Effect of Cutting Speed on Chipping and Wear of the

SiAlON Ceramic Tool in Dry Finish Turning of the

Precipitation Hardenable IN100 Aerospace Superalloy
Abstract
Inconel 100 (IN100) aerospace superalloy is used in manufacturing aero-engine
components that operate at intermediate temperatures. It is considered to be a hard-
to-cut material. Chipping of the tool edge is one of the major failure mechanisms of
ceramic tools in finish cutting of superalloys which causes a sudden breakage of the
cutting edge during machining. Cutting temperature significantly depends on cutting
speed. Varying the cutting speed will affect the frictional action during the machining
operations. However, proper selection of the cutting variables, especially the cutting
speed, can prevent chipping occurrence. In this work, the influence of controlling the
cutting speed on the chipping formation in dry finish turning of IN100 aerospace
superalloy using SiAlON ceramic tool has been investigated. SEM/EDS, XPS, and 3D
wear measurements were used to make the investigations of the worn tool edges. It
was found that variations of the cutting speeds in a certain range resulted in the
generation of different lubricious and protective tribo-films. The presence of these tribo-
films at the cutting region proved essential to prevent chipping of the cutting tool edge
and to improve its wear resistance during finish turning of age-hardened IN 100 using
SiAlON ceramic tools. Chip compression ratio and calculated values of the coefficient
of friction at the tool chip interface confirmed these results.

Topics: Ceramics , Superalloys , Turning , Aerospace

industry , Cutting , Precipitation , Wear , Temperature, Machining , Friction