The impact of the tool material and the cutting parameters on surface roughness of supermet 718 nickel superalloy

The objective of the present work is to assess the effect of the tool material and the cutting parameters on surface roughness of supermet 718 nickel-base superalloy, under dry cutting conditions and a constant nose radius (0.5 mm). The tool materials used were ceramic (Sandvik CC680)and CBN (Sandvik CB50) inserts. These variables were investigated using a 2(k) factorial design. The present work demonstrates a favorable effect for ceramic inserts on surface roughness, when compared with CBN inserts. The work also showed that the feed-rate has the dominant effect on surface roughness amongst the parameters studied, irrespective of the tool material used. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.