Investigation on Tribological Behavior of Heat Treated DIN115CrV3 Steel for Cutting Tool Application by Factorial and Fractional Factorial Design

Abstract

The manufacturing of machines relies heavily on cutting tools. All of the critical procedures in the machine industry would have to be performed with an unacceptable level of imprecision without the use of effective cutting tools. Selecting an appropriate cutting tool material allows manufacturers to decrease machining times, eliminate unnecessary processes, raise standards of surface smoothness and accuracy, and, ultimately, increase their profits. The heat treated DIN115CrV3 steel is used as a predominant cutting tool material in the industries. Predicting wear rates at various working temperatures were crucial for selecting the cutting tool material. Considering maximum wear resistance was essential in designing the cutting tool. This research attempted to identify the wear rate influence of varying parameters like hardening temperature, tempering temperature, sliding velocity, sliding distance, and load. Each parameter with three levels was selected to design the experiment using Factorial and fractional factorial designs with restrictions. The experiments were conducted as per standard test method to conduct the wear analysis in the pin-on-disc apparatus (ASTM G99) based on the L27 design matrix, and responses such as friction force and wear rate were measured. ANOVA was performed to find out the significance of the measured results. RSM, Excel solver, and Box-Cox approach were used to predict the wear rate and frictional force. The optimized wear rate and friction forces were predicted by a grey relational approach, which was verified by a confirmatory test. The result was that 200 ºC tempering temperature offers the minimum dry wear behaviour. The sliding distance contributes significantly to wear and frictional force compared with other parameters. The hardening temperature 800 ᵒC, tempering temperature 200 ᵒC, sliding Velocity 5 m/sec, sliding distance 2000m, and load 25 N are optimal parameter combinations of the dry wear process after the heat treatment obtained by GRA and confirmation. The strength and wear behaviour of cutting tool affects the quality of manufacturing process and also reduces the accuracy industrial products. Hence, the improvements in cutting tool material through optimization is the best way of improve the manufacturing process in industries.