Study on tool wear mechanism and chip morphology during turning of Inconel 713C by textured inserts

The present study aims to analyze the tool wear mechanism and chip morphology during dry (D) and graphene solid-lubricant (S), turning of Inconel 713C with a new novel textured (honeycomb (T2) and rectangular(T3)) and further compare with the textured dimple tool (T1). In addition, the performances were compared with the untextured tool (T0). The machining tests for all conditions were carried out at different levels of cutting speeds (75 m/min and 150 m/min), feed rate (0.1 mm/rev and 0.2 mm/rev), and a constant level of depth of cut (0.5 mm). Honeycomb-textured cutting tools performed better. Improvements of 33.3 % (T1D), 50 % (T3D), and 75 % (T2D) without graphene and 66.6 %(T1S), 75 % (T3S), and 100 %(T2S) with graphene are observed compared to T0. The primary mechanism for the better performance of T2S was the reduced tool chip contact length (8–50 %), chip width (30.4 %), friction coefficient (57.4 %), chip thickness (17.8 %), and higher shear angle (14.2 %) compared to dry textured and untextured tools at the end of tool life. Additionally, the T2S (solid lubricant-impregnated honeycomb) demonstrates a decrease in equivalent chip thickness (19.8 %) and an increase in shrinkage factor (17.2 %) at worn-out tool life conditions at high cutting speed and feed rate. Under the same conditions, T2S has 27.3 % lower cutting force and 36.2 % lower surface roughness of machined workpieces compared to the untextured tool at the end of tool life. The chip micrograph reveals the chips are shorter, and the chip radius is lower for T2S tools with smooth friction tracks and fine deformed lamella on the free surface of the chip. Under SEM, flank wear, adhesion materials, abrasion, micro-chipping coating peeling, and BUE were dominant wear mechanisms. However, T2S tools effectively reduce Ni elements' diffusion and suppress the built-up edge's adhesion by improving friction characteristics at the tool-chip interface region. Lastly, the outcomes of experimental results suggest that the honeycomb texture for dry machining of Inconel 713C.