Highly wear-resistant cutting tools with textured surfaces in steel cutting

To increase cutting tool life, our previous studies have proposed cutting tools with nano-/micro-textured surfaces, which displayed high anti-adhesive effects in the cutting of aluminum alloys. In this study, the previously developed tools were used to cut steel materials with the goal of improving wear resistance. However, a serious problem regarding the wear still remained. Therefore, to overcome this problem, new TiAlN-coated cutting tools with periodical stripe-grooved surfaces were developed. Face-milling experiments on steel materials showed that the new texture and coating on the tool surface significantly reduce the tool wear. (C) 2012 CIRP.