Advanced cutting materials are advanced metal-cutting tool materials, they differ a lot from the common ones. They are much harder than common ones, such as carbides, and they have a range of properties and applications. Advanced materials include cermet, ceramic, cubic boron nitride (CBN), Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) and Polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN).
Even though Carbon tool steel is one of the inexpensive metals cutting tools used for low-speed machining operation, some materials need expensive cutting tool materials to make the machining process flawless. Advanced cutting materials’ main benefits are their ability to cut hard, abrasive, and ductile materials, perform precise cuts, and cut at higher speeds.
Many workpiece materials, such as superalloys and cast iron, respond best to being cut with advanced tool materials. Advanced materials can also improve the efficiency and accuracy of machining operations. An operator who understands advanced tool materials will be able to cut more kinds of materials effectively, increasing flexibility and reducing scrap and waste.
PROPERTY | CARBIDE | CERAMIC | CBN | PCD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hardness [HV] |
1,300-1,800 |
2,100-2,400 |
4,500-5,000 |
5,000-6,000 |
Machining Hard Steel |
10 - 45 HRC 50 - 100 mm/min 160 - 320 SFM |
40 - 60 HRC 100 - 300 mm/min 330 - 660 SFM |
50 - 70 HRC 150 - 350 mm/min 500 - 1150 SFM |
N/A |
Machining Cast Iron |
200 - 300 mm/min 650 - 1000 SFM |
400 - 800 mm/min 1300 - 2600 SFM |
500 - 2000 mm/min 1500 - 6500 SFM |
N/A |
Machining Super Alloys |
20 - 60 mm/min 65 - 200 SFM |
150 - 400 mm/min 500 - 1300 SFM |
100 - 400 mm/min 330 - 1300 SFN |
N/A |
Machining Aluminum |
300 - 800 mm/min 1150 - 2600 SFM |
N/A |
N/A |
600 - 2500 mm/min 2000 - 8000 SFM |
As mentioned above, PCD stands for “Poly Crystalline Diamond”, the hardest available cutting material. PCD is a synthetic diamond produced by sintering together selected diamond particles with a metal matrix at high temperature and high pressure. Based on how they are made, it makes them resistant to abrasion, and wear and tear. PCD is for any speed, period, in nonferrous materials. It will leave a good finish at low surface speeds, and it won't break down at ridiculous speeds (10k+ SFM). It also lasts much longer than any other type of insert, usually orders of magnitude longer.
Main UsesPolycrystalline cubic boron nitride, PCBN, is a cutting tool material that contains iron because when making the CBN diamond, carbon is replaced with Boron and Nitrogen. This causes CBN diamond to be very resistant to high cutting heat of 1300°C. Therefore, it is an optimum choice for using CBN cutting tools for cutting workpieces that contain iron.
However, when compared to PCD or a natural diamond, CBN diamond has a hardness value of 4700 Knoop Hardness, while a natural diamond has a hardness value of 8,000 to 9,000 Knoop Hardness, which is more than CBN diamond.
Main UsesCeramic cutting tools are constructed mainly from alumina (Al2O3) and silicon nitride (SiN). Recent advances have also introduced the use of silicon carbide (SiC) and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) to enhance the performance of the cutting tool.
Each of these ceramic materials has its own characteristics, but, in general, they all exhibit excellent hardness, toughness and thermal conductivity. In fact, the advantages of using ceramic materials in manufacturing revolve around ceramic’s greater ability to withstand much higher temperatures than tools made from carbide or high-speed steel. Ceramic tools’ heat resistance exceeds 4000°F vs. about 1600°F for tools made from carbide powder.
Like the name implies, cermet combines ceramic elements (such as TiC, TiCN and molybdenum carbide) with metallic binders (such as nickel, as well as molybdenum and cobalt to a lesser degree), it is however more brittle than tungsten carbide