Machining performance evaluation of liquid nitrogen treated M2 cutting tools for turning operations

Abstract

The present study is focused on liquid nitrogen treatment of M2 tool steel for 12 hours, 24 hours, and 36 hours at-196 °C followed by tempering at 150 °C. The treated tool samples are used for machining low carbon steel on a CNC lathe to varying combinations of Spindle speed (700, 1100 & 1800 rpm), Feed rate (0.1, 0.125 & 0.15 rev/mm) and Depth of cut (0.15, 0.3 & 0.45 mm). Taguchi's Design of experiments and ANOVA methods are used to statistically analyze the effect of cutting parameters and cutting forces on the tool wear and surface roughness after experimentation. SEM analysis is carried out to investigate the type of tool wear experienced by the cutting tools. The regression analysis has resulted in a model to predict the values of surface roughness, tool wear and friction coefficient, with a maximum error of ±6% from the actual experimental values.