Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

HM Alojali, College of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Benghazi, Libya

KY Benyounis, School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, DCU, Ireland
r 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction 1
2 Turning Process 1
3 Cutting Conditions in Turning 1
4 The Cutting Tool 2
5 Tool Life and Tool Wear 3
5.1 Tool Life 3
5.2 Taylor’s Tool Life Model 4
5.3 The Extended Taylor’s Model 4
5.4 Tool Wear 4
6 Tool Wear Mechanisms 6
6.1 Abrasive Wear 6
6.2 Adhesive Wear 7
6.3 Diffusive Wear 8
6.4 Corrosive Wear 8
6.5 Fatigue Wear 9
7 Types of Wear 10
7.1 FW 10
7.2 Crater Wear 10
7.3 Notch Wear 11
7.4 Nose Wear 11
8 Effect of Process Parameters on Tool Wear 11
8.1 Tool Material Properties 12
8.2 Coating of Tool 12
8.3 Work Material 13
8.4 Speed, Feed, and Depth of Cut 13
8.5 Tool Geometry 13
8.6 Cutting Fluid 13
8.7 Vibration Behavior of the Machine Tool-Work System 14
8.8 Interruption in the Cut 14
8.9 Built-Up Edge 14
References 14

1 Introduction

Turning is one of the most important manufacturing processes, it can be used to a wide variety of work materials to produce
diversity of shapes with high quality and precision. During this process, cutting tools undergo high localized stresses at the tip of
the tool, high temperatures, especially along the rake face, sliding of the chip along the rake face, and sliding of the tool along the
newly cut workpiece surface. These conditions induce tool wear, which is a major consideration in all machining operations. Tool
wear adversely affects tool life, the quality of the machined surface and its dimensional accuracy, and, consequently, the economics
of cutting operations.
The nature of tool wear is very complicated and sensitive to changes in the cutting operation and the cutting conditions. While
it cannot be avoided, it can often be reduced if its mode and what controls it is understood.

2 Turning Process

Turning is a machining process in which a single-point tool removes material from the surface of a rotating workpiece. The tool is
fed linearly in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation to create a cylindrical geometry, as illustrated in Figure 1.1 The process
carried out on a machine tool called a lathe which provides power to turn the part at a given rotational speed, feed, and
depth of cut.1

Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.04031-5 1

2 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 1 Turning operation.1

3 Cutting Conditions in Turning

Cutting conditions in turning operation consist of speed, feed, depth of cut, and cutting fluid (whether a cutting fluid is to be used
and, if so, type of cutting fluid). The relationship between the rotational speed and the desired cutting speed at the surface of the
workpiece is given by:

V
N¼ ½1
pDo

where N ¼ rotational speed, rev/min; V¼ cutting speed, m/min; and Do ¼ original diameter of the part, m.
The turning operation reduces the diameter of the work from its original diameter Do to a final diameter Df, as determined by
the depth of cut d:

Df ¼ Do  2d ½2

Depth of cut is often predetermined by workpiece geometry and operation sequence.

The feed in turning is generally expressed in mm/rev, and can be converted to a linear travel rate in mm/min by the formula:

Fr ¼ NF ½3

where Fr ¼ feed rate, mm/min; and F ¼ feed, mm/rev.

Many jobs require a series of roughing operations followed by a final finishing operation. In the roughing operations, depth is
made as large as possible within the limitations of available horsepower, machine tool and setup rigidity, strength of the cutting
tool, and so on. In the finishing cut, depth is set to achieve the final dimensions for the part.1

4 The Cutting Tool

In turning operation generally single-point cutting tool is used. The material of cutting tool differs for machining different kind of
work materials. The cutting speed and feed rate are also taken into account while selecting a particular cutting tool. The description
of cutting tool is given in Figure 2.
Cutting tool inserts (Figure 3) are widely used in machining instead of solid tools because they are economical and adaptable to
many different types of machining operations. They are available in a variety of shapes and sizes for difference cutting situations.
In general, the largest point angle should be selected for strength and economy. Round inserts possess large point angles (and
large nose radii) just because of their shape. Inserts with large point angles are inherently stronger and less likely to chip or break
during cutting, but they require more power, and there is a greater likelihood of vibration. The economic advantage of round
inserts is that they can be indexed multiple times for more cuts per insert. Square inserts present four cutting edges, triangular
shapes have three edges, whereas rhombus shapes have only two. Rhombus shapes are used (especially with acute point angles)
because of their versatility and accessibility when a variety of operations are to be performed.1
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 3

