Development of BN added free-machining steel based on AISI P20

As products life cycles are becoming shorter, the reduction of die and mold manufacturing cost and time is becoming more crucial in the machinery, automotive, and electronics industries. Over the past decades, many initiatives have been made to develop high performance free-machining steels without significant degradation of mechanical properties. To develop a modified AISI P20 free-machining steel, we studied the effects of B, N, and S additives on the variations of the cutting forces and metal structures such as grain size, density, and distribution of free-machining inclusions. From a set of experiments, it was observed that an appropriate addition of B and N additives reduces the resulting cutting force by approximately 6.3% and delays the tool wear progress. During the solidification B and N additives form hBN precipitates, with a layered and planar structure, within the steel matrix. The hBN precipitates' weak shear strength results in lowering the required milling force. It is also confirmed that machinability is prominently improved when a large number of micro-sized hBN precipitates are distributed uniformly in the steel matrix. This study could contribute to the development of high performance BN-added free-machining steels for die and mold applications.