Influence of cutting parameters and tool nose radius on the wear behavior of coated carbide tool when turning austenitic stainless steel

This study investigated the wear behavior of coated carbide tool with different tool nose radius under different cutting parameters when turning AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel. The full factorial turning experiments with three factors and two levels cutting parameters were carried out. The wear progression of the tool with cutting time was recorded. The tool wear mechanism and the influence of cutting parameters and tool nose radius on the tool wear behavior were analyzed. The results showed that the cutting tool mainly exhibited wear manners of abrasive wear, adhesive wear, and oxidation wear. The tool life varies a lot with the cutting parameters, with the feed rate the most sensitive. Decrease the nose radius makes the strength of the tool blade worsened, thereby increasing the tool life sensitivity to cutting parameters. However, decreasing the tool nose radius can effectively increase the tool life. The reason is that when the tool nose radius is reduced, the cutting temperature can be decreased and at the same time the chip breaking performance can be improved, which decrease the mechanical damage of chips to the tool and related wear, and thus resulting in a longer tool life.