Figure 2 Cutting tool signature.16

Figure 3 Common insert shapes: (a) round, (b) square, (c) rhombs with two 801 point angles, (d) hexagon with three 801 point angles, (e)
triangle (equilateral), (f) rhombs with two 551 point angles, (g) rhombs with two 351 point angles. Also shown a typical of the geometry-strength,
power requirements, and tendency for vibration increase as we move to the left; whereas versatility and accessibility tend to be better with the
geometries at the right.1

When selecting a tool material for a particular application, it is necessary for a tool material to posses certain properties, some
of which are mutually opposed. For instance, in most cases hardness and impact resistance of competing tools tend to be inversely
related. The essential properties are2:

(1) high hardness at elevated temperatures,

(2) high compressive strength,
(3) adequate impact resistance,
(4) insusceptibility to large variation in local temperature,
(5) chemical inertness at working temperatures,
(6) low interface friction, and
(7) good abrasion resistance.

5 Tool Life and Tool Wear

5.1 Tool Life

Tool life is the time a tool can be reliably used for cutting before it must be discarded or repaired. In other words, tool life is the
length of time in minutes between two neighboring changes of the cutting tools. Tool life is important in machining since
considerable time is lost whenever a tool is replaced and reset. Tool life depends on a number of factors that include machine tool,
tool material and geometry, work material, coolant and lubricant conditions, and other cutting conditions.
The accurate prediction of the tool life during machining is important for the design of cutting tools and machining processes.
The extensive research in this area has contributed greatly to the understanding of tool wear mechanisms.3
4 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

5.2 Taylor’s Tool Life Model

In the last century, F.W. Taylor proposed an equation to describe tool life and this equation has been widely used until now. The
equation developed by Taylor is outlined as:

Vc  Tn ¼ C ½4

Where:
Vc - cutting velocity in m/min;
T - tool life in minutes, time taken to have a certain flank wear (FW) VBB;
n - a tool-material-dependant constant;
C - a constant based on the tool and the workpiece.

Note that C is the cutting velocity at T¼ 1 min. To use the C value, one needs to know the cutting conditions which include the
workpiece material, the cutting tool material, and the recommended cutting speed (Vc). Generally, the Vc value can be found in a
machinery handbook or from charts supplied by the cutting tool manufacturer. The n constant is a value based on experimentation
with various cutting tool materials and cutting parameters. The n value can also be found in the charts supplied by the cutting tool
manufacturer.3

5.3 The Extended Taylor’s Model

Taylor Equation contains only one cutting parameter, the cutting velocity Vc. Although is the most important cutting parameter in
the tool life, the tool feed and the depth of cut are also significant factors, therefore an extended equation of Taylor’s model has
been developed as follows:

V c T n F a db ¼ C ½5

where d is the depth of cut (mm), and f is the feed (mm/rev). The exponents a and b are determined experimentally for each
cutting parameter.
The Taylor tool life model is generally used to calculate the length of time a cutting tool will last before a given amount of FW
will occur. Alternatively, if given the cutting time, the model will also help to calculate the proper feeds and speeds and depth of
cuts. Thus, the Taylor tool life model is useful to find the most economical tool life.
In general, a reasonable agreement of the Taylor’s tool life model has been shown over a wide range of cutting processes
normally used in practice. On the other hand, it has also been shown that, for some given tool/work material combinations, the
above equation does not agree well with experimental results. This is attributed to the changes in the dominant tool wear
mechanism with changes in tool/work material and machining conditions.3

5.4 Tool Wear

Wear is a gradual process, the rate of tool wear depends on many factors such as: tool and workpiece materials, tool geometry,
process parameters, cutting fluids, and the characteristics of the machine tool. Tool wear and the changes in tool geometry during
cutting manifest themselves in different ways, generally classified as FW, crater wear, nose wear, notching, plastic deformation of
the tool-tip, chipping, and gross fracture, as illustrated in Figure 4.4
There are three possible modes by which a cutting tool can fail in machining:

