Investigations of the wear of cubic boron nitride cutting tools using Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray analysis by EPMA

Hard turning offers increased productivity, flexibility and lower capital investment in comparison with grinding for finishing of hardened steel components. The trade-off is the higher cost of the cubic boron nitride (cBN) cutting tools. The major obstacle to a positive cost trade-off is the problem of reducing the wear rate of cBN while hard turning steel. This work, using Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray analysis by EPMA, has determined that the wear mechanisms of the tool were primarily tribochemical in nature in the crater region and most likely chemical in the flank region. On the basis of these observed mechanisms, a strategy for engineering an improved tool material with increased wear resistance while hard turning steel was proposed.