Surface integrity in finish hard turning of case-hardened steels

Highly stressed steel components, e.g., gears and bearing parts, are appropriate applications for hard turning. Therefore, the process effects on significant engineering properties of work materials have to be carefully analyzed. Roughness, residual stresses, and white layers as parts of surface integrity, are functions of the machining parameters and of the cuttability of the cutting edge, i.e. of the tool wear. The aim of this work was to study the influence of feed rate, cutting speed, and tool wear on the effects induced by hard turning on case-hardened 27MnCr5 gear conebrakes and to point out the technical limitations in mass production. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.