• Fracture failure: This mode of failure occurs when the tool point subjected to excessive cutting force, causing it to fail suddenly
by brittle fracture. As an example for this mode, Edge chipping or frittering (Figure 5), which occurs when cutting with brittle
tool materials, especially ceramics and polycrystalline compacts, or when cutting work materials that include hard or abrasive
particles, such as metal matrix composites or aluminum–silicon alloys. Vibration due to excessive cutting forces or low system
stiffness can also lead to chipping. Chipping can often be controlled by changing the tool edge preparation or by increasing the
fracture strength of the tool material. Edge chipping can be avoided by using the proper clearance angles and feed in relation to
edge preparation.5

• Temperature failure: This failure occurs when the cutting temperature is too high for the tool material, causing the material at the
tool point to soften, which leads to plastic deformation and loss of the sharp edge.1
Plastic deformation takes a form such as that shown in Figure 6. In itself, plastic deformation is not a wear process since no
material is removed from the tool. Plastic deformation of the cutting edge occurs when the tool is unable to support the cutting
pressure over the area of contact between the tool and chip. Cutting edge deformation and bulging are caused by excessive heat
and pressure. It usually occurs at high feed rates, which produce high cutting edge loads, or at higher cutting speeds, since the
hardness of the tool decreases with increasing cutting speed and temperature. Thermal deformation and nose wear could be
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 5

Figure 4 (a) Features of tool wear in a turning operation. The VB indicates average FW. (b)–(e) Examples of wear in cutting tools: (b) FW,
(c) crater wear, (d) thermal cracking, and (e) FW and built-up edge.4

Figure 5 Edge chipping on a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride insert used to machine hard steel.5

interacting failure mechanisms. Plastic deformation of carbide tools is minimized by reducing the cobalt content or use CVD
coated tools.5
• Gradual wear: Gradual wearing of the cutting edge causes loss of tool shape, reduction in cutting efficiency, an acceleration of
wearing as the tool becomes heavily worn, and finally tool failure in a manner similar to a temperature failure.1

Fracture and temperature failures are undesirable because they result in premature loss of the cutting tool. Of the three possible
tool failures, gradual wear is preferred because it leads to the longest possible use of the tool, with the associated economic
advantage of that longer use.1
Product quality must also be considered when attempting to control the mode of tool failure. When the tool point fails
suddenly during a cut, it often causes damage to the work-surface. This damage can be avoided by selecting cutting conditions that
favor gradual wearing of the tool rather than fracture or temperature failure, and by changing the tool before the final catastrophic
loss of the cutting edge occurs.1
6 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 6 Plastic deformation of a carbide tool edge used to machine a nickel alloy.5

Progressive tool wear mainly includes the wear on the tool rake face (crater wear) and that on the clearance face (FW). Of these
two, FW is often used to define the end of effective tool life. As the FW land width (VBB ) has grown to a certain level, it will
influence the dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the component as well as the stability of the machining process. The tool
failure due to FW can be estimated by the maximum value of VBB and predicted by a function of time. FW is also commonly used
for tool wear monitoring.3
An established industrial standard on tool wear is ISO 3685:1993. Figure 7 shows the typical progressive tool wear geometries
according to this standard. In the figure, the wear of the major cutting edges of the tool can be divided into four regions:

– Region C is the curved part of the cutting edge at the tool corner;
– Region B is the remaining straight part of the cutting edge between region C;
– Region A is the quarter of the worn cutting edge length farthest away from the tool corner;
– Region N extends beyond the area of mutual contact between the tool workpiece for approximately 1–2 mm along the major
cutting edge. The wear in this region is of the notch type.

