ISSN 1999-8716

Diyala Journal
of Engineering
Sciences

Printed in Iraq

First Engineering Scientific Conference

College of Engineering University of Diyala
22-23 December. 2010, pp. 181-194

STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED

RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE TURNING PROCESSES
Naife A. Talib
Engineering College , Diyala University

ABSTRACT:- In this paper, a thorough investigation has been carried out to study the
effect of cutting speed and feed rate on tool life at constant depth of cut equal to (1mm) with
no cooling fluid. Different cutting speed and feed rate with constant depth of cut are used to
optimize these variables for maximum life can be obtained experimentally. The experiments
were conducted on the fermented low alloy steel and using high hardness cutting tool of
Tungsten Carbide. It was found that the longest life of cutting tool is at cutting speed (66.88
m / min) and feed rate (0.72 mm / rev), where the life of cutting tool is(388.3 min). The
shortest life of cutting tool occurring at cutting speed of (263.76m/min) and feed rate (0.8
mm / rev), where the value of the life is about (0.274 min). Thus, we clear note that the
cutting speed and feed rate have a direct impact on the longevity of the kit.
Keywords:- Tungsten Carbide, Tool life, Tool wear, Turning processes, Cutting tool.

1- INTRODUCTION
The recent developments in the area of material science require better understanding
and behavior of the engineering materials during processing. To understand the
characteristics of a new cutting tool, many experiments (such as cutting force experiment,
cutting temperature experiment, anti-striking experiment, etc) should be conducted to obtain
an enormous amount of experimental data (1).
In metal cutting operations, temperature develops at the chip tool interface due to
the plastic deformation developed at the primary shear plane and friction at the tool chip
interface. This temperature rise effects the tool wear and its life, and surface integrity of
material generated and temperature are also connected the use of process parameters and
thermo physical properties of work piece and tool materials, including the heat thermal

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

conductivity, thermal diffusivity and heat transfer coefficient . So it is important to choose the
correct parameters for satisfy the increasing demands of sophisticated component
performance, longevity and reliability (2).
The most commonly altered variables in turning are the machine setup parameters.
Cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut have a very significant impact on the surface
quality. They directly impact the physical effects of adhesion and ploughing. Speed and feed
become particularly important as they affect tool failure and wear (3).
During turning one of the most important factors is tool wear whether it is soft or
hard work pieces. The primary tools wear are classified as flank wear, crater wear and nose
wear, are important wear which will affect the smoothness of the product, cost of operation
and performance. Tool wear is caused by the normal load generated by interaction between
tool work piece and tip which shown in fig.(1). Tool wear which results in tool substitution,
is one of the most important economical penalties, so it is very important to minimize tool
wear, and optimizing all the cutting parameters like depth of cut, cutting velocity, feed rate
and cutting fluids (4).

2- SELECTING CUTTING PARAMETERS

The cutting speed is calculated from rotating speed for any turning operation as the
following (5).

Vc

DN
1000

-------------------(1)

Where,
N: spindle speed (r.p.m)
VC: cutting Speed (m/min)
D: work diameter (mm), : 3.14

3- TOOL WEAR
It has been recognized widely that tool life can be divided into three phases characterized
by three different flank wear processes as shown in fig.(2) (6).
(i) Break-in.
(ii) Normal wear.
(iii) Abnormal or catastrophic wear.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

The sudden rise in wear rate observed during the abnormal tool wear phase (phase iii),
is of interest here as an indication of the need for tool replacement. Because many factors
affect tool wear, the wear curve usually fluctuates and is not smooth.

4- TOOL LIFE (Taylor's Equation)

(2)

Vc Tn C
Vc = Cutting speed (m/min)
T = Tool life (min)

n & C = constants determined by the work material, tool material, tool design, etc.( 7) .

5- THE FACTOR AFFECTING CUTTING SPEED

The following factors influence on the cutting speed permitted by the tool (8).
Physio-mechanical properties of the metal being machined.
Material of the cutting tool.
Rate of feed and depth of cut.
Tool geometry.
Size of the tool flank.
Cutting fluid used.
Maximum permissible amount of tool wear.
Type of machining being performed.

