Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

4th International Conference on Materials Processing and Characterization

Metallurgy behind the Cryogenic Treatment of Cutting Tools: An

Overview
Swamini A. Chopraa* and V. G. Sargadeb
a

P.G. Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, Raigad - 402103,
Maharashtra, India
b
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, Raigad - 402103,
Maharashtra, India

Abstract
Cryogenic treatment of cutting tool materials is widely being accepted nowadays as a complementary treatment used for
enhancing the physical and mechanical properties of the material. Reports have been made regarding improvements in the wear
resistance, toughness, fracture resistance, increased hardness, better thermal conductivity, lower chemical degradation and
favorable residual stress condition for various grades of tool steels and tungsten carbide inserts. It is a one-time treatment that
influences the entire bulk of the component, unlike surface treatments. This paper makes an effort to explain the thermodynamic
phenomenon of superconductivity at the cryogenic temperatures in order to figure out why and how the changes may be
occurring at atomic level in the material. Also, it summarizes the most probable metallurgical mechanisms from the literature that
have been said to be responsible for the changes in the tool properties after cryogenic treatment.

2014Elsevier
The Authors.
Ltd. All rights reserved.
2015
Ltd. AllElsevier
rights reserved.
Selection
andpeer-review
peer-review
under
responsibility
the conference
committee
members
ofInternational
the 4th International
Selection and
under
responsibility
of theofconference
committee
members
of the 4th
conferenceconference
on Materialson
Materials
and Characterization.
Processing Processing
and Characterization.
Keywords:Superconductivity; Cryogenic treatment; HSS; Tungsten carbide; CBN; Mettallurgical mechanisms; Mechanical properties.

1. Introduction
During machining; cutting tools may be subjected to various mechanical, thermal, chemical as well as
tribological conditions which are unavoidable. This causes the wear of the tool, constantly demanding more time for
resharpening, or in some cases, replacements. This causes interruption of the running production, which not only
increases down-time but also costs in terms of money. This puts manufacturer in economic constraints.
______________________
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-9226153204
E-mail address:chopra.swamini@gmail.com

2214-7853 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the conference committee members of the 4th International conference on Materials Processing
and Characterization.
doi:10.1016/j.matpr.2015.07.119

