Machining performance of pearlitic–ferritic nodular cast iron with coated carbide and silicon nitride ceramic tools

This paper concerns the fundamental cutting characteristics obtained in the turning of the pearlitic–ferritic nodular iron (EN-GJS-500-7 grade with UTS=500 MPa) when using carbide tools coated with single TiAlN and multilayer TiC/Ti(C,N)/Al2O3/TiN coatings, as well as silicon nitride (Si3N4) based ceramic tools. As a competitor, a P20 uncoated carbide grade was selected. The fundamental process readings include cutting and feed forces, the tool–chip interface temperature, Peclet number, friction coefficient and the tool–chip contact length as functions of cutting parameters. In particular, the measurements of cutting temperature were carried out using conventional tool–work thermocouple method and IR thermography. It is concluded based on many process characteristics that multilayer coated and ceramic tools can substantially improve the performance of nodular iron machining.