Microstructure design and preparation of cermet tool material based on wear prediction.

In order to create the components of cermet tool material, a new method for designing tool material based on wear prediction was proposed. The finite element simulation of the cutting process was carried out based on a previously constructed microstructure model of the tool material which involves the components and its volume fractions. A new Ti(C7, N3)/TiB2/WC was designed and prepared based on the acquisition of variations in tool wear morphology among different components and the wear prediction results were verified by the high-speed cutting experiment of stainless steel 06Cr19Ni10. It has been shown that with 20% TiB2 and 15% WC, respectively, the changes of the peak temperature of the rake face and the cutting force reached the lowest level and also the wear amount of the tool was the minimum. With a sintering temperature of 1550 °C, a pressure of 32 MPa and a holding time of 30 min, the bending strength of the Ti(C7, N3)/TiB2/WC cermet tool and hardness were 1096.45 MPa and 18.9 GPa, respectively, and the fracture toughness was 9.85 MPa∙m1/2. The validity of the proposed wear prediction model was verified by studying the variation of the wear amount and the main wear area of the developed tool. This research provides a new efficient method for the design of cermet tool materials, which is time-saving and cost-effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]