Higher Cutting Speeds and Increased Tool Life When Milling Cast Iron

MAPAL Inc. (Port Huron, MI) offers a broad portfolio of ISO tools for milling operations. A new series of cutting materials has been developed specially for the milling of cast iron that covers the whole bandwidth of grades: GJL, GJV and GJS. Preliminary results show that these new cutting materials allow not only a significant increase in tool life for greater cost effectiveness, but also higher cutting speeds for maximum productivity. The cutting material series is based on newly developed carbide substrates. The structures of the carbides have been modelled in such a way that they provide an optimum relationship between ductility and wear resistance. The cutting material series includes three PVD-coated carbides and two CVD-coated grades.

The PVD coating here consists of an optimized TiAlCrN with very fine structuring of the layers to create an optimum relationship between ductility and hardness/wear resistance. The CVD coating is based on an MT-TiCN with an alpha-Al2O3 top coat. This layer combination offers not only high wear resistance, but also good thermal stability. A special post-treatment has been developed for both the PVD coating and the CVD coating that ensures an extremely smooth surface and hence an optimum chip flow. This minimizes tribochemical wear. With the CVD coating, the post-treatment additionally sets a selective intrinsic stress in the coating, stabilizing the cutting edge or increasing the ductility of the cutting material. The optimum cutting material for the milling of cast iron grades is therefore available for everything from dry to wet machining and for a very wide range of applications and machine conditions.

MAPAL Inc., 4032 Dove Road, Port Huron, MI 48060, 810-364-8020, Fax: 810-364-4750, www.mapal.com.