MODULE –II

MACHINABILITY OF METALS
During metal cutting, the energy dissipated gets converted in to heat.
Consequently, high temperatures are generated in the region of the tool cutting edge
and this temperature have a controlling influence on the rate of wear of the cutting tool
and on the friction between the chip and the tool.

Heat is generated in three distinct regions

(i). The shear zone: here the energy needed to shear the chip is the source of heat. In
this region about 80-85 % of the heat is generated.
(ii) The chip Tool interface region: here the energy needed to overcome friction is the
source of heat. Some plastic deformation also occurs in this region. About 15 to
20 % heat is generated in this region.
(iii) The tool work interface region: here energy needed to overcome frictional rubbing
between flank face of the tool and work piece is the source of heat. In this region
only 1-3 % of heat generated.

Fig- 2.1: Regions of heat generation in metal cutting

Factors affecting Temperature

i) Work piece and tool material:

- Materials with higher thermal conductivity produce lower temperature
than tools with lower conductivity.
ii) Tool Geometry
- Rake angle has only slight influence on the temperature. But it increases
considerably with approach angle.
iii) Cutting fluid:
- At high speeds (such as employed for carbides), cutting fluid has
negligible effect on tool chip interface temperature. The fluid is carried

2.1
 away by the outward flowing chip more rapidly than it could be forced
between the tool and the chip.

Temperature Distribution in Metal Cutting

Fig shows temperature distribution in work piece and chip during metal cutting. The maximum
temperature in the cutting zone occurs not at tool tip but at some distance further up the rake
face.
• Material at a point such as X gets heated as it passes through the shear zone and
finally leaves as a chip.
• For points such as Y, heating continues beyond the shear plane in to the frictional
heat region. These points, however, loose shear zone heat to the chip while
moving up but gain frictional heat.
• Points such as Z remain in the work piece and their temperature rises merely due
to conduction of heat in to the work piece.

GENERATION AND DISSIPATION OF HEAT IN METAL CUTTING

The Heat generated in metal cutting is due to following three reasons.

1). Deformation of Metal- during cutting process the tool exerts pressure on the work piece.
This pressure transmitted to the grains of the metal adjacent to the tool face. The slipping of
sections of grains over each other produces internal friction, which generates heat of
deformation.
2). Heat due to chip distortion- the chip separated from the work piece subjected to
distortion while it passes over the rake face. Distortion takes place between the grains of the
causing internal friction, which generates heat.
3). Heat due to friction- during cutting process heat generated due to friction between work
piece and tool and also due to friction between tool and chip. The rubbing speed of the work
piece and chip over the tool is nearly equal to the speed.

“The heat generated is dissipated in the atmosphere through the work

piece, chip and the tool. If cutting fluid is used the heat will be carried by it”.

CUTTING FLUIDS

Cutting fluid is any substance (liquid, gas or solid) which is applied to a tool during a cutting
operation to facilitate removal of chips.
Function of Cutting Fluid
1. To cool the cutting tool and the work piece.
2. To lubricate the chip, tool and work piece.
3. To help carry away the chip.
4. To lubricate some of the moving part of the machine tool.
5. To improve the surface finish.
6. To prevent the formation of built up edge.
7. To protect the work piece against rusting.

2.2
Requirements of a cutting Fluid

A cutting fluid should possess the following qualities in order to be of practical value:

1. It should have long life, free of excessive oxide formation that might clog circulation
system.
2. It should be suitable for a variety of cutting tools and materials and the cutting
operations.
3. It should have lubricating qualities, high thermal conductivity and low viscosity to
permit easy flow and easy separation from impurities and chips, and should not stick to
work piece or machine.
4. It should be transparent where high dimensional accuracy and fine finish are required
in order to enable the operator to have a clear view of tool and work piece.
5. It should present no fire or accident hazards or emit obnoxious odors or vapors harmful
to operator or work piece; and should cause no skin irritation.

Types of Cutting Fluids

1. Straight or neat oils
2. Water miscible cutting fluids
3. Synthetics or semi chemical cutting fluids.
1) Straight or neat oils
• These are derived from petroleum, animal, marine or vegetable substances and
may be used straight or in combination.
• The main function is lubrication and rust prevention
• They are chemically stable and lower in cost.
• They are usually restricted to light duty machining on metals of high
machinability, such as aluminum, magnesium, brass and leaded steels.
2) Water miscible cutting fluids
• This forms mixtures ranging from emulsions to solutions, which due to their high
specific heat, high thermal conductivity and high heat of vaporization are used on
about 90% of all metal cutting and grinding operations.
• Water blend is usually in the ratio of one part of oil to 15 to 20 parts water for
cutting and 40 to 60 parts water for grinding.
3) Synthetics( chemical) or semi chemical cutting fluids:
• Synthetic coolants refer to any coolant-lubricant concentrate that does not
contain petroleum oil.
• Semi chemical coolants contain a small amount of mineral oils plus additives to
further enhance lubrication properties. These incorporate best qualities of both
water and chemical.
• Advantages of Chemical Fluids
i) a very light residual film that is easy to remove
ii) Heat dissipation is rapid.
iii) Good detergent properties
iv) An easy concentration to control with no interference from tramp
oils.
• Disadvantages :

i) The lack of lubrication ‘oiliness’ may cause some sticking in the moving parts
of machine tools.
2.3
 ii) The high detergency may irritate sensitive hands over a long period of time.
iii) As compared to oils, there is less rust-control and lubrication and there is
some tendency to foam.

