

Vickers hardness and fracture toughness will decrease the wear rate according to Eq. (1). This may be the main reason

for the improvement in wear resistance.

The as-prepared self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials, adding (h-BN)/SiC instead of h-BN as

solid-lubricant, with its enhanced Vickers hardness, fracture toughness and wear resistance, can be used in other fields

as well, such as sliding bearings and die material. The content of solid lubricants in self-lubricating ceramic material

can be modified to obtain varied mechanical properties and hence meet different demands in other fields, and it is

reasonable to expect improved performance.

Furthermore, SiC or other types of ceramic and metal materials can be used to coat other solid lubricants, such as

CaF2, MoS2 and graphite, etc. The coated solid lubricants can be used in the fields where solid lubricants are needed.

Based on the conclusions drawn from this study, an overall improvement can be expected, which will extend the

application fields of solid lubricants.

5. Conclusions

Al2O3/TiC/(h-BN)/SiC self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials were prepared. By adding (h-BN)/SiC

instead of h-BN as solid-lubricant to Al2O3/TiC, the resulting Vickers hardness, fracture toughness, microstructure and

wear resistance of the self-lubricating ceramic cutting tool materials were noticeably improved. The microstructure of

ATHS10 is superior to those of ATH10 as the coating of SiC blocks the direct contact between h-BN and Al2O3/TiC

and hence diminishes the voids around h-BN particles. The density of ATHS10 is 98.9 %, much better than 95.1 % of

ATH10. Dry turning tests were performed to investigate the wear resistance of the ATHS5 inserts when machining

40Cr quenched and tempered steel. The wear resistance of ATHS5 inserts is 19.0 % higher than that of ATH5. Thus,

substituting h-BN with SiC coated h-BN is an effective way to improve the decreased mechanical properties and

enhance the wear resistance of the self-lubricating ceramic materials.

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51575285), the Projects for
7
Science and Technology Development of Shandong Province (Grant no. 2014GGX103001) and Research and

Development Plan of Higher Education of Shandong Province (Grant no. J14LB02).

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