6- EFFECT OF THE CUTTING SPEED ON TOOL LIFE

It has been established experimentally that there is a definite relationship between the
cutting speed and tool life: With increasing cutting speed tool life was decreased (9).

7- EFFECT OF THE METAL BEING MACHINED.

The physio-mechanical properties of the work metal have a large influence on the
cutting speed permitted by the tool. This influence is predetermined, by the heat generated in
cutting and the heat distribution between the chip, work, tool and the surrounding medium (8).

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

8- EFFECT OF THE FEED AND DEPTH OF CUTTING

Since the rate of feed and depth of cutting have an influence on the cutting forces and
temperature, they strongly affect on the speed permitted by the tool. Increased cutting speed
and depth of cut result in increased temperatures at the cutting zone. At elevated temperatures
chemical wear becomes a leading wear mechanism and often accelerates weakening of
cutting edge; resulting in premature tool failure (chipping), namely edge breakage of the
cutting tool. In addition, it is noticed that when feed rate is increased, residual stresses change
from compressive to tensile (10). An investigation showed that hardness greatly influences the
material properties accounting for high variation in flow stress properties. Residual stresses
become more compressive as work piece hardness increases (11).

9- EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
9.1 Machine
The cutting tests have been carried out on an (SN 40B-50B) lathe as shown in Fig.(3).
The machine specifications are listed below.
Type and model: universal center lathe SN 40B-50B.( M/C )
Manufacturer: Czechoslovakia, Tos Trencin.
Total power of machine without extra equipment: 6.6 KW for 50Hz.
Spindle speed (22.4-2000) r.p.m
Feed rate (0.08-6.4) mm/rev.
Center length 1500 mm.

9.2 Work Piece Material

Low alloy steel work pieces with hardness of BH 348 are used after fermented; the
chemical compositions are given in Table (1).Fig.(4,5)illustrate the work piece photograph
and dimension .
Table (1): Chemical Compositions of Workpiece Material.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Metal
Fe
C
Si
Mn
Cr
Mo
Ni
Al

% Low alloy steel

93.9
0.543
0.278
0.709
0.801
0.283
2.6
0.0315

No.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Metal
P
Cu
S
Ti
V
W
B

% Low alloy steel

0.0618
0.226
0.005
0.005
0.724
0.015
0.0014

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

9.3 Cutting Tools

Single High hardness Tungsten Carbide cutting tool is used to perform turning
process, its chemical composition is shown in table (2). Each experiment was carried out with
new sharp tool in order to keep the cutting conditions unchanged. The cutting-test were
conducted without coolant and, as result, totally 20 experiments were performed. Tests were
replicated at least three times for each experimental condition and calculate its average.

10-TOOL SPECIFICATIONS
The tool geometry is:

Rake angle ( ) = 200

Relief angle = 80 o

Primary approach angle = 450

Secondary approach angle = 300

Nose angle = 600

Table (2): Chemical Composition of Cutting Tool.

No.

Metal

% Carbide Tungsten

No.

Metal

% Carbide Tungsten

1.

Fe

64

8.

Co

7.38

2.

1.85

9.

Cu

3.

Si

1.8

10.

Nb

4.

Mn

3.49

11.

Ti

0.134

5.

Cr

3.15

12.

6.

Mo

13.

7.

Ni

0.005

14.

Al

0.183

11. SAMPLE OF CALCULATION

1. By Using Graphical Method.
The relation between cutting speed and time is drawn on log scale as the following
graph.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

7.5

Log Vc

2.5
LogC=2.45

y
x

10

Log T

Fig.(6): Relation between cutting speed and time at log scale.

Log C 2.45
C 281 .8

y
x

0.431 0.357
0.245
2.126 1.825

2. by using Equation Method

LogV1 nLogt1 LogC

.........(3)

LogV3 nLogt3 LogC

.(4)

By Solving Eq. (3) in (4)

n 0.242 , Substituting in Equation (4) we get:

C 282 , Use Taylor's Equations (equ.2) gives

Vc T n C

T 388.3 Min

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

12- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The raw data for the experimental results: where f =feed rate (mm/rev)

f = 0.72

C = 282

n=0.242

f = 0.8

C =188.36

n=0.26

f = 0.96

C =269

n=0.237

f = 1.12

C =264

n=0.24

Table (3): raw data for the experimental results.