*** Pure water is by far the best cutting fluid available because of its highest heat
carrying capacity. Besides this it is cheap and easily available. Its low viscosity makes
it to flow at high rates through the cutting fluid system and also penetrates the
cutting zone.
But water corrodes the work material very quickly, particularly at high
temperatures prevalent in the cutting zone as well as the machine tool parts on
which it is likely to spill. Hence other materials would be added to water to improve
its wetting characteristics, rust inhibitors and any other additives to improve
lubrication characteristics.

Lubrication in Metal Cutting

1) Hydro dynamic lubrication
2) Boundary lubrication
In hydro dynamic lubrication the surfaces under lubrication are separated by a
fluid film. The viscosity of the fluid is important in this type of lubrication in boundary
lubrication a few thin layer of absorbed lubricant is present.

Selection of Cutting Fluids

The selection of a cutting fluid is dependent on the work material, tool material
and machining operation.

Table – 2.1 Cutting fluids for different materials

MATERIAL CUTTING FLUIDS
Carbon steels Emulsions, low viscosity oils
Alloy steels Emulsions, extreme pressure lubricants
Aluminum alloys Emulsions diluted
Copper Alloys Emulsions, fatty esters with water base solutions and chlorine.
Titanium Alloys Chlorinated extreme pressure lubricants
Cast iron Water base emulsions

CUTTING TOOL MATERIALS

Characteristics of an ideal tool material.

1. The material must remain harder than the work material at elevated
temperature.(hot hardness)
2. The material must withstand excessive wear even through the relative
hardness of the tool-work materials changes.(wear resistance)
3. The material must have sufficient strength and ductility to withstand
shocks and vibrations and to prevent breakage.(Toughness)
4. The coefficient of friction at the chip tool interface must remain low for
minimum wear and reasonable surface finish.
5. The cost and easiness of fabrication should be within reasonable limits.

2.4
 Types of Tool materials

1. Carbon steels
2. Medium alloy steels
3. High speed steels
4. Stellites
5. Cemented carbides
6. Ceramics
7. Diamonds
8. Abrasives

1. Carbon Steels

These are characterized by the low stability of the super cooled austenite.
Therefore they have a high critical rate and low harden ability. Through
hardening can be achieved only in parts up to 12 to 15 mm in thickness or
diameter. Consequently steel may be recommended for small sized tools, which
are quenched in oil or molten salts, and for comparatively large tools (15 to 30
mm diameter) in which the cutting section is only the surface layer (files, core
drills, short reamers, etc.)

When large tools are hardened (dia over 30mm) the layer with a high hardness is
so thin, even up on quenching in water, that the tools are not fit for cutting
purposes.

Advantages

i) Cheapness
ii) Low hardness( BHN 170 to 180)
iii) Good machinability
iv) Formability in the annealed state.
v) Retain a tough unhardened core due to low hardenability. (This factor
improves resistance to breakage under vibration and impacts).

Disadvantages
i) Narrow range of hardening temperature
ii) Necessity for rapid quenching in water or aqueous alkali solutions (salt).

** Carbon steels are applicable only for tools operating at low cutting speeds (about 12
m/min) since their hardness is substantially reduced at temperatures above 190-200oC.

2. Medium alloy steels

• The high carbon medium alloy steels have carbon content akin to plain carbon
steels, but there is up to 5 % alloy content consisting of tungsten, molybdenum,
chromium and vanadium. Small additions of one or more of these improve the
performance of carbon steels in respect of hot hardness, wear resistance, shock and
impact resistance and resistance to distortion during heat treatment.

2.5
 • The alloy carbon steels broadly occupy a midway performance position between
plain carbon and high speed steels.