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

1815

Thus, reducing tool wear is of extreme importance to the tooling industries. The challenges then in such cases
essentially focuses on achieving a supreme quality in terms of high production rate and improved surface finish of
the workpiece, while maintaining less wear of cutting tools, economy of the process and reduced environmental
impact. On the other hand, the machining industry is now demanding a much higher performance from the cutting
tools in conditions such as high speed machining, dry cutting or MQL. With such requirements, the tooling
industries are now becoming interested in research related to enhancing wear life of the tool is an economic way.
The increasing demand for better performances has led to the development of new cutting tool materials since
19th century. HSS is the renowned material for cutting tools introduced in the year 1915. Later, with the advent of
powder metallurgy techniques, carbide inserts revolutionized the metal cutting sector with their excellent material
removal rates. Further introduction of ultra hard materials like UCON, CBN and PCD speeded up the machining
process with their cutting speeds upto 6 to 8 times that of carbide.
With several modifications, a wide variety of HSS and tool steels have been capturing a huge market. This is
attributed to addition of alloying elements. This may enhance the characteristics of the material but is an expensive
way.A further enhancement of wear life of the cutting tools has been contributed by the development of hard coating
layers upon the substrate material; this has significantly improved the tool market. But once the coating wears off,
the tool again performs at substrate level with even lower wear resistance than before.
This has left the researchers with the field of heat treating to find effective way to enhance tool life. Heat
treatment is an ancient technique used for controlling the material properties. Regarded as a tailor made process
for having different mechanical properties, heat treatment has gained wide attention [1]. It has undergone huge
modifications and developments with time and has taken the form as we know it today. But a major portion of the
heat treatment processes developed and standardized till today deal with the temperature ranges above the room
temperature. Heat treatment is a completely over saturated field for research of tool life enhancement, which
leaves us with an alternative Cold Treatment.
It is well known that some definite changes do occur in the material at very low temperatures. This forms the
basic phenomenon for exploring the potential of Cold Treatment in the tooling industries. Cold treatment is any
process where the tool material will be subjected to temperature below ambient. In olden days, dry ice was used for
such purposes where the minimum attainable temperature was limited to -79C. This temperature would further
improve the physical properties of the material. But with technological advancement in the field of refrigeration and
coolants, a much lower temperature was made attainable. Earlier it was -196C i.e. boiling point of nitrogen but now
even -269C i.e. boiling point of helium is being considered. This area of cold treatment which allows cooling of the
material to a temperature very near to absolute zero is distinguished as CRYOGENICS.
The word Cryogenics comes from two Greek words kryos meaning extremely cold and genes meaning
to produce. Thus, cryogenics as defined by the Wikipedia, is the branch of physics and engineering that involves
the study of very low temperature, how to produce them and how materials behave at those temperatures [2].
2. Superconductivity and Cryogenics
Cryogenic treatment, though a century older, is still considered an infant when compared with conventional heat
treatments. Still, it has been shown by many researchers that it can prove a potential process for enhancing the life of
the cutting tools. The only reason hindering the successful application of cryogenic treatment in the field of cutting
tools is a hazy point of view about the underlying metallurgical mechanisms due to the treatment.
The understanding of what happens at such low temperatures of cryogenic treatment can be related to the wellknown phenomenon of SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
Superconductivity means exactly zero electrical resistivity and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain
materials, called superconductors, when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature. It is a quantum
mechanical phenomenon discovered by a Dutch physicist Heike KamerlinghOnner in 1911 [3]. What distinguishes
superconductors from ordinary conductors is that as the critical temperature approaches absolute zero; the resistance
of superconductors drops abruptly to zero below its critical temperature and remains so till absolute zero, while,
normal conductors still show some resistance at absolute zero also.
The onset of superconductivity is accompanied by abrupt changes in the lattice structure which causes the phase
transition. This is well explained by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory.
In a normal conductor, an electric current may be visualized as a fluid of electrons flowing through a heavy

1816

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

ionic lattice. The electrons constantly collide with the ions in the lattice. During each collision some of the energy
carried by the current is absorbed by the lattice and converted into heat, which is in the form of vibrational kinetic
energy of the lattice ions. As a result, the energy carried by the current is constantly being dissipated. This is the
phenomenon of electrical resistance [3]. This can be seen from Fig. 1.
The BCS theory for superconductivity explains that; in superconductors, the electron fluid cannot be resolved
into individual electrons. At lower temperature, one electron reacts with the lattice and perturbs it i.e. the positive
ions get attracted slightly towards the electron, thus deforming the lattice shape. This deformation is such that the
net charge seen by another electron in the vicinity is positive. Hence, there is an attractive force between electrons
due to exchange of phonons. This coupled duo of electrons is called Cooper pair, as shown in Fig. 2. The
individual electrons in Cooper pairs have opposite spins i.e. a Cooper pair has net zero spin and acts as a Boson.
Bosons do not obey exclusion principle i.e. they can all occupy same quantum state of same energy. This means
Cooper pair fluid possesses an energy gap, E, which must be overcome in order to excite the fluid. Therefore, if
E is larger than the thermal energy of lattice, the fluid will not be scattered by the lattice. Thus, Cooper pair fluid is
a superfluid that can flow without energy dissipation [3].

Fig 1. Difference between a normal conductor and a

Fig. 2. Cooper pairs passing through the lattice causing an inward

superconductor [4]

distortion [5]

For all temperatures above 0K (i.e. absolute zero), presence of point defects increase the internal energy of the
crystal and disturbs the thermodynamical stability of vacancies and interstitial atoms. Hence, at or near to absolute
zero temperature, molecules are in their lowest but finite energy state causing the entropy to be zero or nearly zero.
This leads to ironing out of the defects in the material, in accordance with the Third Law of Thermodynamics [6].
From these concepts it can be summarized that what actually could be happening during the cryogenic treatment
at such lower temperatures may be believed to be;
x Point defects in the crystal structure are being modified by the reduction in temperature as the crystal
structure thermodynamically stabilizes to low temperature
x Changes in electrical resistivity and solubility of the crystal structure redistribute the various elements
present in the lattice
x Atom-to-atom spacing in the crystal structure becomes more uniform due to the removal of energy from the
lattice structure [7]

