Tool Wear of Diamond-Like Carbon-Coated High-Speed Steel with a Cr-Based Interlayer in Cutting of Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

In cutting aluminum alloy 6061, continuous chips have a negative influence on the machining operation. Usually, Pb is added in order to break continuous chips. However, from the standpoint of environmental protection, it is necessary to improve chip breakability without adding Pb. One effective measure to improve chip breakability is by adding Si to aluminum alloy 6061. However, the influence of Si content on tool wear has not been fully examined. In this study, in order to clarify the influence of a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating layer with a Cr-based interlayer, namely (Al,Cr)N, on cutting performance, aluminum alloys having different Si contents were turned. The substrate of the tool material was high-speed steel (1.4%C). The tool wear and the surface roughness were experimentally investigated. The following results were obtained: (1) In cutting two kinds of Al-Si alloys, namely the Al-2%Si alloy and Al-4%Si alloy, the progress of wear of the DLC/(Al,Cr)N-coated tool was slower than that of the DLC-coated tool. Therefore, the (Al,Cr)N interlayer was effective for decreasing the tool wear of the DLC-coated tool. (2) The wear progress of the two kinds of DLC-coated tools in cutting of Al-4%Si alloy was faster than that in cutting of Al-2%Si alloy. (3) In cutting of Al-2%Si alloy with the (Al,Cr)N/DLC-coated tool, the surface roughness was almost constant in the range of a cutting distance from 0.1 km to 9.5 km.