• They lose their required hardness at high temperature from 250 to 350 oC

3. High Speed steels

• High speed steels are distinguished for their high red hardness, their capacity to
retain their structure (marten site), hardness and wear resistance at high
temperature generated on the cutting edges when machining at high cutting
speeds. High speed steels are designed for the manufacture of high production
tools with high wear resistance which must retain their cutting properties at
temperatures up to 600- 620 oC
• High speed steels are obtained by alloying tungsten, chromium, vanadium, cobalt
and molybdenum with steels.
a) 18-4-1 high speed steel: A common analysis: 18% tungsten, 4 % chromium
and 1 % vanadium, with a Carbon content of 0.6 – 0.7 %. This alloy is
termed 18-4-1, while an increase of vanadium to 2 % provides 18-4-2 steel.
b) Cobalt high speed steel: this is sometimes called super high speed steel.
Cobalt is added 2 to 15 % to increase hot hardness and wear resistance.
One analysis of this steel contains 20 % tungsten, 4 % chromium, 2 %
vanadium and 12 % cobalt.
c) Molybdenum high speed steels : this class contains a lower percentage of
tungsten, this being compensated by the addition of molybdenum.

The steel containing 6% molybdenum, 6 % tungsten, 4 %

chromium and 2 % vanadium have excellent toughness and cutting
ability.

4. Stellites

• It is a non ferrous alloy with range of elements: cobalt – 40 to 80 %; chromium –

30 to 35 %; tungsten – 12 to 19 %. In addition to one or more carbide forming
elements, carbon is added in amounts of 1.8 to 2.5 %.
• They cannot be forced to shape, but may be deposited directly on the tool shank in
an oxy-acetylene flame; alternately, small tips of cast satellites can be brazed in to
place.
• Satellite preserve hardness up to 1000 oC and can be operated on steel at cutting
speed 2 times higher than for high speed steel.
• These materials are not widely used for metal cutting, since they are very brittle,
however, they are used extensively in some non metal cutting application, such as
in rubbers, plastics where loads are gradually applied and the support is firm and
where wear and abrasion are problems.

5. Cemented carbide

• These are so named because they are composed principally of carbon mixed with
other elements.
• The basic ingredient of most cemented carbide is tungsten carbide.
2.6
 • The amount of cobalt used regulates the toughness of the tool. A typical analysis of
a carbide suitable for steel machining is:
Tungsten carbide = 82 %
Titanium carbide = 10 %
Cobalt =8%
• The carbide tools are made by brazing of silver-soldering the formed inserts on the
ends of the commercial steel holders.
• The most important properties – very high heat and wear resistance. Cemented
carbide tip tool can machine metals even when their cutting elements are heated to a
temperature of 1000 oC.
• They can withstand cutting speed 6 or more than 6 times higher than tools of high
speed steels.
• Cemented carbide is the hardest manufactured material and has extremely high
compressive strength. But it is very brittle, has low resistance to shock, and must be
very rigidly supported to prevent cracking

Types of cemented carbides

1. Tungsten type cemented carbide:- contain 92 to 98 % tungsten carbide and 2 to 8 %

cobalt. Chiefly designed for machining brittle metals like cast iron, bronze but also
used for non ferrous metals and alloy steels.
2. Titanium- tungsten type cemented carbide:- more wear resistant. Contain 66 to 85
% tungsten carbide, 5 to 30 % titanium carbide and 4 to 10 % cobalt. Mainly
designed for machining tougher materials.

6. Ceramics
• Ceramic tools are made by compacting aluminum oxide powder in a mould at
about 28MN/m2 or more. The part is then sintered at 2200oC (method- cold
pressing).
• Made in the form of tips
• Low heat conductivity and high compressive strength. Brittle and low bending
strength. Not fit for tools at interrupted cut with high vibration and heavy chip
• Used for single point tools- for cast iron, plastics.
• Used without coolant, since they have very low heat conductivity.
7. Diamonds

• Hardest known. Can run at speeds at about 50 times greater than for HSS and a
temperature of about 1650 oC.
• In addition to high hardness, incompressible, is of large grain structure, readly
conducts heat and has low coefficient of friction.
• Suitable for cutting harder materials such as glass, plastics, ceramics and other
abrasive materials and for producing fine finishes.
• The maximum depth of cut recommended is 0.125 mm with feeds of, say, o.05mm.

8. Abrasives

• Abrasive is a class of mineral used to sharpen the edges of cutting tools, and to
reduce or polish metallic or other surfaces.

2.7
 • Abrasive particles held together by bonding material comprising the cutting edges
in grinding wheels known as abrasive wheels.
• Natural abrasives- emery, corundum and diamond dust.
• Emery is rough and durable, containing about 70% aluminum oxide, a valuable
abrasive which does the actual cutting and is known as crystalline fused alumina.
• Diamond dust is slowly forging ahead as abrasive.
• Carborandum is trade name for silicon carbide.- one of the most important
artificial abrasive.

9. Coated Tools

The performance of HSS tool can be improved by applying a coating of Titanium nitride
(Ti N). This coating being in golden color also improves the appearance. Tool life increased
nearly by ten times. Metal removal rate will be double. More number of regrind is possible. It
reduces flank wear.
Inert coating will reduce adhesive wear. Surface finish improves.

