Influence of tribological properties on the performance of uncoated, CVD and PVD coated tools in machining of Incoloy 825

The influence of tribological properties of coated tools on performance during machining of nickel-based super alloy is not well reported. The current study comparatively evaluated tribological properties of tools coated with chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition (PVD) with reference to their uncoated counterpart. The same cutting tools were then utilised in machining of Incoloy 825. Adhesion, attrition, edge chipping and notch wear were prominent wear mechanism of uncoated followed by CVD coated tool. However, PVD coated tool outperformed the others. This might be attributed to excellent tribological properties of TiAlN/TiN multilayer coating. Anti-friction and anti-sticking property of TiN and good toughness due to multilayer configuration in combination with thermally resistant TiAlN phase are the primary contributing factors.