Evaluation of Flank Wear of Iron-rich Binder Carbide Cutting Tool in Turning of Titanium Alloy

Despite the fact that Titanium material has been considered as difficult to cut material, its usage has been increasing day by day in all engineering sectors; wherever criticality is encountered. Many studies are going on in view of increasing tool life at high cutting speed to improve productivity. In this study, attempt has been made to see the effect of iron as a partial substitution  along with cobalt binder in cutting tool material for turning of titanium alloy. The iron-rich binder carbide tool samples were produced through powder metallurgy route  using a powders with mean particle size of less than 0.5µm. Turning experiments were conducted at different speeds to evaluate the effects of iron-rich binder on tool flank wear. Results of turning experiments clearly showed that iron-rich binder tend to increase tool life in comparison to conventional WC-Co composite cutting tools.