TOOL WEAR

INTRODUCTION
A new or newly ground tool has sharp cutting edges and smooth flanks. When put in to
operation, it gets subjected to cutting forces that are concentrated over a small contact area
over the rake face and flank. Also the chip slides over the rake face and machined surface
rubs over the flank surface of the cutting tool. The temperatures over the contact surface are
pretty high. Each time the tool enters or exits from cut, it is subjected to mechanical as well
as thermal shock. Under such conditions the tool wear occurs.
The causes for wear can be defined to
(i) The interaction between the chip and the tool and between the work and the tool.
(ii) Cutting forces, and (iii) Temperature developed during cutting process.
The tool wear causes the tool to loose its original shape so that with the passage of time
it gives un satisfactory performance. This involves loss of dimensional accuracy, increased
surface roughness and increased power consumption. After a certain degrees of wear the
tool has to be replaced or re sharpened usually for further use. This leads to loss of
production time due to machine down time, in addition to the cost of replacing or re
sharpening the tool.
The tool wear depends on a number of factors such as hardness and type of tool
material, material and condition of work piece, dimension of work piece, feed and depth of
cut, tool geometry and cutting fluid.

TYPES OF TOOL WEAR

i). Flank Wear (Edge wear)

This wear is also called “wear land”. Work and tool are in contact at cutting edge only.
Usually wear first appears on the clearance face of the tool in the form of wear land and is
mainly due to friction and abrasion.
This wear produces wear lands on the side and end flanks of the tool on account of the
rubbing action of the machined surface. In the beginning the tool is sharp and the wear land

2.8
has zero width. But very zoon it develops and grows in size on account of abrasion, friction
and to some extent adhesion and shear.
This is predominant in brittle materials having discontinues chip. Flank wear starts at
the cutting edge and then starts widening along the clearance face. It is independent of cutting
conditions and tool/ work materials.
The flank wear progress of cutting tool is shown in the figure. The curve is cutting time
Vs width of wear land. It may be noted that the primary stage is one of rapid wear due to high
stresses at the tool point. The wear rate is more or less linear in the secondary stage and is the
steady wear, but in the tertiary stage wear rate increases rapidly and resulting in
catastrophic failure.

Fig-2.9: A typical Wear curve for a cutting tool

ii). Face wear (Crater wear)

On the face of the tool there is a direct contact between chip and tool. Wear takes place
in the form of cavity or crater, which has its origin above the cutting edge. With time cavity
goes on widening. This is prominent in ductile materials.
The crater occurs on the rake face at the point of impingement of chip and extends ends
near the nose which cause rapid rupture. It leads o weakening the tool, increases cutting
temperature, friction and cutting force.
These types of wear occur mainly by diffusion.

Fig-2.10: Tool Wear Regions in Metal Cutting

2.9
 While all other types of tool failures can be effectively reduced by changing speed, feed,
depth of cut, flank wear is a progressive form of deterioration. The progress of flank wear in
cutting tool is as shown in the graph.

iii). Nose wear

It is similar to flank wear in certain operations like finish turning. This is more prominent
than flank wear.

Limiting value of width of Wear Land at the Flank

The wear LAND ON THE flank face is not uniform width. It larger at or near the two ends
of the active portion of the side cutting edge. At the nose portion the chip flow is rather
complicated and the wearing conditions severe. At the rear portion of the flank wear land,
groove or notch gets formed on account of “accelerated wear”. It has been suggested that
accelerated wear is caused by abrasion and metal transfer enhanced by chemical interaction
with the surrounding atmosphere. The width of the wear land is usually maximum at the rear
end of the flank land.

Fig-5.13

Tool Wear Mechanisms

i) Shearing at high temperature

The strength of hard metal decreases at high temperatures. Therefore its

shear yield stress becomes much smaller than what it is at room temperature.
Though the metal sliding over it has lower yield stress, nevertheless, the chip may
get so much work hardened as to be able to exert frictional stress sufficient to
cause yielding by shear of the hard tool metal. The higher the temperature at the
interface greater is this effect.

ii) Diffusion Wear

When metal is in sliding contact with another metal and the temperature
at their interface is high, conditions may become right for the alloying atoms
from the harder metal to diffuse in to the softer marix, thereby increasing the
latter’s hardness and abrasiveness ( see fig). on the other hand atoms from the
softer metal may also diffuse into the harder medium, thus, weakening the
surface layer of the latter to such an extent that particles on it are dislodged/ torn
(or sheared off) and are carried away by the flowing chip material. Diffusion
phenomenon is strongly dependent on temperature. For example,
diffusion rate is approximately doubled for an increment of the order of 20oC in
the case of machining steel with HSS tools.