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

1817

3. Metallurgical findings from the literature

Many people assume that the metallurgical mechanisms responsible for the property enhancement after
cryogenic treatment are yet murky and they are uncertain to put the process to use. But from the extensive literature
available it can be deduced thatquite a few researchers have been able to chalk out some tentative metallurgical
mechanisms that may be responsible for the property enhancement. This section describes thekinetics and
metallurgy that have been reported in the literature by various researchers for tool steels (specifically) and tungsten
carbides.
3.1. Metallurgy for Tool Steels
In many steels, the transformation of austenite to martensite is complete when the part reaches room temperature.
But for most of the tool steels, the problem of Retained Austenite after quenching is a major setback. This retained
austenite is metastable which can adversely affect the dimensional stability and wear resistance during service. The
retained austenite tends to transform into martensite during service under the stress and/or temperature induced
conditions as a result of surface friction heat [8]. This transformation of retained austenite into martensite is
associated with approx. 4% volumetric expansion, as seen from Fig. 4.

Fig. 3. Difference between crystal structure of Austenite and Martensite [19]

When quenching till room temperature, complete martensite transformation is never possible because for
majority of steels, the martensite finish temperature (MF) lies well below 0C.The main objective of cryogenic
treatment of HSS is to ensure complete elimination of retained austenite. But this is not the only reason for the
property enhancement after cryogenic treatment. Some authors give credit to the precipitation of fine carbides,
which may also be another reason for improvement. Many authors have reported that when cryogenic treatment is
done after quenching and before tempering, it activates the tempering transformation of virgin martensite produced
during cryogenic treatment. Because of its high saturation at cryogenic temperatures, the carbide precipitation
occurs with higher activation energy, leading to higher nucleation rate. This results into a finer and more
homogenous distribution of elements [6, 9-14, 15-18].
According to Barrons numerous studies in the field of cryogenic treatment of steels; there are two primary
mechanisms that occur at cryogenic temperature. First, the cryogenic treatment converts retained austenite into
martensite but it is very hard and brittle. At this stage it is termed as un-tempered martensite. The martensitic
structure resists the plastic deformation much better than the austenitic structure, because carbon atoms in the
martensitic lattice lock together the iron atoms more effectively than in the more open-centred cubic austenite
lattice.Tempering the martensiteafter cryogenic treatment makes it tougher and better able to resist impact than untempered martensite. Secondly, cryogenic treatment of high alloy steels, such as tool steel, results in the formation
of very small carbide particles dispersed in the martensite structure between the larger carbide particles present in
the steel. This strengthening mechanism is analogous to the fact that the concrete made of cement and large rocks is
not as strong as concrete made of cement, large rocks and very small rocks (i.e. coarse sand). The small and hard

1818

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

carbide particles within the martensitic matrix help support the matrix and resist penetration by foreign particles in
abrasion wear. Barrons such reference to Concrete effect can be explained as: cryogenic treatment of alloy steels
causes transformation of retained austenite to martensite. Freshly formed martensite changes its lattice parameters
and the c/a ratio approaches that of the original martensite. Eta-carbide precipitates in the matrix of freshly formed
martensite during the tempering process. This carbide formation favours a more stable, homogeneous, harder, wearresistant and tougher material. [20, 21]
Menget. al. [22] have cryo-treated the Fe-12Cr-Mo-V-1.4C tool steel in order to study its microstructural
changes and co-relate them to the enhanced wear resistance. From TEM results they have found out that fine carbide are present in the steel which are of the size ~ 10 nm. They have proposed a precipitation mechanism; that
during the cryogenic treatment and subsequent tempering, the iron or substitutional atoms in the martensite lattice
contract and expand in different directions, with a slight shifting of carbon atoms due to lattice deformation, in order
to segregate -carbides along carbon-rich bands. This is shown in Fig. 5. They suggest that the improved wear
resistance of the steel is not only because of complete removal of retained austenite but it can also be attributed to
the strength and toughness of martensite matrix, which has different lattice parameters as compared to those that are
formed in conventional treatments.

