Finite element modelling of the thermo-mechanical behavior of coatings under extreme contact loading in dry machining

During metal cutting processes, intensive friction and high temperature generated at the tool chip interface affect the cutting zone of the tool, by inducing damage and wear. To improve the cutting toolʹs life, thin hard coatings, synthesized by physical or chemical vapor deposition (PVD or CVD) techniques, are often used as protective layers. In this work, numerical/theoretical analysis of dry machining has been performed to study the impact of different coating layers on the machining process. Four cases are considered: an uncoated tool made of tungsten carbide (WC–Co) and coated tungsten carbides in three different configurations. The first one is made of one layer namely TiN, the second one (hypothetical carbide insert) is composed of two layers (Al2O3 and TiN), and the last one has three layers (TiCN, Al2O3 and TiN). The workpiece material is an AISI 316L stainless steel. All cutting conditions are fixed in order to highlight the effect of coatings independently from others influencing parameters. The analysis has shown the impact of the different configurations of coatings on the temperature level inside the tool and on its surface, on the pressure and also on the cutting and feed forces.