The width of the FW land VBB should be measured within region B in the cutting edge plane Ps1 perpendicular to the major
cutting edge. The crater depth (KT) should be measured as the maximum distance between the crater bottom and the original face
in region B. Tool wear is most commonly measured using microscopes with video imaging systems with a resolution less than
0.01 mm or a stylus instrument similar to a profile meter with precise diamond styluses.3

6 Tool Wear Mechanisms

The mechanisms that cause wear at the tool-chip and tool-work interfaces in machining can be summarized as follows:

6.1 Abrasive Wear

This is a mechanical wearing action caused by a hard, rough surface or a surface containing hard, protruding particles sliding across
another surface. As a result, microchips or slivers are produced as wear particles, thereby leaving grooves or scratches on the softer
surface. This abrasive action occurs in both FW and crater wear; it is a significant cause of FW.1
It was originally thought that abrasive wear by grits or hard asperities closely resembled cutting by a series of machine tools or a
file. However, microscopic examination has revealed that the cutting process is only approximated by the sharpest of grits and
many other more indirect mechanisms are involved. The particles or grits may remove material by microcutting, microfracture,
pull-out of individual grains,6 or accelerated fatigue by repeated deformations as illustrated in Figure 8.7
The first mechanism illustrated in Figure 8(a), cutting, represents the classic model where a sharp grit or hard asperity cuts the
softer surface. The material which is cut is removed as wear debris. When the abraded material is brittle, for example, ceramic,
fracture of the worn surface may occur (Figure 8(b). In this instance wear debris is the result of crack convergence. When a ductile
material is abraded by a blunt grit then cutting is unlikely and the worn surface is repeatedly deformed (Figure 8(c). In this case
wear debris is the result of metal fatigue. The last mechanism illustrated (Figure 8(d) represents grain detachment or grain pull-out.
This mechanism applies mainly to ceramics where the boundary between grains is relatively weak. In this mechanism the entire
grain is lost as wear debris.7
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 7

Figure 7 Progressive tool wear geometry according to ISO 3685:1993.3

Figure 8 Mechanisms of abrasive wear: microcutting, fracture, fatigue, and grain pull-out.7

There are two basic types of abrasive wear, two-body wear, and three-body wear as illustrated in Figure 9. In two-body wear,
abrasive action takes place between two sliding surfaces or between a hard, abrasive particle in contact with a solid body. This type
is the basis of erosive wear. In three-body wear, an abrasive particle is present between two sliding solid bodies, such as a wear
particle carried by a lubricant.4
It was found that three-body abrasive wear is ten times slower than two-body wear since it has to compete with other
mechanisms such as adhesive wear. Properties such as hardness of the ‘backing wheel’, which forces the grits onto a particular
surface, were found to be important for three-body but not for two-body abrasive wear. Two-body abrasive wear corresponds
closely to the ‘cutting tool’ model of material removal whereas three-body abrasive wear involves slower mechanisms of material
removal, though very little is known about the mechanisms involved. It appears that the worn material is not removed by a series
of scratches as is the case with two-body abrasive wear. Instead, the worn surface displays a random topography suggesting gradual
removal of surface layers by the successive contact of grits.7
The abrasive-wear resistance of pure metals and ceramics has been found to be directly proportional to their hardness. Thus,
abrasive wear can be reduced by increasing the hardness of materials (usually by heat treating) or by reducing the normal load.4

6.2 Adhesive Wear

If a tangential force is applied to the model shown in Figure 10, shearing can take place either (a) at the original interface or (b)
along a path below or above the interface, in either case causing adhesive wear, also called sliding wear. Because of factors such as
8 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 9 Basic types of abrasive wear.17

Figure 10 Schematic illustration of (a) two contacting asperities, (b) adhesion between two asperities, and (c) the formation of a wear particle.4

strain hardening at the asperity contact, diffusion, and mutual solid solubility, the adhesive bonds often are stronger than the base
metals. Thus, during sliding, fracture usually follows a path in the weaker or softer component; that is how a wear fragment is
generated. Although this fragment is typically attached to the harder component (the upper surface in Figure 10(c)), it eventually
becomes detached during further rubbing at the interface and develops into a loose wear particle.4
In more severe cases, such as ones with high loads and strongly bonded asperities, adhesive wear is described as scuffing,
smearing, tearing, galling, or seizure (severe wear). Oxide layers on surfaces have a large influence on adhesive wear, sometimes
acting as a protective film, resulting in mild wear-which consists of small wear particles. Adhesive wear can be reduced by one or
more of the following methods:

a. Selecting materials that do not form strong adhesive bonds.

b. Using a harder material as one member of the pair.
c. Using materials that oxidize more easily.
d. Applying hard coatings that serve methods a to c. Coating one surface with a soft material (such as tin, silver, lead, or cadmium)
also is effective in reducing wear.
e. Using an appropriate lubricant.4

