SYNOPSIS

This paper deals with the study of the experimental observations of the performance of
the two types of advanced ceramic cutting tools (Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic
cutting tool and Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool) by machining them on
hardened steel having different hardness numbers. The generalized relationship for the
surface roughness, tool life and wear produced on the work piece for particular ranges of
cutting speeds are found out by conducting the desired test.
The performance of advanced ceramic cutting tools is also compared with other cutting
tools (Carbide, Cermets, etc) and the tool life vs cutting speeds as well as hardness to
temperature relations are plotted. The effect of different cutting edge profiles on the
performance of the ceramic cutting tools is also seen. The cost analysis of ceramic cutting
tools and their advantages and drawbacks are also mentioned.

INTRODUCTION
The rapid development in aerospace, nuclear and other industries require hard and tough
cutting tools for machining hard materials, hence advanced ceramics are becoming
popular for precision parts. Ceramic cutting tools have several advantages in the
machining of hard materials like hardened steel. Ceramic cutting tools can be operated at
higher cutting speeds than carbide and cermet tools. This results in increased metal
removal rate and productivity. Trends in the manufacturing industry drive trends in metal
cutting insert development. Changes in work piece materials, manufacturing processes
and even government regulations catalyze parallel advances in metal cutting tooling
technology. As manufacturers continually seek and apply new manufacturing materials
that are lighter and strongerand therefore more fuel efficientit follows that cutting
toolmakers must develop tools that can machine the new materials at the highest possible
levels of productivity. By fine tuning combinations of tool material compositions,
coatings, and geometries, toolmakers enable users to make more parts faster and at
reduced manufacturing costs. The development process is continuous and interactive.
Ceramic tool materials are dense polycrystalline aggregates averaging two to five
microns in grain size. They are based on alumina with corundum crystal structure. Small
amounts of other ceramic materials have been added, either to refine the grain structure
or to promote sintering. Tool inserts or tips of ceramic materials are manufactured by
either sintering or hot pressing. Their strength depends on alumina-alumina grain
boundary adhesion rather than on an alumina-cement-alumina bond.
Ceramic cutting tools are used to machine the difficult-to-cut materials at higher
cutting speeds. Alumina based tools exhibit high hot hardness and very good chemical
stability, and thus these tools are used for many cutting applications. Ceramic inserts can
be operated over a wide range of cutting speeds. While the initial cost of ceramic inserts
are usually higher than carbide or cermet inserts, the cost per part machined is often
lower. This is primarily the result of longer tool life and the need for fewer tool changes
because of reduced wear.

Hong Xiao conducted tool wear studies on various ceramic tools and observed that oxide
and mixed ceramic tools are more suitable for machining hardened steel than other
ceramic tools because of their superior flank wear resistance. Brandt observed that mixed
alumina ceramic tool has better flank wear resistance due to higher hot hardness and
greater thermal conductivity than oxide alumina ceramic ceramic tools, while machining
hardened steel. Brandt and Mikus observed that the crater wear of alumina based ceramic
tools while machining steel was predominantly dependent upon superficial plastic
deformation and this deformation was greatly affected by chemical reaction with work
piece material. Narutaki and Yamane observed that zirconia toughened alumina ceramic
tool showed superior crater wear resistance than mixed alumina ceramic tool.
Bhattacharya found that the tools based on mixed ceramics give better performance than
those based on oxide and nitride ceramics, while machining cast iron.

CLASSIFICATION OF CERAMIC CUTTING TOOLS

Ceramic cutting tools are mainly classified as aluminium oxide based ceramics and
silicon nitride based ceramics. Aluminium oxide based ceramics include plain oxide
alumina ceramic cutting tool, mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool and whisker reinforced
ceramic cutting tool.
When oxide particulates like zirconium oxide is added in the aluminium oxide matrix, the
resulting ceramic tools are called oxide ceramic cutting tools. When non-oxide
particulates like TiC and TiN are added in the aluminium oxide matrix, they are called
mixed ceramic cutting tools. When whiskers like silicon carbide are reinforced in the
aluminium oxide matrix, they are called whisker reinforced ceramic cutting tools. These
types of alumina based composite ceramic cutting tools are used for machining hard
materials such as cast irons having wide range of hardness, plain carbon steels and alloy
steels.
Regarding alumina (A12O3 based) ceramics, the addition of silicon carbide whiskers
offers increased productivity in the machining of Inconel and similar high strength, high
temperature alloys in the aerospace industry. Single crystal whiskers deflect cracks in the
alumina matrix and thereby improve fracture toughness of the tool.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CERAMIC CUTTING TOOLS

