IPE 317

5 Lecture #
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES II

Failure of Cutting Tools

&

Tool Life
Dr. M. Abu Hayat Mithu
Associate Professor
Email: mithu-ipe@sust .edu ; [email protected]

Department of Industrial and Production Engineering

Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh
 Failure of cutting tools

Smooth, safe and economic machining necessitate:

 prevention of premature and catastrophic failure of
the cutting tools

 reduction of rate of wear of tool to prolong its life

Cutting tools generally fail by :

 Mechanical breakage due to excessive forces and shocks.

 Quick dulling by plastic deformation due to intensive

stresses and temperature.

 Gradual wear of the cutting tools at its flanks and rake

surfaces.
 Failure of cutting tools cont…

The first two modes of tool failure, mechanical breakage and

plastic deformation, are very harmful not only for the tool but
also for the job and the machine tool.

Hence these kinds of tool failure need to be prevented by

using suitable tool materials and geometry depending
upon the work material and cutting condition.

But failure by gradual wear, which is inevitable, cannot be

prevented but can be slowed down only to enhance the service
life of the tool.

Cutting tool is withdrawn immediately after it fails or, if

possible, just before it totally fails. For that one must
understand the nature of tool failure and wear modes.
As suggested by our opening paragraph, there are three possible
modes by which a cutting tool can fail in machining:
1. Fracture This mode of failure occurs when the cutting
failure force at the tool point becomes excessive, causing
it to fail suddenly by brittle fracture.
2. Temp. This failure occurs when the cutting temperature
failure is too high for the tool material, causing the
material at the tool point to soften, which leads to
plastic deformation and loss of the sharp edge.
3. Gradual Gradual wearing of the cutting edge causes loss
wear of tool shape, reduction in cutting efficiency, an
acceleration of wearing as the tool becomes
heavily worn, and finally tool failure in a manner
similar to a temperature failure.
Cutting tool failure or about to failure characterized by the
following conditions:
(a) In R&D laboratories
 total breakage of the tool or tool tip
 massive fracture at the cutting edge(s)
 excessive increase in cutting forces and/or
vibration
 average wear (flank or crater) reaches its specified
limit(s)
(b) In machining industries
 excessive power consumption
 excessive vibration or abnormal sound (chatter)
 total breakage of the tool
 dimensional deviation beyond tolerance
 rapid worsening of surface finish
 adverse chip formation.
 Mechanisms and pattern of tool wear

Cutting tool undergoes various mechanisms of wears, such as:

a) Mechanical wear
i. thermally insensitive type, like abrasion,
chipping and delamination
ii. thermally sensitive type, like adhesion,
fracturing, flaking etc.
b) Thermo-chemical wear
i. macro-diffusion by mass dissolution
ii. micro-diffusion by atomic migration
c) Chemical wear
d) Galvanic wear
In diffusion wear, material from the tool at its rubbing surfaces,
particularly at the rake surface gradually diffuses into flowing chips either
in bulk or atom by atom when the tool material has chemical affinity or
 Mechanisms and pattern of tool wear

 Diffusion wear becomes predominant when the cutting temp.

becomes very high due to high cutting velocity and high strength
of the work material.
 Chemical wear, leading to damages like grooving wear may
occur if the tool material is not enough chemically stable against
the work material and/or the atmospheric gases.
 Galvanic wear, based on electrochemical dissolution, seldom
occurs when both work tool materials are electrically conductive,
cutting zone temperature is high & cutting fluid acts as
electrolyte.

(a) (b) (c)

 Gradual of tool wear

Gradual wear occurs at 3 principal locations on a cutting tool:

1. on the top rake face,
2. on the flank, and
3. on the front end of nose

Two main types of tool wear on faces can be distinguished:

4. crater wear, consists of a cavity in the rake face of the tool
that forms and grows from the action of the chip sliding
against the surface.
2. flank wear, occurs on the flank, or relief face, of the tool.
High stresses and temperatures characterize the tool–chip
contact interface, contributing to the wearing action. The crater
can be measured either by its depth or its area. Flank wear,
results from rubbing between the newly generated work surface
and the flank face adjacent to the cutting edge.
 Gradual of tool wear

Fig. Diagram of worn cutting tool

An extreme condition of flank wear often

appears on the cutting edge at the location corresponding to the
original surface of the workpart. This is called notch wear.
 Effect of tool wear

