Wear performance and mechanisms of PCBN tool in dry hard turning of AISI D2 hardened steel

Abstract In this paper, the wear performance and mechanisms of PCBN tool in dry hard turning of AISI D2 hardened steel at various hardness levels (40–60 ± 1 HRC) were investigated at a fixed 250-m/min cutting speed, 0.10-mm/r feed, and 0.15-mm depth of cut. The results showed that the workpiece hardness has a great influence on the flank wear. The principle wear mechanisms in the flank wear of the PCBN tools are the abrasive wear in the cases of 40–55 ± 1 HRC, and abrasive and delamination wear in a case of 60 ± 1 HRC due to an abrupt increase of friction at tool-workpiece interfaces, while the crater is the principle wear in the rake face of PCBN tools.