2.10
 Fig-2.2: Wear by plastic yielding and shear

Fig-2.3: Diffusion Wear Process

iii) Adhesive wear (Attrition Wear)

When a softer metal slide over a harder metal it always presents a newly
formed (nascent) surface to the same portion of the hard metal. On account of
friction, high temperature and pressure, particles of the softer material adhere to
a few high spots of the harder metal (see fig.). As a result, flow of the softer metal
over the surface of the harder metal become irregular or less laminar, and contact
between the two becomes less continues. More particles join up with those
already adhering and so called built up edge is formed. Sooner or later some of
these fragments, which may have grown up to macroscopic size, are torn from the
surface of the hard metal. When this process continues for some time, it appears
as if the surface of the hard metal has been nibbled away and made un even.

2.11
 Fig-2.4: Adhesive Wear Mechanism

iv). Abrasive Wear

the softer metal sliding over the surface of the harder metal may contain
appreciable concentrations of hard particles. For example, castings may have pockets of sand
in them. In these conditions, the hard particles act as small cutting edges like those of a
grinding wheel on the surface of a hard metal which in due course, is worn out through
abrasion (see fig.) in addition, the particles of the hard tool metal, which intermittently get torn
out from its surface are dragged along the tool surface or rolled over. These particles plough
grooves in to the surface of the hard tool metal.

Fig-2.6: Abrasive wear mechanism

2.12
 Fig-2.7: Fatigue Wear Mechanism

v). Fatigue Wear

When two surface slide in contact with each other under pressure, asperities on
the surface interlock with those of the other. Due to the frictional stress, compressive stress is
produced on one side of each interlocking asperity and tensile stress on the other side. After
the asperities of a given pair have moved over or through each other, the above stresses are
relieved. New pairs of asperities are, however soon formed and the stress cycle is repeated.
Thus the material of the hard metal near the surface undergoes cyclic stress. This phenomenon
causes surface cracks which ultimately combine with one another and lead to the crumbling of
the hard metal.
Further, the hard metal may also be subjected variable thermal stress owing to
temperature changes brought about by cutting fluid, chip breakage and variable dimensions of
cut, again contributing to fatigue wear.

vi). Electrochemical Effect.

It has been argued that since sufficiently high temperatures exist on the chip tool
interface, a thermoelectric emf is set up in the closed circuit due to the formation of a hot
junction at the chip tool interface between the dissimilar tool and the work materials. This
current may assist the wear process at the rake face in some way, for example by aiding the
diffusion of carbon ions from the carbide tool to the flowing chip.

vii). Oxidation effect

There is evidence to suggest that the formation of grooves or notches at the rake face
and the flank is on account of the sliding of portions of the chip and the machined surface
which have reacted with the oxygen in the atmosphere to form abrasive oxides. For example
when machining steel work piece with HSS or cemented carbide tools, groove formation is
greatly accelerated if the cutting zone is subjected to a jet of oxygen. On the other hand, it is

2.13
retarded or even eliminated if the cutting zone is subjected to a neutral atmosphere using jets
of nitrogen or argon.

Fig-2.8
viii). Chemical Decomposition

Localized chemical reactions may occur that weaken the tool material through
formation of weak compounds or dissolution of the bond between the binder and the hard
constituents in a carbide tool. The weakened particles are easily torn away by the asperities at
the underneath of chip or on machined surface.

Effect of Cutting Speed, Feed and Depth of cut on surface finish

In most cases surface roughness decreases with increase in cutting speed, decrease in
feed and depth of cut. In the machining of mild steel with cemented carbide tools, the
roughness is found to decrease rapidly up to some critical value of speed after which there is
very little improvement. This is explained to be due to reduction in size of built up edge with
increase in cutting speed. Large feed is more detrimental to surface finish than a large depth of
cut. Roughness is not very much affected at low depth of cuts.

TOOL LIFE

Tool life is the useful cutting life of a tool expressed in time or some other unit. The
period during which the tool cuts satisfactorily is called its life. Tool life has many
interpretation, but in general it is defined as “actual cutting time between two successive
grinds”.

Factors up on which tool life depends

1). Cutting speed.

2). Physical properties of work piece.
3). Area of cut
4). Ratio of feed to depth of cut
5). Shape and angles of tool
6). Tool material and its heat treatment
7). Nature and quantity of coolant
8). Rigidity of tool, work and machine tool.

2.14
1). Cutting Speed (Taylor’s Equation)
Cutting speed has the maximum influence on Tool Life. Tool life decreases as the cutting
speed increases. Taylor’s equation defines the relation ship.
VT n = C
V- cutting speed in ft/ min, T- Tool life in minute, C and n are constants depends on
machine tool, work piece, tool geometry etc.

2). Physical Properties of work piece.