6.3 Diffusive Wear

When there is true contact between the atoms of opposing surfaces and a high interface temperature, significant diffusion of
chemical elements from one body to another can occur. The most widespread example of such a contact is the rake face of a cutting
tool close to the cutting edge in high-speed machining. In this situation, there is almost the perfect contact between the tool and
the metal chip due to the extreme contact stresses and very high temperatures, reaching 700 1C or more. The metal chip represents
a continually refreshed supply of relatively pure metal whilst the tool is a high concentration mixture of some radically different
elements, for example, tungsten and carbon. Therefore, there is a tendency for some of the elements in the tool to diffuse into the
chip where solubility conditions are more favorable. When the surface material of the tool loses a vital alloying element it becomes
soft and is very soon worn away by the chip. The mechanism of diffusive wear is illustrated schematically in Figure 11 with a
tungsten carbide tool as an example.8
In the early days of the introduction of carbide tools, tungsten carbide was widely used. Problems arose in machining of steel
since the tungsten was rapidly lost to the chip. Slightly changing the tool composition by adding titanium carbide or tantalum
carbide was found to remedy the problem. A similar mechanism is believed to be responsible for the excessive wear of silicon-
based (for example, Si3N4, sialon) ceramic cutting tools in the machining of steel. This time it is silicon which diffuses through
grain boundaries to the workpiece. The diffusive wear rate of cutting tools depends on the tool material solubility limits in the
workpiece. The mechanism of diffusive wear has also been modeled mathematically.8
Another example of diffusive wear is when using diamond as a cutting tool with steel, since diamond is a form of carbon,
interactions with ferrous materials are to be expected. The chemical affinity of carbon for low carbon steels can facilitate a chemical
attrition that leads to formation of specific compounds such as Fe3C, which tends to cause premature pull-out of diamond grits.9

6.4 Corrosive Wear

Corrosive wear also known as oxidation or chemical wear, this type of wear is caused by chemical and electrochemical reactions
between the surface and the environment. The fine corrosive products on the surface constitute the wear particles in corrosive wear.
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 9

Figure 11 Schematic illustration of mechanism of diffusive wear.8

When the corrosive layer is destroyed or removed through sliding or abrasion, another layer begins to form, and the process of
removal and corrosive layer formation is repeated. Among corrosive media are water, seawater, oxygen, acids, chemicals, and
atmospheric hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.4
Oxidation, which is one of the chemical reactions in the cutting zone, occurs at temperatures around 800 1C when constituents
of the tool material (especially the Co binder) react with atmospheric oxygen. It most often occurs near the free surface of the part,
where the hot portion of the tool in and around the tool/chip contact region is exposed to the atmosphere. The tool surface,
directly weakened either by oxidation or by reaction with oxidized work material, becomes porous and brittle and is then easily
carried away by the chip. Oxidation results in severe depth-of-cut notch wear or in the production of hard oxide particles which
increase abrasive wear. A typical example of oxidation wear is that occurring on the rake face of cemented carbide tools (may be
possible for alumina ceramic and cermet tools) in high-speed milling/turning of steel.10
In corrosive wear, tribochemical reaction produces a reaction layer on the surface. At the same time, such layer is removed by
friction. Therefore, relative growth rate and removal rate determine the wear rate of the reaction layers and, as a result, of the bulk
material.
Oxidative wear is the most representative mode of corrosive wear of metals. Based on the oxidative reaction between steel and
normal atmospheric air and assuming the film removal model where an oxide film of steel is supposed to detach from the surface
at a certain critical thickness, corrosive wear coefficient Kn has been expressed by Quinn18 as:
 
