Effect of combined additions of Si, Mn, Cr and Al to carbon steel on material transfer in a steel/TiN coated tool sliding contact

Material transferred from steel work materials onto the cutting tools largely affects tool life and machining performance. This material transfer is strongly influenced by the steel composition, and different alloying can have very different effects. Crossed cylinders sliding tests can be used to simulate the contact between the chip and the tool in machining. In this work such a test is used to evaluate material transfer and friction characteristics of a TiN coated tool sliding against five model steels. These model steels are especially designed to study the effects from specific combination of alloy elements, i.e. the steels, containing 0.55 mass% C and 1 mass% Si, are alloyed with one or more of 1 mass% Mn, Cr and Al. When using the steels alloyed without Al, Si-rich oxide layers are formed on the coating, resulting in a low friction coefficient. When using the steels alloyed with Al, almost pure Al-O layers are formed, resulting in a higher friction coefficient and rapid coating cracking. Essentially, the most easily oxidized alloy element is most strongly enriched in the oxide and decides the main mechanism of the material transfer and friction behavior.