No

dp (mm)
(depth of cut)

Vc(m/min.)

1.

66.88

2.

94.2

3.

133.76

4.

188.4

5.

263.76

f (mm/rev)

Tool Life (min.)

0.72
0.8
0.96
1.12
0.72
0.8
0.96
1.12
0.72
0.8
0.96
1.12
0.72
0.8
0.96
1.12
0.72
0.8
0.96
1.12

388.3
53.79
353.6
307.2
97.17
14.89
58.26
76.44
21.89
3.74
18.98
17.11
5.27
1
4.46
4.09
1.45
0.274
1.08
1.01

Figure (7) shows the relationship between tool life and feed rate for different speed. It
is clear that the tool life decreases with increase feed rate up to 0.8(mm/rev) then begins to
increase with increasing the feed rate for different speed. Also it is noted that maximum life
occurred with minimum speed for all feed rate value.
The effect of increased feed is more complicated. It is clear from fig(7)that before the
value of 0.8mm/rev feed rate, increased feed had a detrimental (decrease in tool life) effect on
tool life. This trend was reversed beyond the critical feed rate value of 0.8mm/rev, where
increased feed actually improved tool life by a small amount (at lower speed level). However,
this phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that increased feed rate reduced tool life in

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

minutes, but actually increased the amount of material that could be removed by the tool. The
later seems a more reasonable metric for tool life, as it relates directly to the number of parts
that can be machined with the tool at a given depth of cut. In addition, it is noticed by Tugru
reference

(10)

that when feed rate is increased, residual stresses change from compressive to

tensile. In a recent study, Guo and Liu reference (11) studied the effect of work piece hardness
on residual stresses during turning process. They found that residual stresses become more
compressive as work piece hardness increases. The hardness greatly influences the material
properties accounting for high variation in flow stress properties. Knowing this, it is
reasonable to argue that with increment of temperature (to some extent) in shear zone there is
a reduction in surface hardness will be occurred.
Thus depending on above conclusion the stress developed in the shear zone may be
transformed from compressive to tensile at the critical value of 0.8 mm/rev .So beyond this
point of inflection, both cutting forces between rubbing surface and cumulative temperature
generated at the plastic zone, begin to reduce which make an increment in the tool life as
shown in figure (7).
Figure (8) shows the continuous decrease in the tool life as the cutting speed increased
for all value of the feed rate. This result is coinciding with that obtained by Musialekke et al
reference (10).
From the two figures (7) and (8) we can note that the effect of cutting speed was more
dominant than the effect of feed rate, which leads to the conclusion that for improved tool
life, slower cutting speeds should generally be selected in combination with suitable feed
rates. Because material removal rate is linearly related to both feed rate and cutting speed,
halving the cutting speed while doubling the feed rate maintains an equivalent removal rate.
There are, however, limitations on acceptable feed rates determined by the ability of the
cutting tool to withstand increased cutting loads without fracture.

13- CONCLUSIONS
Hard turning is an emerging technology that can potentially replace many grinding
operations due to improved productivity (increasing production efficiency, high speed
machining), increased flexibility (increasing the range of material that can be machined),
decreased capital expenses (saving in cost), and reduced environmental waste. A limited
understanding about the wear and failure of the cutting tools used in turning remains one of
the biggest obstacles to further implementation of this technology. To understand both the

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TURNING PROCESSES

wear behavior and life, full tool life studies were performed for a test of twenty cutting
conditions.
In this experimental study, the effect of turning parameters such as cutting speed and
feed rate at constant depth of cut on machining characteristics of fermented low alloy steel
was investigated. Summarizing the main features of the results, the following conclusions
may be drawn.
1. The effect of feeding value at (0.8 mm/rev) is clear on tool life giving shorter tool life
in all cases.
2. The cutting speed has an inverse influence on tool life and it was more dominant than
the effect of feed rate.
3. Hard turning, machining low alloy steel parts that are hardened usually about BH 348,
can be performed dry using high hardness cutting tool of Tungsten Carbide.
4. The economics of the process must be justified, which requires a better understanding
of tool wear patterns and life predictions.
5. In order to gain a greater understanding of the turning process it is necessary to
understand the impact of each of these variables, but also the interactions between
them. It is impossible to find all the variables (feed rate, cutting speed, depth of cut,
work piece hardness, cutting edge geometry, etc) that impact tool life in turning
process. In addition, it is costly and time-consuming to discern the effect of every
variable on the output.
6. Considering these conclusions, further research will be conducted to develop other
prediction for the effect of the other variables.