dA Q
Kc ¼ EXP  ½6
ξ2 r2 v Rg T

where A is the Arrhenius constant, Q the activation energy, Rg the gas constant, T the absolute temperature, r the density of oxide, n
the sliding velocity, and L the distance along which a wearing contact is made. It is generally assumed that activation energy does
not vary substantially between static and sliding conditions. Making this assumption, the experimental wear results for oxidation
of steels give a value of the Arrhenius constant in eqn [1] which is 103–1010 times larger than one in static oxidation.18 This means
that oxidation is much more rapid under sliding contact than in the static condition. This seems to be supported by another
experimental result where the thickness of oxidative wear layers of steel and titanium are more than 500 times larger than those
grown under static conditions.19 Therefore, estimation of real activation energy at the sliding surface becomes important. Fur-
thermore, the real temperature at the real contact interface is important in the determination of the wear rate, because the reaction
rate required to form a chemical product is strongly affected by the temperature induced by friction. On the other hand, if the
reaction rate is not high enough to grow an oxide film to the critical thickness within a cycle of sliding, oxidative wear of the steel
may not occur. Even in this case, the reaction rate also determines the wear rate.11
Corrosive wear can be reduced by selecting materials that will resist environmental attack, applying a coating, controlling the
environment, and reducing operating temperatures in order to lower the rate of chemical reaction.4

6.5 Fatigue Wear

Fatigue wear is often a thermo–mechanical combination. Temperature fluctuations and the loading and unloading of cutting
forces can lead to cutting edges cracking and breaking. Intermittent cutting action leads to continual generation of heat and cooling
as well as shocks of cutting edge engagement. Some tool materials are more sensitive than others to the fatigue mechanism. Pure
mechanical fatigue can occur also from the cutting forces being too high for the mechanical strength of the cutting edge. This can
10 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 12 Wear mechanism for machining as a function of cutting temperature.10

Figure 13 FW on a cemented carbide.1

be from hard or strong workpiece materials, very high feed rates or when the tool material is not hard enough. However, plastic
deformation dominates in such cases.12
In the context of cutting tool wear three groups of causes can be qualitatively identified: mechanical, thermal, and adhesive
(Figure 12). Mechanical types of wear, which include abrasion, chipping, early gross fracture and mechanical fatigue, are basically
independent of temperature. Thermal causes with plastic deformation, thermal diffusion and oxygen corrosion as their typical forms,
increase drastically at high temperatures and can accelerate the tool failure by easier material removal by abrasion or attrition.10

7 Types of Wear

7.1 FW
FW (Figure 13) occurs mainly on the nose part, front relief face, and side relief face. It is due to the abrasive action of hard
microconstituents including debris from built-up edge as the work material rubs the work surface. This wear primarily depends
upon the relative hardness of the work and tool materials at operating temperature, the amount and distribution of hard
constituents in the work material and the degree of strain hardening in the chip.13
The general relationship of tool wear versus cutting time is shown in Figure 14. Although the relationship shown is for FW a
similar relationship occurs for crater wear. Three regions can usually be identified in the typical wear growth curve. The first is the
break-in period, in which the sharp cutting edge wears rapidly at the beginning of its use. This first region occurs within
the first few minutes of cutting. The break-in period is followed by wear that occurs at a fairly uniform rate. This is called the
steady-state wear region. This region is pictured as a linear function of time in Figure 14, although there are deviations from the
straight line in actual machining. Finally, wear reaches a level at which the wear rate begins to accelerate. This marks the beginning
of the failure region, in which cutting temperatures are higher, and the general efficiency of the machining process is reduced.
If allowed to continue, the tool finally fails by temperature failure.1

7.2 Crater Wear

Crater wear (Figure 15) occurs on the rake face of the tool, It readily can be seen that crater wear changes the tool-chip interface
contact geometry.
The most significant factors influencing crater wear are :

• the temperature at the tool-chip interface and

• the chemical affinity between the tool and workpiece materials.
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 11

Figure 14 Tool wear as a function of cutting time. FW is used here as the measure of tool wear.1

Figure 15 Crater wear on a cemented carbide.1

Additionally, the factors influencing FW may affect crater wear. Crater wear generally is attributed to a diffusion mechanism
that is, the movement of atoms across the tool-chip interface. Since diffusion rate increases with increasing temperature, crater
wear increases as temperature increases. Applying protective coatings to tools is an effective means of slowing the diffusion process
and thus reducing crater wear.4

7.3 Notch Wear

Notch wear, shown in Figure 4(a), is often attributed to the oxidation of the tool material from the sides of major and minor
cutting edges, or to abrasion by the hard, saw-tooth outer edge of the chip (for example, in hard machining). Notching is a serious
technological problem with workpiece materials that tend to have high work-hardening and generate high tool-tip temperatures,
such as austenitic stainless steels and nickel-based superalloys. Notch wear can obviously lead to tool fracture and can be
minimized by applying tools with chamfered edges, rounded inserts and avoiding small depths of cut Figure 16.10