The principal elevated-temperature properties of alumina are high hardness, chemical
inertness and resistance to wear. The high hardness and wear resistance of alumina are the
main reasons for its use in machining cast iron and hardened steel at high cutting speeds.
The high wear resistance also permits machining of long cylindrical surfaces without
taper. The inertness of alumina to iron at high temperature prevents welding of tool to
steel or cast iron workpieces and contributes to the production of good surface finish.
Ceramic tools are satisfactory for general machining of steel where there are no heavy
interrupted cuts and where negative rakes can be used.
The properties of ceramic based cutting materials are completely different from
conventional materials, such as cemented carbides or high speed steel. Basically there are
ten major recommendations for the application of ceramic cutting tools:
1)

Best efficiency is achieved in large quantity metal removal operations.

2) Best efficiency with ceramic tools is achieved with the highest cutting speeds feasible
and the strongest insert geometries.
3) Rigid machine tools, safe clamping devices, rigid work pieces are recommended for
machining with ceramic tools.
4) Clutches and brakes of the machine tool should be designed for "higher operating
frequency" or shorter machining cycles.
5) Chip conveyors should be attached to the machine tool, capable of handling large
amounts of chips (20 lbs. per minute minimum).
6) Gain experience with ceramic cutting tools by machining materials with good
machinability, such as grey cast iron or carbon steel. Do not expect immediate
solutions for exotic materials or complex work pieces.
7) Conversion to ceramic cutting tools requires a review of the machining sequence. At
the entry point of the cutting edge a precut chamfer or a reduced feed rate is
recommended.
8) Machine operators need adequate training to accept the use of the high productive rates
of ceramic tools.

9) Machining parameters should be precisely defined to prevent misapplications.

10) Last but not least rethink your thinking.

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Details of the experiment such as tool material specification, composition, work piece
materials detail of machining tests are given below
1)

Tool materials
Mainly two types of ceramic cutting tools are used for the investigation. Table 1 lists
the details about the tool materials such as their trade names and compositions.
Table 1. Details of the cutting tool inserts

Tool Material
Ti[C,N] mixed

Approximate Composition
alumina Al2O3 - 70%

ceramic cutting tool

Ti[C,N] - 30%
Zirconia toughened alumina Al2O3 96.5%
ceramic cutting tools
2)

ZrO2 - 3.5%

Mechanical properties of Tool materials

Property
Transverse Rupture Strength

Ceramic
90,000

High Speed steel

500,000

C-2 Carbide
230,000

Compressive Strength

500,000

600,000

650,000

Modulus of Elasticity

60 x 104

32 x104

100 x 104

Microhardness, Rockwell

93

85

92

Microhardness, Knoop 100

1780

740

1800

3)

Composition of work piece material in % weight (hardened steel)

C
0.35-0.45
4)

Si
0.01-0.35

Mn
0.45-0.7

Cr
0.9-1.4

Mo
0.2-0.35

Fe
Balance

Machining test

The machining tests were conducted at different cutting speeds at constant feed
(0.12mm/rev) and depth of cut (0.5 mm). The flank wear and crater wear measurements
were measured using optical microscope with 10x magnification factor and point edged

stylus dial gauge. The tool wear measurements were noted. Machining tests were
conducted at 120,170, 270 m/min under dry environment.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Flank wear
figure shows flank wear vs. cutting speed for Zirconia toughened alumina an Ti[C,N]
mixed alumina ceramic cutting tools after machining 15 minutes on En24 steel with
hardness number 40 HRC. It can be observed that the flank wear of the Zirconia
toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool is slightly higher than that of Ti[C,N] mixed
alumina ceramic tool.
A generalized flank wear model of the form VB = Cvatb can be used to analyze machining
test results and plot the computed curves of flank wear versus cutting speed for a
particular cutting time
Figure shows the flank wear vs. machining time of the ceramic tools on machining En 24
steel with hardness 45 HRC, at a cutting speed of 270 m/min. as the machining time
increases, the flank wear of Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool increases.
Ti[C,N] mixed ceramic cutting tool exhibited better flank wear resistance because of its
higher hardness value than Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool.

