Application of carbide cutting tools with nano-structured multilayer composite coatings for turning austenitic steels, type 16Cr-10NI

This paper addresses the challenges of increasing the efficiency of the machining of austenitic stainless steels AISI 321 and S31600 by application of cutting tools with multilayer composite nano-structured coatings. The main mechanical properties and internal structures of the coatings under study (hardness, adhesion strength in the “coating-substrate” system) were investigated, and their chemical compositions were analyzed. The conducted research of tool life and nature of wear of carbide tools with the investigated coatings during turning of the above mentioned steels showed that the application of those coatings increases the tool life by up to 2.5 times. In addition, the use of a cutting tool with coatings allows machining at higher cutting speeds. It was also found that the use of a tool with multilayer composite nano-structured coating (Zr,Nb)N-(Zr,Al,Nb)N ensures better results compared with not only monolithic coating TiN, but also with nano-structured coatings Ti-TiN-(Ti,Al)N and (Zr,Nb)N-(Cr,Zr,Nb,Al)N. The mechanism of failure of the coatings under study was also investigated