Tool Coating Effect on the Performance in Milling of Al2124 Aluminium Alloy

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of various coated carbide inserts and depth of cut on somemachining criteria such as surface roughness, tool wear, top burr width and milling forces duringmilling of Al2124 aluminium alloy. Monolayer TiCN, AlTiN, TiAlN and two layers TiCN + TiN, AlTiN +TiN deposited by physical vapour deposition coated inserts were utilized in the milling experiments.From experimental results, it was concluded that flank wear, milling forces, surface roughness andtop burr width increased with the increment in the depth of cut for all coatings. The main wearmechanisms for all coated inserts were found to be adhesive and abrasive wear. As a result, coatedinserts with two layers (TiCN + TiN and AlTiN + TiN) and TiCN coated inserts gave better machiningperformance with respect to AlTiN and TiAlN coated inserts in milling of Al2124 aluminium alloy.