fig 1. Flank wear vs. cutting speed of Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool
and Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool.
2.Tool life analysis

The tool life of the ceramic cutting tool can be determined and plotted against cutting
speed, using the flank wear criterion. These curves illustrate the limit tool life of the
ceramic cutting tools for the given speed. A generalized wear model was created using
flank wear, cutting speed and time using multiple regression analysis.
Two flank wear models of Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool were examined
while machining on EN24 steel with hardness 40 HRC and 45 HRC respectively. The
significance of the model is checked using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The
indicators of the analysis of variance technique such as R2value and R2 adj value were
higher for the first case.
Figure shows the tool life of Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool vs. cutting
speed on machining the hardened steels with different values. From the graph, it can be
noted that the tool life of Ti[C,N] mixed ceramic cutting tool has better tool life, when
machining hardened steel with 40 HRC than machining hardened steel with 45 HRC.

fig 2. Tool life vs. cutting speed of Ti[C,N] mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool at
hardness number 40 HRC and 45 HRC.
The curves Fig(b) in show that ceramics are much less affected by speed than are
carbides. At cutting speeds to the left of the intersection of the curves, carbides last
longer; to the right of this point, ceramics show longer life.

10000

ceramic
1000
Tool life
sq in
machined
100

Carbide (C-8)

10
100

1000

10000

Cutting speed, sfm

fig 3. Effect of cutting speed on tool life of ceramic and carbide tools in machining soft
steel.
Fig(c) compares the relations of tool life to cutting speed for a ceramic, a grade C-8
carbide, and a TiC-Ni cermet in machining 81B45 steel and gray iron. The ceramic tool
was much more wear resistant than the carbide tool, but the tests did not consider fracture
which often occurs before development of the wear land.

fig 4. Relation of tool life to cutting speed for ceramic, cermet and carbide tools.

3. Surface roughness
The advantage of machining by ceramic cutting tools is generally seen in higher levels of
surface finish obtained compared to that of other conventional tools such as cemented
carbides. While dimensional accuracy is controlled by flank wear of the turning tools, the
surface quality largely depends upon the stability of the cutting nose. An ideal tool
material is the one, which can ensure high fidelity of its nose replication, thereby
ensuring good control over the surface quality. The variation of surface roughness with
cutting speed after 15 minutes of machining on the hardened steel with 40 HRC is
presented in figure. It can be noted that both the ceramic cutting tools produced better
surface finish with the increase of cutting speed. The performance of Ti[C,N] mixed
alumina ceramic tool is better than that of Zirconia toughened alumina because of its high
hardness and the better stability of its cutting nose.
7

Surface
6
Roughness
[Ra]
(microns) 5

Zirconia toughened alumina

Ti[C,N] mixed alumina

4
3
100

150

200

250

300

Cutting speed (m/min)

fig 5. Surface Roughness vs. cutting speed of ceramic cutting tools after 15 minutes of
machining on En 24 steel with 40 HRC.
4. Hardness to temperature relation
The relation of hardness to temperature of several cutting tool material is shown in the
figure. Because the temperature at the tool edge increases with cutting speed, ceramic can
function at higher speeds than other cutting materials

fig 6. Hardness as a function of temperature for various cutting tool materials.

5. Cutting edge profiles of ceramic tools
Tests have been made of the edge profiles as shown in figure. Tools with ground and
chemically polished chamfer showed a threefold increase in tool life over those with the
ground chamfer, whereas the 0.001 in radius polished land had a tool life 30% less than
that of the ground chamfer. The increase in tool life could not be attributed to either the
edge profile or the chemical polish alone, but was a result of the combination of increased
strength caused by polishing and the more satisfactory distribution of stress because of
edge contours.