14- REFERENCES
[Link], Y. J., ZHANG J.M., WANG S.Q. ,"Parameter estimation of cutting tool temperature
nonlinear model using PSO algorithm" Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
revision accepted Feb .5, 2005.
2. Cebeli ., Ahmet H., Ula ., Faruk K. and Engin ," Turning of AISI304 austenitic
stainless steel "Journal of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sigma, 2006.
3. Chou, Y. K. ,Evans C. J., Barash M. M. , "Experimental investigation on CBN turning
of hardened AISI 52100 steel", Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 124,
2002, pp. 274-283.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

4. Thamizhmnaii, S., Bin Omar B. , Saparudin S., Hasan, S. "Tool flank wear analyses on
martensitic stainless steel by turning". International scientific journal,V32,ISSI,
Malaysia,(2008),PP41-44.
5. May George Amin "Some Environmental and Economical Effects of Using Metal
Working Fluids", Ph.D. Thesis, Prod. Eng. Dept., University of Technology, Baghdad,
Iraq, 2003.
6. Koren, Y., KO, T. R., Ulsoy, A. G. and Danai, K.," Flank wear estimation under
varying cutting conditions". Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control
Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 113,[Link] 300307.
7. Kalpakjian, S. and Schmidt, S.R." Manufacturing Engineering and Technology".
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. [Link]
8. Arshinov V., and Alekseev, G.," Metal Cutting Theory and Cutting Tool Design", 2nd
edition, MIR Publishers, Moscow, [Link]
9. Musialek, K., et. al., "Role and Importance of Cutting Fluids in High Efficiency
Machining", the 2nd Seminar Workshop: Network Proceeding, Espoo- Otaniemi,
Finland, March, 1999.
10. Tugrul O zel Tsu-Kong Hsu and Erol Zeren, "Effects of cutting edge geometry, work
piece hardness, feed rate and cutting speed on surface roughness and forces in finish
turning of hardened AISI H13 steel", Int J Adv. Manuf. Technol 25, Springer-Verlag
London Limited(2005).PP: 262269.
11. Guo YB, Liu CR (2002) "Mechanical properties of hardened AISI 52100 steel in hard
machining processes". ASME J Manuf. Sci. Eng. 124 (2002).PP:19.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

Fig. (1): Schematic diagram of tool wear zone

Fig. (2)

Fig. (3): Universal Turning Machine Model (SN 40B-50B).

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

Fig. (4): Work Piece.

60
mm

15

25
60
mm

285
mm
335
mm

Fig. (5): schematic diagram of

work Piece dimension
7.5

Log Vc

2.5
LogC=2.45

y
x

Log T
Fig.(6): Relation between cutting speed and time at log scale.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

500
Vc = 66.88 mm/min
Vc = 94.2 mm/min

450

Vc = 133.76 mm/min
Vc = 188.4 mm/min

400

Tool life (min)

Vc = 263.76 mm/min

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

1.10

1.20

Feed rate (mm/rev)

Fig. (7): Comparison between tool life and feed rate for turning
at different cutting speed

400
f= 0.72 mm/rev
f= 0.8 mm/rev

350

f= 0.96 mm/rev

Tool life (min)

f= 1.12 mm/rev

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Cutting speed (m/min)

Fig. (8): Comparison between tool life and cutting speed for turning
at different feed rate.

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STUDYING THE EFFECT OF CUTTING SPEED AND FEED RATE ON TOOL LIFE IN THE
TURNING PROCESSES

) (1mm .
.

) ( Low Alloy Steel ) Carbide

(Tungsten . ) 66.88
( m/min ) ( 0.72mm/rev ) .(388.3min
) (263.76m/min )( 0.8 mm/rev ) .( 0.274 min
.

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