Machining Conditions and the Wear of TiC-Coated Carbide Tools

This paper examines the wear behavior of TiC-coated cemented carbide tools in turning. Experimental data from dry turning tests, together with similar data from the open literature, are used to construct wear maps depicting the flank and crater wear characteristics of these tools over a wide range of machining conditions. The maps show that both flank and crater wear rates vary according to the cutting speeds and feed rates used. An overall wear-damage map for this class of coated tools is also presented for the first time. The presence of the safety zone and the least-wear regime, within which the overall wear damage to the tools is low, suggests the possibility of selecting the machining conditions to achieve a compromise between the rates of material removal and tool wear.