High durability of cutting insert edges made of nanocrystalline cemented carbides

• The PPS method allows us to manufacture cutting edges with high durability.
• We determine the best values of the sintering from the point of view of durability of cutting edges.
• We confirm the positive influence of the TaC–NbC addition on durability of nanophase WC–5Co.

The article presents the investigations of durability of the cutting tools (insert cutting edges) made of the nanocrystalline sintered carbides. Cutting insert edges were sintered using the Pulse Plasma Sintering (PPS) method elaborated at the Department of Materials Science Warsaw University of Technology. This article contains the results of comparative investigations of durability of the cutting edges made of WC–5 wt.% Co nanocrystalline cemented carbides with the TaC–NbC growth inhibitor and without it sintered by the PPS method, and cutting edges made of a standard cemented carbides of the same chemical composition (obtained by the Hot Pressing (HP) method) during turning the EN-ISO 42CrMo4/1.7225 (PN: 40HM) toughening steel. The nanocrystalline cemented carbides have much higher hardness and smaller average grain size than standard carbides with the same chemical composition. For these reasons, cutting inserts made of the nanocrystalline cemented carbides have significantly greater resistance to wear and greater durability during machining the EN-ISO 42CrMo4 toughening steel.