7.4 Nose Wear

Nose wear, shown in Figure 6, termed also tool-tip blunting, results from insufficient deformation resistance of a tool material in a
given machining operation. It resembles a combined form of flank and notch wear, and results primarily from abrasion and
corrosion or oxidation Figure 17.5

8 Effect of Process Parameters on Tool Wear

The different wear mechanisms are influenced by the hardness and strength of the different constituents of the work material,
hot-hardness, toughness and resistance to abrasive wear of the tool material, tool temperature, and affinity between work
12 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 16 Notch wear.10

Figure 17 Nose radius wear on a coated carbide insert used to machine a nickel alloy.5

and tool materials. The effects of the various machining parameters on tool wear in terms of the above factors are discussed
below.14

8.1 Tool Material Properties

On most occasions, several tool wear mechanisms such as abrasion, adhesion, oxidation, diffusion, etc., can operate simulta-
neously in a machining process. The dominant wear mechanism will depend on the cutting conditions and tool/workpiece
materials. It need hardly be said that tool wear characteristics are dependent on the materials of both tool and workpiece. Different
combinations of tool/workpiece materials give rise to different machining performance and tool wear characteristics. For example,
during machining steels with WC tools, the most likely dominant wear mechanisms and the corresponding cutting speeds/
temperatures are: abrasion at low speeds/temperatures, followed by adhesion at moderate speeds/temperatures and then diffusion
at high speeds/temperatures. The wear of CBN tools is mostly due to temperature controlled processes such as chemical wear and
diffusion.3
The properties of the tool material, which reduce tool wear, include the following:

• High hot-hardness to resist deformation adhesion and abrasion at the relatively high cutting temperatures occurring on the rake
and flank faces of the tool, especially at high cutting speeds.
• Toughness to resist sudden loads interrupted cutting and large steady cutting loads when heavy cuts are taken.
• Wear resistance.
• Lack of chemical affinity with the work material.
• High thermal conductivity and specific heat (combined with low coefficient of thermal expansion) to minimize thermal stress
and thermal shock.14

8.2 Coating of Tool

It is now a well-known fact that coating enhances the tool life considerably. Coated high-speed steel (HSS) and uncoated and
coated carbides are currently the most extensively used tool materials. Coated tools cost only about 15 to 20% more than uncoated
tools, so a modest improvement in performance can justify the added cost.15
The two most effective coating processes for improving the life and performance of tools are the chemical vapor deposition
(CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) of titanium nitride(TiN) and titanium carbide (TiC). The selection of the cutting
materials for cutting tools depends on what property needed. If the property needed is:

– Oxidation and corrosion resistance; high-temperature stability, select Al2O3, TiN, TiC
– Crater resistance, select Al2O3, TiN, TiC
 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process 13

– Hardness and edge retention, select TiC, TiN, Al2O3

– Abrasion resistance and FW, select Al2O3, TiN, TiC
– Low coefficient of friction and high lubricity, select TiN, Al2O3, TiC
– Fine grain size, select TiN, TiC, Al2O3

The CVD process, used to deposit a protective coating onto carbide inserts, has been benefiting the metal removal industry for
many years and is now being applied with equal success to steel. The PVD processes have quickly become the preferred TiN coating
processes for HSS and carbide-tipped cutting tools.15

8.3 Work Material

The properties of the work material that tend to increase the life of the tool include the following:

• Low strength and hardness to reduce cutting forces, cutting temperatures, and abrasive wear.
• Absence of abrasive constituents such as surface scale, sand, and slag inclusions.
• Presence of desirable additives like lead to act as boundary lubricants and sulfur to reduce cutting forces and temperature by
acting as a stress raiser.
• Lack of work-hardening tendency to reduce cutting forces and temperature and also abrasive wear.
• Occurrence of favorable microstructure, for example, in high carbon steels, tool life varies with the nature of pearlitic structure.
Spheriodized pearlite is favorable to tool life whereas lamellar pearlite has a harmful effect.