Fig. 4. Atoms arrangement on (010) -carbide plane including a projection along [010] (a) and (110) martensite plane (b). Distortion of lattice
and shift of carbon atom converts the BCT lattice into the orthorhombic lattice. These transform the solid rectangle into the dashed rectangle.
aFilled circle, carbon atom at 0; big open circle, carbon atom at 1/2[010]; small open circle, iron or substitution atom at 1/4[010]bFilled circle,
carbon atom before transformation from martensite to -carbide; big open circle, carbon atom after transformation; small open circle, iron or
substitution atom. (c) The BCTorthorhombic system transformation [22]

Huang et. al. [23] experimented on M-2 steel to study the effects of cryo-treatment and subsequent tempering on
the carbide precipitation. On the basis of Fig. 7, they concluded that the size and distribution of the carbides
precipitated in both treated and untreated samples are same, but their population and volume fraction are different.
They reported that the volume fraction of carbides increased from 5% to 11% and also that the precipitation was
homogenous after the treatment. The authors suggest a very effective phenomenon here that, during cooling, crystal
defects such as dislocations and twins are generated by microscopic internal stress. This stress is caused by the

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

1819

spatial variation in composition and microstructure, which leads to different thermal contraction, as well as by the
transformation of retained austenite to martensite. The martensite needs to be cooled below certain temperature to
develop internal stress high enough to generate crystal defects. The long holding time at lower temperatures may
cause localized diffusion process, possibly the clustering of carbon and alloying elements to the defects. Thus, the
martensite becomes more supersaturated with decreasing temperature. This increases the lattice distortion and
thermodynamic instability of the martensite, both of which drive carbon and alloying atoms to segregate to nearby
defects. These clusters may act as or grow into nuclei for the formation of carbide on subsequent warming up or
tempering.

Fig. 5. TEM micrographs of M-2 steel (a) and (b) Representative regions from the same untreated sample (c)Cryo-treated sample [23]

Das et. al. [24-26] has conducted a series of experiments with variations in the cryogenic treatment of D-2 steel.
They have focused upon the hardness and wear resistance of the conventionally heat treated and cryogenically
treated samples. In all of their experiments, the authors report an improvement in the mechanical properties that can
be attributed to the reduced amount of retained austenite and precipitation of carbides. They have observed some
significant precipitation behaviour in case of secondary carbides. Fig. 7 shows the samples that are conventionally
heat treated and cryo-treated. From the image analysis results, authors classify the secondary carbides based on their
sizes as; small secondary carbides (SSC) and large secondary carbides (LSC). As it can be observed from the figure,
the authors concluded that the number of LSC in case of cryo-treated samples (both 36 and 48 hours of holding
period) is lower than that in conventionally heat treated samples. Also, the SSC in cryo-treated samples are observed
to be fine and more uniformly distributed.

Fig. 6. High-magnification SEM micrographs: (a) conventionally quenched and tempered; (b) cryogenically treated for 36 h; (c) cryogenically
treated for 84-h [24]

The authors summarizes the possible reason for refinement of secondary carbides after cryogenic treatment as: a
high density of crystal defects such as dislocations and twins are generated in martensite during the cooling cycle,
since a high internal stress is developed from the transformation of austenite to martensite as well as from the
different thermal contraction of the phases. The martensite becomes more supersaturated with decreasing
temperature and this phenomenon, in turn, increases its lattice distortion and thermodynamic instability, resulting
into the segregation of carbon atoms to nearby defects forming clusters. These clusters are considered either to act as
or grow into nuclei for the formation of carbide on subsequent warm-up or tempering.They concluded that the wear

1820

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

resistance of the cryo-treated samples increases with increasing holding time upto 36 hours only, beyond which it
shows a decrease. Such a variation in wear resistance agrees excellently with the increase in the population density
and morphological characteristics of the secondary carbides as a function of holding time during cryogenic
treatment [24,27].
Gogteet. al. [17] in their experiment on T-42 noted a change in the morphology of coarse carbides, wherein it can
be seen from Fig. 8 that finer carbides in the near vicinity merge in the coarse carbides after treatment.The authors
term this as rounding off of the corners of the carbides, which they observed to be more pronounced after
tempering. The elimination of microcracks in the sample has been attributed by the authors to the overall contraction
of the matrix during the treatment.An importance observation made by the authors is the creation of voids at the
particle-matrix interface. From this, they conclude that the contraction of matrix, which pulls away from the
particles, prevents any morphological changes to occur during cryogenic treatment with 24 hours holding period.
This indicates that the changes during the process are taking place during the warm up stage of the process. These
changes are possible between 8 and 16 hours holding of the process, but the creation of the voids during 24 hours
hold prevents the diffusion.

