Comparative assessment of surface roughness produced by hard machining with mixed ceramic tools including 2D and 3D analysis

This paper provides a new comprehensive analysis of part surface finish in continuous dry turning of a hardened construction steel when using mixed alumina cutting tools. Consequently, the surface profiles (2D arragement) and surface microstereometries (3D arragement) generated during different hard part turning operations on a 40H low chromium alloy steel (equivalent to AISI 5140 or DIN 41Cr4), heat treated to the hardness of about 60 HRC, were evaluated. As a result, this paper aggregates the multi-parameters characterization of the surface roughness with the machined surface structure obtained at the three selected feed rates and constant cutting speed of 100 m/min. Results show that hard turning with mixed alumina tools produces specific surface profiles and microstructures, although the Ra roughness values of about 0.25 mu m can be comparable to those produced by finish grinding. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.