Studying the Performance of Cutting Tools during Turning of Austempered Ductile Iron

Recently, austempered ductile iron (ADI) is finding many applications in different areas due to its high strength-to-weight ratio. However, it is a difficult-to- machine material. In this work, experimental investigations have been done to observe machining performance during turning ADI rods using two tool inserts. Cutting force components, chip forms, etc. have been observed during straight turning of ADI rods with TiAlN-coated carbide and cBN tool inserts. Observations have been made by varying cutting velocities under dry condition. Machining tests indicate that coated carbide inserts require less cutting forces and it can machine even after 1 minute of machining, while the cBN inserts show deterioration of the cutting edge just at the end of 20 seconds of machining under a typical machining condition. It is seen that at certain experimental conditions, coated carbide inserts and cBN inserts show fairly good machinability for machining ADI in dry condition.