Wear mechanisms of cutting tools in high-speed cutting processes

Contemporary cutting tools used for High Speed Cutting (HSC), made on the basis of micro-grained cemented carbides with multi-layer protective coating, allow for effective machining of hardened and tempered steels of hardness over 50HRc. The characteristic wear of such tools is affected by the fact that the cutting speed is no longer the main influential factor on wear; the wear can also be the consequence of the high-speed tool movements in the feed direction. The paper presents some original research into the wear types, as well as the phenomena in the cutting zone and their relationships to the causes and main wear mechanisms (adhesion, abrasion and diffusion) for the tools used in HSC.