Title: An experimental investigation on the machinability of powder metal steel

Authors: A.K. Srivastava

Addresses: Manager, Manufacturing Technology, TechSolve, Inc., Cincinnati, OH 45237, USA

Abstract: This paper presents the experimental results conducted using several compacted and sintered Powder Metal (P/M) steels. These P/M steels were having different chemical composition, added free machining agents or were resin impregnated. Due to the annular ring shape and limited dimensions of the test pieces, plunge (face turning) tests were performed using several grades of uncoated and coated inserts. The plunging (cutting) force and tool wear were used to study the relative machining performance of these P/Ms. Few tests using AISI-1045 steel as the base material were also conducted for the comparison. The results indicate that chemical composition, addition of free machining agents and resin impregnation, all have significant effect on machinability. The coated inserts did not show any improvement in machining performance. However, the selection of proper insert grade is important to achieve enhanced machinability.

Keywords: powder metals; P/M steels; coated inserts; machinability; plunge tests; face turning; machining performance; chemical composition; free machining agents; resin impregnation; insert grades.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2007.015340

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2007 Vol.1 No.1, pp.11 - 20

Published online: 10 Oct 2007 *

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