0.006
Chamfer
(Polished)

0.006
Chamfer

0.001 R

Ground

Polished

fig 7. Cutting edge profile of ceramic tools

0.001 R
(Polished)

Ground and Polished

DRAWBACKS OF CERAMIC TOOLS

Some failure of ceramic tools are caused by fatigue. This has been substantiated by the
performance of reground ceramic tools in cutting brake drums, where the tool life of
refinished tool tips was substantially lower than that of the original tools. The fatigue
damage usually occurs in the crater area.
At slower cutting speeds, tool loads are markedly higher and ceramic tools are likely to
chip or fracture because of their lower tensile strength. Hence ceramic tools should run at
high speeds and use the strongest tool shapes.
As the cutting speed or the hardness of the work material increases, the feed and deprth
of cut becomes more important. Deeper cuts at lighter feed are better than lighter cuts at
heavier feed. Depth of cut usually depends on the amount of stock to be removed; cuts up
to half the width of the insert should not shorten the life of a ceramic tool.
Chemical reactions between the tool and work piece cause slighter tool life by
accelerated wear. Such reactions depend on chemical affinity and temperature.
Aluminium oxide is inert to iron, manganese, cobalt, carbon and nickel. Magnesium
reduces alumina at about 1650oF and tool wear can be rapid if temperatures in this range
are reached. Beryllium and aluminium oxide form Chrysoberyl (BeO.Al 2O3) at 3300oF. In
machining, this mixed oxide film would be continuously removed by abrasion, permitting
further chemical reaction between clean work metal and tool, thus accelerating tool wear.
Because of the reaction and bonding between alumina metal and aluminium oxide, and a
slight reaction between titanium or Zirconium and alumina at 2550 o F, with corrosion
developing at 2900oF, ceramics are not recommended for machining aluminium alloys,
titanium or Zirconium.
Vanadium, Columbium, tantalum, Chromium, molybdenum and tungsten do not react
with alumina at temperatures up to 3300oF.

COST ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC TOOLS

The negligible effect of cutting speed on ceramic tool life or cost is most evident in
facing cuts, with high speeds on the outside and low speeds near the center. When facing
with carbide, the instantaneous total cost varies as the tool cuts on a decreasing diameter
and at decreasing surface speed; cost goes through the minimum and up the other side of
the curve. When using ceramic, cost is almost independent of cutting speed above a
certain point.
The cost of ceramic inserts is about twice that of precision ground carbide inserts of the
same size. Although the initial cost of the ceramic inserts are usually higher than carbide
or cermet tools, the cost per part machined is usually lower.

0.5
Carbide

fig 8. Cost
allocation vs. cutting speed of ceramic and carbide tools
0.4
Cumulative 0.3
cost REDUCING CERAMIC COST USING LASERS
per
piece
0.2 of their exceptional hardness, resistance to wear
Because
in $

Ceramic

and stability at high

temperature, advanced ceramics are becoming popular for precision parts in aerospace,
0.1

automotive and manufacturing industries. They are also well suited to medical
100 200 300 400 500
application0 such
as parts for artificial joints.600
Cutting speed (sfm)

cutting speed (sfm)

However, the same properties that make precision ceramics popular also make them
difficult to manufacture. Machining accounts for as much as 75 percent of the production

costs. A new technique that uses a laser to soften ceramics before machining could reduce
costs by half or more.
High precision shaping of ceramic parts is generally a multi step process requiring
several diamond grinding machines that cost more than $1 million each. The new
technique, developed by Yung C.Shin, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue
University, combines these steps into one machining operation, with a cost of $400,000.
A laser rapidly heats a thin layer of the ceramic to 1300 to 1400oC immediately before its
removal with an ultra hard cubic boron nitride tool. This softens a layer of the material to
a glassy phase that the cutting tool can remove, substantially reducing the compressive
forces of grinding that can cause cracks.

fig 9. A machined ceramic part first softened by a laser shows that damage extends only
a few microns. This technique avoids subsurface cracking characteristics of grinding
process.
The Purdue lab uses a 1.5-kw CO2 laser, usually at 300 to 400 W, but Shin believes that
other lasers, such as an Nd:YAG, could also be used. The critical factor for precise
machining is to focus the beam to a 2-mm diameter spot. Typically, the heating depth is
about 1 mm, but this can be adjusted for maximum precision. Cutting tool wear is
reduced, so lathing speed can be increased by an order of magnitude and tool life is
extended.
One potential drawback to the process is that it may not be applicable to all types of
ceramic materials. Most of the work so far has used silicon nitride, and current

experiments are establishing operating conditions for zirconia and alumina/silica

ceramics.