Fig. 7. Disappearance of cracks and merging of fine carbides after cryo-treatment with 8 hours of holding period (a) Conventional carbide; (b)
Same carbide, cryo-treated, not tempered [17]

3.2. Metallurgy for Tungsten Carbide

Tungsten carbide cutting tools are made by combining very hard tungsten carbide grains in a binder matrix of
tough cobalt metal using liquid phase sintering methods. As a result of this process, the binder embeds the carbide
grains and thereby creates a metal matrix composite with its distinct material properties. The naturally ductile metal
binder serves to offset the characteristic brittle behaviour of the carbide, thus raising its toughness and durability.
The relatively high wear resistance and hardness has made it particularly suitable as a cutting tool material, which
needs to possess high hardness, toughness and wear resistance [28].While machining, carbide tools develop gradual
wear on flank and rake face, thereby degrading the tool life. Cryogenic treatment has thus been acknowledged as a
means of extending the tool life of tungsten carbide tools also.
According to Seahet. al. [29]; the following phases are generally present in the metallographic microstructure of
cemented tungsten carbides; Alpha (-phase) - Tungsten carbide (WC), Beta (-phase) - Cobalt binder, Gamma (phase): Mixed carbides of cubic lattice (TaC, TiC, NbC, WC, etc.) and Eta (-phase): Multiple complex carbides
{Co3W3C (M6C), Co6W6C (M12C)}.
Cryogenic treatment enhances the service life of tungsten carbide tools through the morphological changes that
occurs within the binder material, as the tungsten carbide crystal is a stable structure. Cryo-treatment changes the
phase or crystal structure of the cobalt so that during consequent machining the retainment of the cobalt binder
increases. This tends to increase its holding strength, thereby giving greater resistance to chipping and enhancing the
tool life. The reported increase in the abrasive wear resistance of the tungsten carbide is attributed to the fact that
cryo-treatment increases the -phase particles. Investigations between treated and non-treated specimens reveal that
no -phase existed in non-treated tools, while the -phase appeared after the material was subjected to the cryogenic
process. As -phase is harder than the rest of the material, it enhances the fracture toughness of the cutting tool.
Therefore, the growth of -phase through the material should be controlled so as to reach the optimum hardness
while not affecting the fracture toughness. Cryogenic treatment also acts to relieve the internal stresses that are
introduced during the sintering process of the tungsten carbide tools [9, 10, 12, 30-32].

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

1821

Gill et. al. [10, 32] has conducted cryogenic treatment of the tungsten carbide inserts at two different
temperatures of -110C for 18 hours and -196C for 38 hours. In [32] authors show a schematic representation of the
two interconnected phases (- and -phase) in the microstructure of tungsten carbide. They state that, the WC-Co
material typically consists of tungsten carbide hard phase which forms a continuous structure throughout the bulk of
the material, called the ceramic skeleton. Also, the soft cobalt binder phase forms a continuous network structure as
shown in Fig. 9. Authors make this representation, assuming the - and -phases to be insignificant in quantity, so as
to easily understand the phenomenon of cobalt densification that occurs in the material during cryogenic treatment.