Similarly, in cast irons, a structure that contains larger amounts of free graphite and ferrite leads to greater tool life than one
containing free iron carbide.14

8.4 Speed, Feed, and Depth of Cut

Higher cutting speed increases tool temperature and softens the tool material. It thereby aids abrasive, adhesive, and diffusive
wear. The cumulative effect is an exponential decrease in tool life as given by Taylor's tool life equation.
The larger the feed, the greater is the cutting force per unit area of chip-tool contact on the rake face and work-tool contact on
the flank face. Cutting temperatures and therefore the different types of wear are increased. An increase in cutting force as a result of
larger feed also increases the likelihood of chipping of the cutting edge through mechanical shock. It has, however, been observed
that the effect of changes in feed on tool life is relatively smaller than that of proportionate changes in cutting speed.
If the depth of cut is increased, the area of the chip-tool contact increases roughly in equal proportion to the change in depth of
cut. Consequently the rise in tool temperature is relatively small. That is not the case when feed is changed. In that case, the
proportionate change in temperature is larger. This is on account of the fact that the area of chip-tool contact changes by a smaller
proportion than the change in feed rate. Thus, an increase in the depth of cut shortens tool life to some extent by accelerating the
abrasive adhesive and diffusional types of tool wear.14

8.5 Tool Geometry

Rake angles, cutting edge angles, relief angles, and nose radius affect tool life by varying degree. The effective rake angle increases
when the side rake angle or the back rake angle or both are increased. The cutting forces, tool temperatures, and tool wear decrease
with increase in the rake angle. Consequently, tool life improves when rake angles are increased. However, larger rake angles
make the cutting edge sharper and reduce its mechanical strength making the tool liable to chipping. Therefore there is an
optimum rake angle associated with every tool-work pair.
It has been observed that if the relief angle is increased, the volume of wear required to reach a particular width of FW land is
also increased. Therefore, larger tool life values are obtained. On the other hand, with large relief angles the mechanical strength of
the cutting edge is low, and the tool is more liable to chipping or fracture. The tool life is maximum at the optimum relief angle as
illustrated in Figure 18.14

8.6 Cutting Fluid

The cutting fluid cools the chip and the workpiece and may even reduce to some extent the frictional stress at the tool-work and
tool-chip interfaces. Therefore, the cutting temperatures arc decreased. If the tool material has low value of hot-hardness (for
example, in the case of carbon steel and HSS tools), there is appreciable increase in tool life as a result of copious supply of the
coolant to the cutting zone. However in the case of carbides and oxides which have high values of hot-hardness, cutting fluid has
negligible effect on tool life.14
14 Advances in Tool Wear in Turning Process

Figure 18 Effect of relief angle on tool life.14

8.7 Vibration Behavior of the Machine Tool-Work System

The machine, tool and work constitute a vibratory system having several significant modes of vibration with corresponding modal
stiffness and damping. The larger the stiffness of machine, tool and workpiece, and larger the inherent or inbuilt damping, then
greater is the dynamic rigidity of the system and less prone it is to large amplitudes of vibration or chatter. On the other hand, if
the machine is not properly designed, if the workpiece is long and thin or if the tool overhang is excessive, chatter may occur
during cutting. It is known that chatter may cause fatigue failure or catastrophic failure of the tool.14

8.8 Interruption in the Cut

Sometimes the job is such that cutting edge has to frequently enter and exit from the cut as, for example, in turning a workpiece
having longitudinal slots. Each entrance and exit means an impact on the cutting edge that can shorten the tool life, especially if
the tool material is hard or brittle.14

8.9 Built-Up Edge

Under favorable cutting conditions, a built-up edge (BUE) is sometimes formed in case of certain tool-work pairs. The built-up
edge sticks to the actual cutting edge of the tool and being in a work-hardened condition itself starts acting as a cutting edge. The
built-up edge increases the effective rake angle of the tool and reduces the cutting force, tool temperature, and tool wear. However
the built-up edge has a tendency to grow in size, become unstable and finally breakup. The fragments of the built-up edge get
rolled away over the rake face or the flank face. While doing so, these fragments severely abrade the respective surfaces. The net
effect of the built-up edge is an increase in FW and decrease in crater wear.14

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