Wear behavior of some cutting tool materials in hard turning of HSS

► Four different cutting tools have been used for the HSS cutting test. ► c-BN and TiN coated c-BN showed the worst behavior at high speeds. ► TiN coated multilayer TiC/TiCN/Al2O3 and Al2O3+TiC exhibited a longer tool life. ► Formation of a protective tribo-layer of Al2O3 was observed by Raman and SEM mapping.