Limitations of machining hard materials on conventional lathe

machines:-
 Turning of hardened steel with PCBN:-
Turning with a negative cutting angle causes,
- Vibrations:-
- tool pressure force:-
- Structural strength not enough to carry force during machining of hard material.
- Affects work piece form and roughness.
- The tool pressure force in x direction causes vibrations, because this force is about
twice the main cutting force.
- Accuracy:-
- Accuracy can’t be achieved due to hard machining.
- Rigidity of w/p required.
- Chip Formation:-
- chip produced is different from traditional soft turned chip.
- In this case, very thin, ribbon like chip is produced.
- If the insert does not have a chip breaker, chip control can be difficult.
• tool material:
• Costly tool material required for machining hard material and not easily available.
• For materials like cubic boron nitride, boron carbon nitride and other super-hard materials cannot
be machined by normal tool, other tool material like diamonds, carbide and ceramic
inserts(expensive alternative).
• The time:
• The time required for machining hard materials will be very high and hence would affect the rate
of production.
• Poor chip control can lead to poor surface finish due to chips rubbing on the finished part surface.
• Increased heat:
• Increased heat in the w/p due to hot chips building up on the component, so it would affects the
metallurgical properties of the machine tool.
• tool life:
• The tool life would be drastically reduced as the tool would be getting worn out more rapidly.
• Selection of tool-material grade is one of the most challenging task in hard turning in terms of
obtaining efficient and stable machining process.
• The insert shape and tool holders just add more complication.
• Some tooling manufactures not only recommend the use of coolant,
but recommend its application at high volumes and high pressures.
• Solution:-
• Factors of Success in hard turning,
• - m/c rigidity
• – w/p rigidity
• – good vibration damping characteristics
• - rigid c/tool
• - rigid tool location

• Hard turning is a technology driven processes, dependent upon

• - m/c technology
• - work holding technology
• - material & tooling technology
• - process technology

• Hard turning techniques:-

• - feed speed
• - m/c setup
• - positioning
• - coolant application
• The base construction and the individual components of the machine, such as the spindle, and chucking system must be able to
handle high cutting force with a rigid base with good vibrations damping characteristics.
• One way to increase tool life in hard turning,
- by applying a coating to the inserts. coatings of a protective layer on the
tool, increasing tool life.
- which allows higher spindle speed and little extra feed rate to be
used.
• Special cutting tools with modified tool geometry are need with coating of
alloying element for increasing the tool strength
• Whenever you coat an insert you will get longer tool life.
• Small L/D ratio.
• Selection of material (PCBN, ceramic) is vital for process efficiency and depends
on the accuracy and surface finish required.
• By applying high pressure coolant, we can get two or three times faster and even
at the same time getting longer tool life.
• hard turning requires a large range of speeds. Collet chucks is offering maximum
flexibility, are easy to handle, provide excellent shock absorbing characteristics
and offer an excellent range of clamping diameters. These are suitable of
aggressive roughing and semi finishing of hardened materials.
• REFERENCES:-