APPLICATIONS OF CERAMIC CUTTING TOOLS

Ceramic tools are used successfully in a variety of turning operations. Significant
expansion in the use of ceramics will require more machines that can operate routinely at
the higher range of speeds where ceramic tools are most efficient. It will also be
necessary to reconsider tool engineering on each job, or each type of job, where ceramic
replaces another tool material.
Table shows turning operation performed on 5135 steel at 170 and 207 Bhn with ceramic
tools.
Tool life . 4 x Carbide
Cutting speed . 2 x Carbide
Production rate.. 3/2x Carbide
It can be seen that cutting speed for the ceramic was twice that of carbide for the same
feed and depth of cut and production rate was increased 50% with 4 times the tool life
In high-speed lathes designed to operate with ceramic tools. For machining an artillery
part of 5135 steel at a hardness of 320 Bhn and comparing the previous production
performance using carbide tools in a good but less complicated machine tool, the ceramic
tools showed an increase in tool life for rough turning and facing operations.
Many nonferrous metals and non-metallics can be machined with ceramic tools, success
depending on the affinity of the work material for aluminium oxide. Tool life for
machining Nan ferrous and Non-metallic materials like carbon (graphite), Tungsten,
Copper, Hard rubber with ceramic tools were found to be excellent whereas for
machining Brass, Bronze, plastics, etc tool life was good.
METAL FORMING APPLICATIONS
Wear Behavior
Comparative tests by wire manufacturers have shown that Technox guides and rolls can
outlast a conventional high speed steel by a factor of >20. Depending on the shape and
complexity of the part the price penalty is rarely more than a factor of 4. Consequently

the cost benefit analysis is very favorable, without taking account of the effect on
machine downtime. Several customers have measured lifetimes in terms of years, not
weeks.
Strength
Technox ceramics are up to 5 times stronger than conventional alumina and zirconia
grades. They display bending strengths similar to the yield strength of low alloy steels.
Surface Finish
With a sub micron grain size and near-zero porosity, Technox materials can be finished
to display the highest degrees of surface finish, polish and precision. Surface roughness
value less than 0.05 um Ra are attainable.
Impact Resistance
Unlike the brittle behavior displayed by conventional alumina materials, Technox
advanced ceramics can withstand severe impacts and mechanical shocks. Their
"Transformation Toughening" ability means a Technox nail can be hammered through a
block of wood.
Corrosion Resistance
In acid or alkali mediums, Technox ceramics display excellent resistance to the most
hazardous of environments.
GENERAL ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
Although engineers and designers have traditionally been concerned about the application
of "ceramic" technology into engineering applications, Dynamic-Ceramic now has
hundreds of case histories which show how advanced ceramics can provide a robust and
cost effective solution in many engineering applications.
Frequently viewed as a direct replacement material for top of the range metals such as
tool steels, stellite and tungsten carbides, the Technox materials produced by DynamicCeramic frequently act as enabling materials to allow new applications to emerge.
A list of typical applications, which is by no means exhaustive and which grows every
day is detailed below:

Bearings, Bushes, Wear Plates, Drive Shafts, Gears, Weld pins, Valves
TUBE INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS FOR ADVANCED CERAMICS
Applications within the tube industry call for materials with both good wear resistance
and good surface properties, such that the quality of the manufactured product is not
compromised by contact with the tooling.

CONCLUSION

In machining of hardened steel with ceramic cutting tools, it was found that
Ti[C,N]mixed alumina ceramic cutting tool exhibited better flank wear resistance, longer
tool life and good surface finish than Zirconia toughened alumina ceramic cutting tool.
Ceramic cutting tools exhibit high hardness value at high temperature, hence ceramic can
function at higher speed than other materials.
Ceramic tools are more likely to fracture at slower cutting speeds due to low tensile
strength. Hence ceramic tools must be operated at high speeds.
Although the initial cost of ceramic inserts are generally higher than other cutting tool
materials, the cost per part machined with ceramic tools are usually lower.
Flank wear in alumina based ceramic tools is caused mainly due to the abrasion of work
piece with the tool at the tool-work interface.

REFERENCE

1. A. Senthil Kumar, A. Rajadurai and T. Sornakumar TOOL LIFE AND TOOL

LIFE ANALYSIS OF ADVANCED CERAMIC CUTTING TOOLS ON
MACHINING HARDENED STEEL. Journal of Advanced manufacturing
techniques (AMT). 2003.
2. American society for metals, MATERIALS HANDBOOK, Machining, 8th
Edition , Vol-3.
3. INDIAN CERAMICS, June 1994, Vol-37, No-1
4. Dr. O.P. Khanna, PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, Vol-2.