Cutting speed depends on work piece and tool material. It is also found that Tool life can
be correlated with micro structure of work. In general hard micro constituents in the matrix
results in poor tool life. Also tool life is better with larger grain size. It is also found that similar
metallographic structures will exhibit similar machining characteristics, regardless of their
relative properties.
The effect of properties of materials is given by the equation,

Constant
V= × % reduction
H B1.68
H B - Brinell hardness
3). Area of cut

The cutting speed V is inversely proportional to the area of cut and is represented by the
equation given below.

k
V= =C
(A + n)
V - cutting speed, A- area ofcut, k, n,C are constants

4). Feed and depth of cut

The life of the cutting tool is influenced by the amount of metal removed by the tool per
minute. When we are using fine speed, the area of the chip passing over the tool face is greater
than that of a coarse feed for a given volume of metal removal. If we offset this advantage in
favor of the thick chip, the tool, forces to produce thicker chips, anyway it is possible to balance
two opposing influences to obtain optimum feed rate.
The effect of feed and depth of cut on tool life is given by the formula,
257
V= 0.19
T f 0.36 a 0.08

Where V − cutting speed in m / min

T − Tool life in min
f − feed in mm / min
a − depth of cut in mm
This
When the feed is more, more localized action and heating of tool at chip tool interface
takes place.

2.15
5). Shape and angles of tool

i) Effect of rake angle – when back rake angle increases, the cutting force
decreases, because of small shear strain. When negative rake angle is used,
shear strain is more, but for practical range, the negative rake angle has
higher cutting force than positive rake angles. Large rake angles produces
chipping and smaller rake angles generates greater heat or an excessive
wear and deformation in tool.
ii) Change in end cutting edge angle has little effect on tool life. However
larger is the angle longer is the tool life. Similarly larger is the side cutting
edge angle longer is the tool life. But an angle higher than 15o produces
chipping and the tool life decreases.
iii) Cutting angle – cutting speed depends on cutting angle. As the cutting
angle increases the power required to machine increase
iv) Nose radius- increase in nose radius increase tool life. Small nose results
in excessive stress concentration and greater heat generation. The
relationship is

V T 0.9927 = 331 × r 0.243

6). Effect of lubricant

Lubrication decreases the cutting forces. The effect of cutting fluid is more predominant
over the lower range of cutting speed, rather than at higher cutting speeds. At low speeds the
cutting fliud acts as lubricant and reduces friction in tool chip interface.

7). Nature of cutting

In the case of continues cutting, the tool life is much better than in intermittent cutting.
The intermittent cutting gives regular impacts on the tool leading to its failure much earlier.

MACHINABILITY
The term mach inability is used to refer to the ease with which a given work material can
be machined under a given set of cutting conditions. Generally machinability is defined by
different criteria; say the tool life, cutting force, surface roughness etc.

Machinability Criteria

The ease of machining different materials can be compared in terms of tool life, cutting
forces or surface finish under similar cutting conditions. Other criteria such as ease of chip
disposal, cutting temperatures, operator safety etc. may also be employed.

The different factors for evaluating machinability of any metal are:

1. Tool Life
2. Form and size of chip and shear angle;

2.16
 3. Cutting forces and power consumption
4. Surface finish
5. Cutting temperature
6. Surface finish
7. Rate of metal removal per tool grind
8. Rate of cutting under standard force
9. Uniformity in dimensional accuracy of successive parts.

Among the above tool life is the most important factor for assessing machinability. A better
machinable metal is one which permits higher cutting speed for a given tool life. Cutting force
becomes important criterion for machinability where it has to be limited considering the
rigidity and vibration in machine. The material which requires higher cutting forces for
machining under given condition is less machinable.
For roughing operation prime consideration is for maximum metal removal rate. In the
case of finishing, the surface finish forms the criterion for machinability.

Variables affecting Machinbility

1). Machine Variables- indirectly affect mach inability

The machine variables are

a). rigidity of the machine,
b). Power and accuracy of the machine tool,
c). the machine should be rigid and have sufficient power to with stand the induced
cutting forces and to minimize deflections.

2). Tool Variables

The various tool variables affecting machinability are

a). geometry and tool material,
b). Nature of engagement of tool with the work,
c). Rigidity of tool

3). Cutting condition

The cutting speed and dimensions of cut influence the tool life and hence machinability.

4). Work material variables

The various work material variables affecting machinability are
a). Chemical composition of work piece material
b). Microstructure composition of work piece material
c). Mechanical properties like ductility, toughness, brittleness etc.
d). Physical properties of work material
e). Method of production of work material.

Tool Life of machining economics. In general, if a work material produces more rapid tool
wear, the tool would have to be

Effect of various machining variables on surface finish is as follows.

2.17
1. Increase of cutting speed - improves surface finish
2. Increase of feed rate - deteriorates
3. Depth of cut - Deteriorates
4. True rake angle - improves
5. Formation of built up edge - deteriorate
6. Cutter vibration and roughness of cutting edge - deteriorate
7. Nose radius - improves

Evaluation of Machinability

The following criteria suggested for evaluating machinability are

1. Tool life for a given cutting speed and tool geometry

2. Rate of metal removal
3. Magnitude of cutting forces and power consumption
4. Quality of finish of the machine surface
5. Dimensional stability of the finished work
6. Heat generated during cutting
7. Ease of chip disposal
8. Chip hardness
9. Shape and size of chips
10. Power consumption per unit volume of material removed.