Fig. 8. Schematic representation of continuous inter-penetrated skeletons of tungsten carbide grains (-phase) and cobalt binder material (phase) in tungsten carbide inserts [32]

In [10,32]; authors have stated that several changes in the microstructure of the tungsten carbide contributes in
the improvement of the durability of the inserts. They summarize the changes as: first, the hard phase particles of
tungsten carbide get refined into their most stable form via the phenomenon of spherodization. It also aligns the hard
phase carbide particulate structure into a durable, stress free configuration. This reduces the risk of stress-induced
fractures. The fine -carbide particles precipitate during the cryogenic treatment. These are in addition to the larger
carbide particles present before cryogenic treatment. These fine particles act as fillers along with the larger particles
to form a denser, more coherent, and much tougher matrix in the material. Also residual stresses in the material
resulted due to sintering of tungsten carbide inserts are relieved during cryogenic treatment. These microstresses are
the leading cause of early carbide fracture. The stresses of manufacturing and bonding to the substrate are relieved
throughout the material, permanently.
In this study, the authors have also attempted to sketch out some possible metallurgical mechanisms that bring
about the above mentioned changes in the tungsten carbide. They present here that the crystal structure of hard phase (WC) is simple hexagonal with one tungsten and one carbon atom per unit cell and an a/c ratio very close to
unity, as seen from Fig. 10-a. However, the stable shape of hard -phase crystals is a triangular prism as shown in
Fig. 10-b. In untreated inserts, the stable shape is not fully developed because of impingement with the grains of
other phases. Moreover, large grains of a more rectangular shape are found in the structure. Contrary to the
untreated inserts, it is thought that hard -phase particles of tungsten carbide are refined into their most stable form
via the phenomenon of spherodization in cryogenically treated inserts. The cryogenic temperature acts as catalyst for
preferential growth of three out of the six prismatic tungsten carbide {1010} planes (Fig. 10-b) which might have
resulted in stable state of hard -phase particles as triangular prism. It also aligns the particulate structure into a
durable, stress free configuration. This reduces the risk of stress-induced fractures hence enhancing the cutting life
of inserts.

1822

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

Fig. 9. (a) The hexagonal -phase (WC) cell; (b) Tungsten carbide grain shape resulting from preferential growth along prismatic planes [10]

Cobalt binder crystal is hexagonal at room temperature and undergoes a first order phase transition from close
packed hexagonal to face centred cubic at 416C which falls in the tool-chip interface temperature range of turning
process. Hence, in tungsten carbide insert, cobalt crystals are generally present in its high-temperature face centred
cubic configuration. It is thought that the face centred cubic structure gets stabilized by the internal stresses resulted
from the differential thermal contraction of hard -phase and binder -phase during sintering process [10]. The
cryogenic treatment might have relieved these internal stresses. Hence, in the absence of internal stresses, cobalt
crystals might have rearranged in their relatively stable close packed hexagonal shape thereby helping the hard phase crystals to align robust, stress free configuration.
The deformation behaviour of hard phase and cobalt binder phase at elevated temperatures generally occurs at
toolchip interface during machining. S. Bolognini [33] states that decreasing cobalt binder content enables the
tungsten carbide to resist plastic deformation even at relatively higher temperatures. It has been reported by Gill et.
al. [10,32]that the cobalt bindercontent decreases significantly after cryogenic treatment, thus enabling the inserts to
withstand relatively higher temperatures without failing by plastic deformation.
After cryogenic treatment the -phase occupies the volume that was formerly occupied by the cobalt binder. It is
well established that two types of -phase carbides can be obtained: M12C (Co6W6C) of substantially constant
composition and M6C in which the composition can vary within the range of Co3.2W2.8C to Co2W4C. The M6C type
of the -phase carbide is in equilibrium with the liquid phase and nucleates and grows during the sintering process.
This not only makes the structure brittle by replacing the -phase with a brittle phase, but also reduces the effective
contribution of hard -phase to the strength of the composite.
Valdivel and Rudramoorthy [31] cryo-treated coated carbide inserts and carried out the microstructural analysis
in order to understand the microstructural changes that provide the information about improvement in properties of
the tool such as hardness and wear resistance. They state that the size and shape of the -phase decides the property
enhancement. They have reported that two -phases exist in cobalt-bonded carbides. The first consists of the
approximate formula (Co3W3)C; the second is (Co6W6)C. Both result from the decarburizing reactions during
sintering or high-temperature CVD coating of refractory films on carbide substrates. The (Co3W3)C forms (M6C)
phase that nucleates and grows due to the constant dissolution of tungsten carbide in the liquid cobalt. Its presence is
controlled by the amount of carbon present in the cobalt. The (Co6W6)C forms (M12C) and is seen only at the
substrate-coating interface. Because the coating process occurs at the temperature below the liquidus of the CoW
C alloy, the reactions occur in the solid state and do not change the geometry of the binder. As a result, the -phase
is discontinuous and occupies only that volume formerly occupied by the cobalt. These two brittle phases cause
premature tool failure due to excessive micro-chipping and insufficient edge strength, and these problems are
particularly prevalent in severe machining operations.
The authors state that the effects induced by -phase (carbides) can be minimized with cryogenic treatment.
During cryogenic treatment, coarser and randomly distributed -phase particles are refined into the most stable
form. These finer particles along with the larger tungsten carbide particles form a denser, more coherent, and much
tougher matrix. Moreover, the microstresses in the cutting inserts due to the coating processes, which are the leading
cause of carbide fracture, are also relieved. The cryo-treated inserts contains more amount of finely dispersed phase carbides than the untreated inserts. These fine -phase carbides improve the hardness and wear resistance
without significantly affecting the toughness.

