Tool Wear in Nickel-Based Superalloy Machining: An Overview

Nickel-based superalloys have been widely used in the aerospace, petrochemical, and marine fields and others because of their good oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, stability, and reliability at various temperatures. However, as a nickel-based superalloy is a kind of processed material, in the cutting process a large amount of cutting heat is generated due to the interaction between the tool and the workpiece. At the same time, the low thermal conductivity of the workpiece causes a large amount of cutting heat to accumulate at the contact point, resulting in serious tool wear, reduced tool life, frequent tool changes, and other problems, which increase the production cost of the enterprise. This paper introduces the tool wear mechanisms (abrasive wear, adhesive wear, plastic deformation, chemical wear, etc.) in the machining process of nickel-based superalloys and summarizes the research status of failure mechanisms, tool wear optimization, etc. Based on a review of the existing research, it was found that the purpose of adding tool coatings, optimizing tool materials and cutting parameters, or improving the cutting environment is to control the heat during the processing of nickel-based superalloys to improve the tool environment and prolong the service life. The development prospects of tool wear prevention measures in the field of nickel-based alloy machining are also described.