The main factor to be chosen for evaluating the machinability depends on type of
operation and production requirements. However in production, tool life is generally
considered the most important factor for evaluating machinability. Higher the tool life
better is the machinability of the work material.
The machinability of a work piece tends to decrease as its hardness, tensile strength,
carbon content increases. It also tends to decrease with increase in hard oxide, carbide or
silicate inclusions and also with decrease in grain size.

Advantages of high machinability

1. Good surface finish

2. Higher cutting speed can be used
3. Less power consumption
4. Metal removal rate is high
5. Less tool wear

Machinability index
It is a quantitative measure of machinability. It is used to compare the machinability of
different metals and acts as a quick and reliable checking method. The rated machinabiluity
of two or more metals may vary for different process of cutting such as heavy turning, light
turning, forming, milling etc. the machinability index of different materials is taken relative
to the index which is standardized.
The machinability index of free cutting steel is arbiterly fixed at 100%. For other
materials the index is found as below.

2.18
 Cutting speed of materialfor 20 min toollife
Machinability index, I =
cuttingspeed of standard steelfor 20min toollife

Vi
i.e. I =
Vs
The free cutting steel which is considered as a standard has carbon content of 0.13,
Maximum manganese of 0.06 to 1.10 and sulphur of 0.008 to 0.03 %

Table: 2.2 ; the machinability Index for some common materials are

Machinability index
Material
55.6
Low carbon steel
25
Stain less steel
180 %
Red brass
390 – 1500
Alluminium alloy
500 – 2000
Magnesium alloy

TOOL LIFE

A tool cannot be used for un limited time. When it has been used for a considerable
time, it ceases to cut satisfactorily unless it is re sharpened. It has definite life.
Tool life is the useful cutting life of a tool expressed in time or some other unit. The
period during which the tool cuts satisfactorily is called its life. Tool life has many
interpretations, but in general it is defined as “actual cutting time between two
successive grinds”.
Tool life is an important factor in a cutting tool performance since considerable time is
lost whenever tool is ground and reset. Therefore, the cutting tool should have longer life.
The tool life between reconditioning and replacement can be measured in a number of
ways.
1. Volume of material removed between two successive grindings.
2. Number of pieces machined between two successive grindings.
3. Total time of operation.
4. Equivalent cutting speed.
Tool life (T) based on volume of metal removed between two successive grindings for a
definite depth of cut,; feed and cutting speed can be represented by the relation.

2.19
 Vvol = 1000 × a × f × V×t mm3 /min
Where, a − depth of cut in mm
f − feed in mm/rev
V -cutting speed in m/min
t - time to toolfailurein min

Factors up on which tool life depends

1). Cutting speed.

2). Physical properties of work piece.
3). Area of cut
4). Ratio of feed to depth of cut
5). Shape and angles of tool
6). Tool material and its heat treatment
7). Nature and quantity of coolant
8). Rigidity of tool, work and machine tool.

1). Cutting Speed

Cutting speed has the maximum influence on Tool Life. When cutting speed increases,
the cutting temperature increases. Due to this hardness of the tool decreases. Hence the tool
flank wears and crater failure occurs. Hence it is obvious that the Tool life decreases as the
cutting speed increases.

Taylor’s Equation

Taylor developed an empirical relationship between cutting speed and tool life. It describes the
relation ship.
VT n = C,
V- cutting speed in ft/ min, T- Tool life in minute, C and n are constants depends on
machine tool, work piece, tool geometry etc.

n = 0.1 to 0.5 for HSStools

= 0.2 to 0.4 for tungstencarbide tools
= 0.4 to0.6 for ceramic tools
C = constant,it is numerically equal to cutting speed that gives a tool life of 1 min.

2). Physical Properties of work piece.

Cutting speed depends on work piece and tool material. It is also found that Tool life can
be correlated with micro structure of work. In general hard micro constituents in the matrix
results in poor tool life. Also tool life is better with larger grain size. It is also found that similar
metallographic structures will exhibit similar machining characteristics, regardless of their
relative properties.
The effect of properties of materials is given by the equation,

2.20
 Constant
V= × % reduction
H B1.68
H B - Brinell hardness

3). Area of cut

The cutting speed V is inversely proportional to the area of cut and is represented by the
equation given below.

k
V= =C
(A + n)
V - cutting speed, A- area ofcut, k, n,C are constants

4). Ratio of feed to depth of cut

When the feed is more, more localized action and heating of tool at chip tool interface
takes place.