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

1823

4. Conclusion
Research in the field of cryogenic treatment of cutting tools have recently developed in many countries but still
is at an undeveloped stage. People are still dubious about the advantages and improvements that this treatment can
give for cutting tools. This paper has been intended to put some light on the metallurgical aspects related to
cryogenic treatment that has been quite murky for ages. It can be easily comprehended from the literature that in
case of steels; transformation of retained austenite to martensite and secondary carbide precipitation are the main
mechanisms responsible for the improvement. While, for tungsten carbide; densification of cobalt binder and
formation of -carbides are the likely phenomenon. Though many find these trends to be yet uncertain, it has been
widely accepted that cryogenic treatment do enhance the material properties and now it has gained a momentum in
tool industry. In future, cryogenic treatment of other tool materials can help to establish the process more firmly in
the field of machining by understanding and defining their metallurgical mechanisms also.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]

S. Jyothirmai, I. Aparna Devi, I. Sudhakar and R. Ramesh, Hardness Prediction Model for En Grade Steels Subjected to Different Heat
Treatment Processes, Int. J.Adv. Materials Manufacturing & Characterization, (2014), pp. 106-110.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenics, date of access: 23rd June 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity, date of access: 24th June 2014.
http://www.boredofstudies.org/wiki/images/2/22, date of access: 14th November 2014.
http://sciencehsc.wordpress.com/2013/12/04, date of access: 14th November 2014.
P. I. Patil and R. G. Tated, Comparison of Effects of Cryogenic Treatment on Different Types of Steels: A Review, (2011).
Fredrick Diekman and Rozalia Papp, Cold Facts about Cryogenic Processing, Heat Treating Progress, (2009), pp. 33-36.
D. Candane, N. Alagumurthi, K. Palaniradja, Effect of Cryogenic Treatment on Microstructure and Wear Characteristics of AISI M35 HSS,
International Journal of Materials Science and Applications, (2013), pp. 56-65.
Hemant B. Patil, Prashant B. Chavan and Shoeb H. Kazi, Effects of Cryogenic on Tool Steels A Review, International Journal of
Mechanical and Production Engineering, (2013), pp. 31-36.
Simranpreet Singh Gill, Harpreet Singh, Rupinder Singh and Jagdev Singh, Flank Wear and Machining Performance of Cryogenically
Treated Tungsten Carbide Inserts, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, (2011), pp. 1430-1441.
Simranpreet Singh Gill, Harpreet Singh, Rupinder Singh and Jagdev Singh, Metallurgical principles of cryogenically treated tool steels a
review on the current state of science, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., (2011), pp. 59-82.
Simranpreet Singh Gill,Harpreet Singh, Rupinder Singh and Jagdev Singh, Cryoprocessing of cutting tool materials a review, Int. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol., (2010), pp. 175-192.
Nirmal S. Kalsi, Rakesh Sehgal and Vishal S. Sharma, Cryogenic Treatment of Tool Materials: A Review, Materials and Manufacturing
Processes, (2010), pp. 1077-1100.
Popandopulo A.N. and Zhukova L.T., Transformation in High Speed Steels during cold treatment, Metal Sci. Heat Treatment, (1980), 708712.
