A Comparative Study of Tool Life Between Ceramic and CBN Cutting Tools when Machining 52100 Steel and Optimization of Cutting Parameters

This paper describes a comparison of tool life between ceramics and cubic boron nitride (CBN) cutting tools when machining hardened steels using the Taguchi method. An orthogonal design, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to determine the effective cutting parameters on the tool life. The results indicated that the V was found to be a dominant factor on the tool life, followed by the TH, lastly the f. The CBN cutting tool showed the best performance than that of ceramic based cutting tool. In addition, optimal testing parameter for cutting times was determined. The confirmation of Experiment was conducted to verify the optimal testing parameter. Improvements of the S/N ratio from initial testing parameters to optimal cutting parameters or prediction capability depended on the S/N ratio and ANOVA results. Moreover, the ANOVA indicated that the cutting speed was higher significant but other parameters were also significant effects on the tool lives at 90% confidence level. The percentage contributions of the cutting speed, tool’s hardness, and feed rate were about 42.88, 32.44, and 24.22 on the tool life, respectively.