In addition, following effects are also caused by the tool wear:

 increase in cutting forces and power consumption
- mainly due to the principal flank wear (Vb)
 increase in dimensional deviation and surface roughness
- mainly due to tool-tip wear and auxiliary flank wear (Vs)
 odd sound, vibration and chatter
 worsening surface integrity
 mechanically weakening of the tool tip.
Possible detrimental effects of the high cutting temperature are:
 rapid tool wear which reduces tool life,
 plastic deformation of the cutting edge, if the cutting
material is not enough hot-hard and hot-strong
 thermal flaking and fracturing due to thermal shocks,
 build- up-edge
 Essential properties of tool materials

Cutting tool material essentially require the following properties:

 high mechanical strength; compressive, tensile and torsion
 fracture toughness – high or at least adequate
 high hardness for abrasion resistance
 high hot hardness to resist plastic deformation and reduce
wear rate at elevated temperature
 chemical stability or inertness against work material,
atmospheric gases and cutting fluids
 resistance to adhesion and diffusion
 thermal conductivity – low at surface to resist incoming of
heat and high at core to quickly dissipate the heat entered
 high heat resistance and stiffness
 manufacturability, machinability, availability and low cost.
Measurement of tool wear

Various methods used to measure tool wear, these are:

a. direct measurement - by loss of tool material in volume
or weight, in one life time
– this method is crude and is generally applicable for

critical tools like grinding wheels.

b. grooving and indentation method – in this method
approximate wear depth is measured indirectly by the
difference in length of the groove or the indentation
outside and inside the worn area
c. using optical microscope fitted with micrometer – very
common and effective method
d. using scanning electron microscope – used generally,
for detailed study; both qualitative and quantitative
e. Talysurf, specially for shallow crater wear.
 Tool life: Definition

Tool life generally indicates, the amount of satisfactory

performance or service rendered by a fresh tool or a
cutting point till it is declared failed.
Tool life is defined in two ways :
(a) In R&D: Actual machining time (period) by which a
fresh cutting tool (or point) satisfactorily works after
which it needs replacement or reconditioning.
− Modern tools hardly fail prematurely or abruptly by
mechanical breakage or rapid plastic deformation.
− Tool fails mostly by slowly wearing with machining time.
Here, tool life means the span of actual machining time
by which a fresh tool can work before attaining the
specified limit of tool wear.
− Mostly tool life is decided by machining time till flank
wear, Vb reaches 0.3 mm or crater wear reaches 0.15 mm.
Tool life: Definition

In industries or shop floor:

The length of time of satisfactory service or amount
of acceptable output provided by a fresh tool prior to
it is required to replace or recondition.

Assessment of tool life

For R & D purposes, tool life is always assessed or expressed by
span of machining time in minutes,
In industries, machining time in minutes, and some other means
are also used to assess tool life, depending upon the situation,
such as:
• number of pieces of work machined
• total volume of material removed
• total length of cut.
Major Effects
• Excessive temperature
lowers the strength,
hardness, stiffness, and
wear resistance of the
cutting tool; tools also may
soften and undergo plastic
deformation; thus tool
shape is altered.
 Major Effects

• Increased heat causes uneven dimensional changes in the part

being machined, making it difficult to control its dimensional
accuracy and tolerances.
 Major Effects

• Excessive temperature rise can induce thermal

damage and metallurgical changes in the machined
surface, adversely affecting its properties.
Temperature Distribution

• The maximum temperature is about halfway up the

tool-chip interface.
Techniques for Measuring Temperature

Traditional
Infrared
Thermometer

• Thermocouples embedded in the tool.

• Thermal emf (electormotive force) at the tool-chip interface,
which acts as a hot junction between two different materials.
• Infrared radiation from the cutting zone may be monitored
with a radiation pyrometer.
21.5 Tool Life: Wear and Failure
• Tool wear is a major consideration
in all machining operations. Tool
wear adversely affects tool life,
quality of the machined surface
and its dimensional accuracy, and
cutting operations
Tool Wear

• Crater Wear
• Tool-chip interface
• Predominant at high speed
• Mitigated by efficient use of
carbides
Flank wear
• Tool-work piece inter
• Predominant at low speeds
Tool Wear

