Effect on PVD coated cemented carbide inserts cutting performance of micro-blasting and lapping of their substrates

The paper deals with the correlation between the cutting performance of coated cemented carbide inserts and their substrate superficial properties, which can be affected by micro-blasting, lapping or their combinations. The stress-strain laws of the treated substrates were encountered by means of a finite elements method (FEM) based evaluation of nanoindentation's results and the film adhesion by means of the inclined impact test. The cutting performance of the coated inserts was investigated experimentally in milling and moreover analytically, with the aid of a FEM simulation of the cutting process, in which graded substrate strength properties, as well as film adhesion and roughness data were considered. The obtained computational and experimental results show a significant cutting performance improvement through coating adhesion enhancement, induced by substrate mechanical treatments.