Prediction of tool life for cemented carbide cutting-tools

In this chapter, the review of methods for predicting of wear resistance of cemented carbide cutting tools is presented. Advantages, drawbacks and experimental results in applying methods of nondestructive testing are discussed. It is shown that tool life of cemented carbide tools correlates best of all with their thermal diffusivity. Relationship between wear resistance and diffusivity is analysed. Method for determining thermal diffusivity of tools which provides the required measurement accuracy and inspection productivity is introduced. The chapter contains experimental data on dependencies between wear resistance and diffusivity obtained for some hard metal alloys.