OPTIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH-SPEED STEEL CIRCULAR-SAW BLADES MACHINING CUPRO-107, INCONEL-600L AND NIMONIC-PK31 NICKEL-BASED ALLOYS

Nickel based alloys are machined by methods similar to those used to c ut ferrous materials, however there are additional process requirement s due to the poor machinability of these alloys. The current paper rep orts on work undertaken to optimize the cutting conditions for high sp eed steel circular saw blades machining materials from three of the pr incipal categories of nickel based alloy. Techniques have been develop ed and verified that simulate the cutting characteristics of multi-poi nt cutting tools by testing blade segments that contain representative teeth. The cutting behaviour of high speed steel circular saw blades have been simulated in this manner. Materials from three of the princi pal classifications of nickel based alloy; Cupro 107, Inconel 600L and Nimonic PK31, have been machined over a range of cutting feeds and sp eeds. Cutting and thrust forces were measured and the performance crit eria, specific cutting energy (Esp) evaluated. Optimized cutting condi tions for each material were determined from curves of Esp against fee d rate at the selected cutting speeds. In an area of high product and material costs, the information contained within this paper will be of interest to the manufacturing engineer and end user when appraising t he suitability of high speed steel circular saw blades as a tool for m achining these materials.