Experimental Investigation and Performance Analysis of Ceramic Inserts in Laser Assisted Turning of Waspaloy

In this paper, the influence of laser assisted turning of hard-to-cut nickel-based superalloy on tool cutting ability was presented. The conducted research involved the machining performance along with tool life of ceramic inserts during turning of heat-resistant alloy under a trade name Waspaloy. The ceramic insert with geometry in accordance with the ISO – RPGX 120700 T01020 were applied during longitudinal turning with laser beam. The investigations has been completed with various cutting conditions such as laser power P, cutting speed vc, feed f and depth of cut ap. In order to determine the relations between the tool wear and cutting time, the tool life T has been selected. The increment of tool wear was correlated with the change of vibration signals and the critic points of tool wear was presented. In addition, the shape and form of chip was evaluated based on macroscopic observation and SEM analyses. The conducted research was primarily focused on effective application of ceramic inserts during turning Waspaloy with laser beam and comparison this technology with conventional machining