Wear performance of indexable coated inserts cutting 0Cr17Ni4Cu4Nb stainless steel

Due to the poor processability of 0Cr17Ni4Cu4Nb stainless steel, the inserts are quickly worn down during the cutting process, affecting both the machining accuracy and surface quality of the machined part. In this study, the wear performance of four different types of coated inserts, TiCN+Al2O3, TiAlN, multilayer Ti composite, and TiCN+Al2O3+TiN, were investigated on the external turning of 0Cr17Ni4Cu4Nb stainless steel. The effects of different coatings on insert durability were analyzed from the perspective of wear profile, flank wear, and chip morphology. The wear of the inserts was mainly resulted from abrasive wear, diffusion wear, and adhesive wear. The flank wear ranking from the lowest to the highest for four coated inserts was TiAlN coating, TiCN+Al2O3 coating, TiCN+Al2O3+TiN coating, and multilayer Ti composite coating. The TiAlN coating deposited by physical vapor deposition exhibited excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance and stability, indicating its suitability for the turning of 0Cr17Ni4Cu4Nb stainless steel component. This study provides not only an important guidance for choosing inserts with different coating materials to improve wear performance, but also a good reference on the optimal design of indexable coated inserts for different materials.