5). Shape and angles of tool

v) Effect of rake angle – when back rake angle increases, the cutting force
decreases, because of small shear strain. When negative rake angle is used,
shear strain is more, but for practical range, the negative rake angle has
higher cutting force than positive rake angles. Large rake angles produces
chipping and smaller rake angles generates greater heat or an excessive
wear and deformation in tool.
vi) Change in end cutting edge angle has little effect on tool life. However
larger is the angle longer is the tool life. Similarly larger is the side cutting
edge angle longer is the tool life. But an angle higher than 15o produces
chipping and the tool life decreases.
vii) Cutting angle – cutting speed depends on cutting angle. As the cutting
angle increases the power required to machine increase
viii) Nose radius- increase in nose radius increase tool life. Small nose results
in excessive stress concentration and greater heat generation. The
relationship is

V T 0.9927 = 331 × r 0.243

6). Effect of lubricant

Lubrication decreases the cutting forces. The effect of cutting fluid is more predominant
over the lower range of cutting speed, rather than at higher cutting speeds. At low speeds the
cutting fliud acts as lubricant and reduces friction in tool chip interface.

7). Nature of cutting

2.21
 in the case of continues cutting, the tool life is much better than in intermittent cutting.
The intermittent cutting gives regular impacts on the tool leading to its failure much earlier.

Optimum Machining Practices

Ideally the work piece must be turned to the size with one roughening and finish cut.
The great part of the excess material should be removed in the roughing cut as fast as
possible without leaving a surface too torn and rough and without warping the work piece.
For optimum machining, proper consideration should be given to
1. The size and shape of work piece
2. Material to be removed,
3. Kind of tool used
4. Nature of cut to be made
5. Speed, depth and feed of cut to be employed, so that the best results are achieved with
minimum cost.
It is important to bear in mind that the tool forces are markedly higher at slow cutting
speeds and as such the tools with low tensile strength (ceramics) are likely to chip or crack.
At higher cutting speeds or with harder work pieces, the feed and the ratio of feed to depth
of cut become more important; it become more advisable to use high depth to feed ratio
than the high feed to depth ratio.

Fig- (a) Cutting speed more or less constant Fig- (b) Power requirements increase directly in
with increase in cutting speed. proportion to the cuting speed

40 40
35
Power requirement

35
tool cutting force

30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
0 20 40 60 0 10 20 30 40
cutting speed cutting speed

2.22
 Fig- (c) Power requirements increase directly Fig- (d) Power requirements increase as the
in proportion to the cuting speed rate of feed is increased

40 40
35 35

Power requirement
Tool cutting force

30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
-1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
Depth of cut, rate of feed rate of feed

Fig- (e) chip/ tool interface temperature

increases as the cutting speed is increased
and also the tool force increases as the tool
temperature increases
chip tool interface

40
temperature

30
20
10
0
-1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
cutting speed

Ideally work piece must be turned in to the size by one roughing cut and one
finishing cut. The greater part of metal will be removed in the roughing cut as fast as
possible.

Economics of Machining

It is not sufficient to device a feasible procedure for a desired component or

commodity. The variables affecting the economics of a machining operation are numerous
which include the tool material, machine tool capacity, cutting conditions. Ecoomic
selection of a cutting condition involves technical and cost data which are not readly
available to the operator, so that an optimum selection can seldom be achieved by this
approach.
Taylor stressed this point some years ago and suggested that an optimum can only be
approached, if the selection is made by a planning engineer with access to all relevant
information.
In selecting economic operating conditions, machine tool capabilities must be taken in
to account. Often the desired conditions may not be attainable on the machine tool
2.23
proposed for particular operation. It is then necessary to either change the operating
condition or review the machine tool selection by a cost comparison, to see if a change in
machine tool is effectively justified. The change may involve purchase of new machine or
possibly modifying the existing machine. The capacity limits of a machine tool limiting the
selection of machining conditions may be listed as follows.
(1). Machine tool maximum limit.
(2). Machine tool maximum speed.
(3). Machine tool maximum power.
(4). Maximum available cutting or thrust force.
(5). Speed and feed limits for the desired surface finish.
(6). Machine tool feed and speed steps.

Cost per component, production rate and profit rate- the machining cost per component is
made up of a number of different costs. For simplicity, single pass case will be considered.
i) Non productive cost per component (C1). It includes the cost of loading and unloading
component, the ideal time cost and other non cutting time costs not included in the total
cost per component. This cost is determined by adding all non productive time T1 and
multiplying it by the cost rate x. the cost rate includes the labor and overhead cost rates.
Thus C1 = xT1.
ii). The cost of machining time (C2) – it is found by multiplying the cost x, by the
machining time per component Tc. The machining time is the time required for the tool to
traverse the component (feed engaged), whether the tool is continuesly in contact with the
work or not. The cost C2 is, therefore, given by C2 = x Tc.

2.24