Title: Wear of cathodic arc coated WC-Co tools in the machining of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Authors: C.M. Moreno, J.M. Sanchez, J. Molina, F. Diaz, J. Fernandez

Addresses: CEIT and TECNUN, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 15, Gipuzkoa Baseque Country, San Sebastian 20018, Spain. ' CEIT and TECNUN, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 15, Gipuzkoa Baseque Country, San Sebastian 20018, Spain. ' CEIT and TECNUN, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 15, Gipuzkoa Baseque Country, San Sebastian 20018, Spain. ' CEIT and TECNUN, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 15, Gipuzkoa Baseque Country, San Sebastian 20018, Spain. ' CEIT and TECNUN, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 15, Gipuzkoa Baseque Country, San Sebastian 20018, Spain

Abstract: This work is aimed at analysing the effect of cathodic arc coatings on the wear rate of hardmetal integral tools used for Ti-6Al-4V face milling. The lowest wear rate corresponds to those tools coated with (Al_0.67, Ti_0.33)N materials, whereas uncoated mills presented the highest wear rates. Al_0.67Ti_0.33N cathodic arc coated mills present the lowest tendency to Built-Up-Edge (BUE) formation, which could be explained by the low adhesion tendency of this coating to the Ti-6Al-4V alloy as confirmed by hot pressing experiments. No significant delamination is found either in the used mills or after hot pressing. This methodology confirms the effective role of (Al_0.67, Ti_0.33)N cathodic arc coatings as diffusion barriers for hardmetals in contact with Ti-6Al-4V.

Keywords: tool wear; face milling; Ti-6Al-4V alloys; PVD coatings; hard metals; hot pressing; tool coatings; titanium alloys; cathodic arc coatings; diffusion barriers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMM.2008.023721

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials, 2008 Vol.4 No.4, pp.393 - 405

Published online: 08 Mar 2009 *

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