Shaohong Li, Na Min, Junwan Li and Xiaochun Wu, Internal friction measurements of phase transformations during the process of deep
cryogenic treatment of tool steel, Cryogenics, (2013), pp. 1-5.
Simranpreet Singh Gill, Jagdev Singh, Rupinder Singh and Harpreet Singh, Effect of Cryogenic Treatment on AISI M2 High Speed Steel:
Metallurgical and Mechanical Characterization, JMEPEG, (2012), pp. 1320-1326.
C. L. Gogte, Kumar M. Iyer, R. K. Paretkar and D. R. Peshwe, Deep Subzero Processing of Metals and Alloys: Evolution of Microstructure
of AISI T42 Steel, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, (2009), pp. 718-722.
A. I. Tyshchenko, W. Theisen, A. Oppenkowski, S. Siebert, O. N. Razumov, A. P. Skoblik, V. A. Sirosh, Yu. N. Petrov and V. G.
Gavriljuk, Low-temperature martensitic transformation and deep cryogenic treatment of a tool steel, Materials Science and Engineering A,
(2010), pp. 7027-7039.
http://www.metal-wear.com/Theory.html, date of access: 17th November 2014.
Thornton Peter A. and Vito J. Colangelo, Fundamentals of Engineering Materials, Prentice-Hall, (1985).
www.productionmachining.com/articles/cryogenic-treatment-and-cutting-tool-life, date of access: 3rd April 2014.
F. Meng, K. Tagashira, R. Azuma and H. Sohma, Role of eta-carbide precipitations in the wear resistance improvements of Fe-12Cr-Mo-V1.4C tool steel by cryogenic treatment, ISIJ Int., (1994), pp. 205-210.
J.Y. Huang, Y.T. Zhu, X.Z. Liao, I.J. Beyerlein, M.A. Bourke and T.E. Mitchell, Microstructure of cryogenic treated M2 tool steel,
Materials Science and Engineering A, (2003), pp. 241-244.
Das D., Dutta A. K., Toppo V. and Ray K.K., Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the carbide precipitation and tribologicalbehavior of
D2 steel, Mater. Manuf. Process, (2007), pp. 474-480.
Das D., Dutta A.K. and Ray K.K., Influence of varied cryotreatment on the wear behavior of AISI D2 steel, Wear, (2009), pp. 297-309
Das D., Dutta A. K. and Ray K.K., On the enhancement of wear resistance of tool steels by cryogenic treatment, Phil. Mag. Lett., (2008),
pp. 801-811.
SeyedEbrahimVahdat, Said Nategh andShamsoddinMirdamadi, Microstructure and Tensile Toughness Correlation of 1.2542 Tool Steel
after Deep Cryogenic Treatment, Procedia Materials Science, (2014), pp. 202-207.
KalingaSimant Bal, Performance Appraisal of Cryo Treated Tool by Turning Operation, M. Tech. thesis, NIT-Rourkela, (2012).
Seah K.H.W., Rahman M. and Yong K.H., Performance evaluation of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts,

1824

Swamini A. Chopra and V.G. Sargade / Materials Today: Proceedings 2 (2015) 1814 1824

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part B - Journal of Engineering Manufacture, (2003), pp. 29-43.
[30] Mohammed E. Hoque, Ralph M. Ford and John T. Roth, Automated Image Analysis of Microstructure Changes in Metal Alloys, (2006).
[31] K. Vadivel and R. Rudramoorthy, Performance Analysis of Cryogenically Treated Coated Carbide Inserts, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.,
(2009), pp. 222-232.
[32] Simranpreet Singh Gill, Jagdev Singh, Rupinder Singh and Harpreet Singh, Metallurgical and mechanical characteristics of cryogenically
treated tungsten carbide (WCCo), Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., (2012), pp. 119-131.
[33] Bolognini S., Propritsmcaniques haute temprature decermetsTi(C,N)-WC-Mo-Co gradient de composition pouroutils de coupe (in
French), Ph.D. thesis, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, (2000).