• (a) Crater Wear

• (b) Flank wear on a carbide tool
 Tool Life Curves

• Effect of work piece microstructure on tool life in turning. Tool life is

given in terms of the time(min) required to reach a flank wear land of
a specified dimension. (a) ductile cast iron. (b) Steels, with identical
hardness. Note the rapid decrease in tool life as the cutting speed
increases.
 Tool Life Curves

• Tool life curves for a variety of cutting tool materials. The negative inverse of
the slope of these curves is the exponent n in the Taylor tool life equation. (b)
Relationship between measured temperature during cutting and tool life (flank
wear). Note that high cutting temperatures severely reduce tool life.
Extended Taylor’s Equation
 Crater Wear

Relationship between crater wear rate and average tool chip interface temperature.
(a) High speed steel, (b) Carbide, ( c ) C5 carbide
Other Types of Wear, Chipping and Facture

• (a) Schematic illustration of

types of wear observed on
various cutting tools.
• (b) Catastrophic tool
failures.
21.6 Surface Finish and Integrity
• Surface Finish describes the geometric features of a
surface.
• Surface integrity pertains to the material
properties.
Building exterior suffers from unsightly damage of mold infestation due to
high humidity.  The strong oxidation effect of photocatalyst effectively
removes mold and protects the surface integrity
 Effects of tool-tip profile
• Built-up edge has the greatest influence on surface
finish.
(a) (b)

Figure 20.21 Surfaces produced on steel by cutting, as observed with a

scanning electron microscope: (a) turned surface and (b) surface produced
by shaping. Source: J. T. Black and S. Ramalingam.
Effect of tool-tip profile
• Ceramic and diamond tools generally produce
better surface finish than other tools because of
their much lower tendency to form a BUE.
Dull Tools
• Large radius along its edge.
• If tip radius of the tool is large in relation to the
depth of cut, the cool simply will rub over the
machined surface.
• May cause surface damage, such as tearing and
cracking
 Vibration and chatter

• Vibration and chatter will affect the dimension of the

workpiece surface finish adversely.
• Vibrating tool periodically changes the dimensions of
the cut.
• Excessive chatter also can cause chipping and
premature failure of the more brittle cutting tools.
Factors influencing surface
integrity
• Temperatures generated during processing and
possible metallurgical transformations.
• Surface residual stresses.
• Severe plastic deformation and strain hardening of
the machined surfaces, tearing, and cracking.
Finish Machining and Rough
Machining
• In finish machining, it is important to consider the
surface finish to be produced
• In rough machining, the main purpose is to remove
a large amount of material at a high rate. Surface
finish is not a primary consideration.
Finish and Rough Machining
21.7 Machinability
• Machinability can be defined in terms of four
factors:
• 1. Surface finish and surface integrity of the machined
part.
• 2. Tool life.
• 3. Force and power required.
• 4. The level of difficulty in chip control.
Machinability
• Good Machinability indicates good surface finish
and integrity, long tool life, and low force, and low
power requirement.
• Tool life and surface roughness are considered to be
the most important factors.
Machinability Ratings (index)
• Standard material: AISI 1112 steel, with a rating of
100.
• This means; for a tool life of 60min, this steel
should be machined at a cutting speed of 100ft/min
(30m/min).
• Some examples; 3140 steel at 55; free-cutting brass
at 300; 2011 wrought aluminum at 200.
Machinability of ferrous metals
• Machinability of steels, alloy steels, stainless steels,
and cast iron.
• 21.7.1 Pg: 638.
• Effects of various elements in steels.
• Presence of aluminum and silicon in steel is harmful.
• Carbon and manganese have various effects depending
on their composition.
Machinability of nonferrous
metals
• Examples of nonferrous metals are:
• Aluminum, Copper, Magnesium, Titanium, and
Zirconium.

• 21.7.2 Pg: 640

Machinability of miscellaneous
materials
• Thermoplastics
• Thermosetting plastics
• Polymer-matrix composites
• Metal-matrix and ceramic matrix composites
• Graphite and Ceramics
• Wood
• 21.7.3 Pg: 641
Thermally assisted machining (hot
machining)
• Metals and alloys that are difficult to machine at
room temperature can be machined more easily at
elevated temperatures.
• A source of heat (such as a torch, induced coil,
electric current, laser-beam, electron-beam, and
plasma arc) is focused onto an area just ahead of
the cutting tool.
Hot machining
• General advantages;
• Reduced cutting force
• Increased tool life
• Higher material-removal rates
• Reduced tendency for vibration and chatter.