Investigation of Chip Morphology and Tool Wear during Hard Machining of Hard Chrome Plated EN24 Substrate

Hard Chrome plated surfaces are used in automotive, aerospace and marine applications. The electroplated chrome surface has to undergo finishing processes before assembled for service. Improvements in the tool and coating technologies, varieties of tool options are available to machine surfaces with hardness more than 45HRc. The objective of this research is to find the influence of tool wear and the surface characteristics of the chrome surfaces. The wear characteristics of Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride (PcBN) tool with different nose radius, tool angles are analyzed with varying machining parameters. The investigation helped choose the process as alternative to grinding for a specific length of cut. The chips produced by the hard turning were studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The SEM analysis revealed that the chips produced were brittle in nature.