Machinability of CBN tools in interrupted milling process of die & mold steels with high hardness

When high-speed interrupted cutting is earned out for die and mold steels with high hardness, CBN tools manifested a significantly longer wear life than carbide, ceramic, or cermet tools in an experiment of face milling characteristics. In addition, it was also found that they secured a stable surface roughness within a range of 1.6 S-6.3 S, an acceptable range for precision machining for polished machining parts. And it makes them acceptable in the precision machining field, except in industries where very high machining accuracy is required. In the high hardness interrupted cutting, it was advantageous to perform a negaland treatment and a honning treatment on the tools' cutting edge to extend tool life and surface roughness. Also, severe crater development was found on the sloped face in CBN tools following high-speed machining. This caused the cutting edge to be weakened and damaged, and ultimately resulted in a shorter tool life. Finally, as a result of EDX mapping inspection, Cr component was detected evenly on the entire crater wear area, which can be included only in STD 11.