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Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1131–1135
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52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems

End milling of Inconel 718 using solid Si3N4 ceramic cutting tools
Daniel Finkeldei*a, Marcus Sexauera, Friedrich Bleichera
a
Institute of Production Engineering and Photonic Technologies, TU Wien

* Daniel Finkeldei. Tel.: +43 158801 31112; E-mail address: [email protected]

Abstract

Nickel based superalloys, like Inconel 718, are important materials with high strength in elevated temperature conditions and excellent corrosion
resistance for the aerospace, energy and nuclear industries. However, the high-temperature strength compared with the low thermal conductivity
and specific heat makes it difficult to machine. Thus, fast rising tool-wear is measured. To decrease material strength and to reduce tool-wear,
previous studies have attempted to locally heat the workpiece. The main objective in using Si3N4-ceramic end milling tools is to exploit the
temperature softening effect caused by high cutting speeds to raise the machining efficiency for manufacturing of Inconel 718.
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems.
Keywords: ceramic cutting tools; nickel based alloys; Inconel 718; high speed machining

1. Introduction Manufacturing technologies like turning and drilling are well

investigated to produce quality workpiece surfaces with
Nickel-chromium alloys, such as those in the Inconel elevated tool life [6,7]. Milling of workpieces is more
family, are known for their high strength as well as corrosion complicated because of the intermitting cut. The rapidly
and oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures [1]. For these alternating process stresses imply high mechanical and thermal
reasons, they are mostly used in high-temperature applications load into the cutting edge and lead to fast tool-wear.
such as in rockets, turbine engines and pressurized water Consequently, a well-established process has to be
reactors in nuclear power plants [1,2]. On the contrary, nickel implemented for each milling process of Inconel 718. In the
based alloys also suffer the drawback of poor machinability and past, much research [8–10] has been occupied with the
require special methods to machine them [1]. investigation and development of wear resistant tool substrates.
The same physical characteristics that make nickel based At the beginning of this development process, new mixtures of
alloys applicable high-temperature alloys also result in tungsten carbides and high-speed steels were investigated.
challenges in manufacturing. In addition to the properties listed Tungsten carbides have the advantages of a balanced ratio
above, hard abrasive particles in the microstructure, low between hardness and ductility as well as low production and
thermal conductivity and increased work hardening rates material costs.
further lead to difficulties in machining [3,4]. High Furthermore, the advancement of brittle-hard tool substrates
temperatures and cutting forces result due to shear stresses and like polycrystalline boron nitrides and ceramics paved the way
poor thermal conductivity. for the use of high-speed machining of Inconel 718 [9,10]. As
As a result, short tool life, low material removal rates and tools made of polycrystalline boron nitride (PCBN) can only be
high machining costs are expected when processing such produced in the shape of cutting inserts, these tool substrates
alloys. The three most important wear mechanisms are abrasive are used in turning or face milling processes. Compared with
wear, adhesion and oxidation of the cutting edge [5]. PCBN, ceramic cutting tools can additionally be produced as

2212-8271 © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems.
10.1016/j.procir.2019.03.280

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 1132 Daniel Finkeldei et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1131–1135

end milling tools. They are suitable for the roughing process of 4
components with high material removal rates. There are many 2 process operation:
1 1. helical immersion
different types of ceramics, but two are especially important:
2. slot milling
aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and silicon nitride (Si3N4). In
3. trimming
comparison to Al2O3, Si3N4 is more chemically inert against 4. circular slot milling
impurity atoms and diffusivity. A significant amount of 5. pocketing
research has been done in machining with cutting inserts 3 1. helical immersion
2. trimming
[11,12], but only a few investigations are made for the 5
machining with end milling tools [13,14]. Because of the high
Fig. 1. Visualization of the different process operations of the machined
cutting temperatures, high adhesive wear of the workpiece workpiece investigated in chapter 6.
material will be detected. Çelik et al. investigated the
composition of this adhesive layer [13]. Moreover, Grguraš et for an outer contour diameter of 20 mm. Afterwards, four slots
al. [14] determined tool-wear and cutting performance in starting at the center will be machined, followed by a trimming
trimming of these nickel based alloy. In this way, he found out process with a radial depth of cut ae of 1 mm to machine the
that ceramic end milling tools can perform a comparable metal cross in the middle of the workpiece. The next process step is
removal in less cutting time, but tool life is half that compared the circular slot milling around the cross which ends in the
to coated cemented end milling tools [14]. pocketing process of the four slots next to the cross. The
This paper will include an investigation about the machining pocketing process consists of a helical immersion and three
behavior with ceramic cutting tools. Furthermore, a circles of a trimming process; both machining operations have
comparison to cemented carbide cutting tools will be discussed. the same parameter settings described above.

2. Experimental work 3. Material characterization of Inconel 718

All experimental work was machined on a 5-axis machining The high tensile strength at both room and elevated
center Hermle C42U. The study subdivides in three main temperatures is presented in Fig. 2. In this way, the Johnson-
topics. The first one (chapter 4) is the conventional end milling Cook material parameters are given in this chart. Inconel 718
process of Inconel 718 with an adjusted cemented carbide tool maintains its high tensile strength up to a temperature of 500 to
substrate and tool geometry. The tungsten carbide substrate of 600 °C, and strain strengthening increases quickly when
the torus (re = 3 mm) end mill consists of a binder content of deforming the material (ε = 0  ε = 1) (Fig. 2a). Strain rate
12.5 wt.% cobalt, while the cutting edge radius is set to strengthening increases slowly, however. This is a key reason
rβ = 10 µm. A Vipr-ZOX tool coating is used for the cemented for high-speed machining to decrease flow stress of the
carbide tool. The end milling tool has a tool diameter of 10 mm deformation process which implicates low cutting forces on the
and a dissimilar divided number of four teeth. Material removal tool cutting edge and high material removal rates. The stress-
is performed by a trimming process in a linear feed direction. strain curve in Fig. 2b shows more details of the material
Machining parameters are set to a cutting speed vc of 60 m/min, behavior for the machining process. Initial deformation of the
a feed fz of 0.05 mm/tooth and a radial and axial depth of cut of material to ε = 0.1 generates significant strain hardening. This
ae = 4 mm and ap = 10 mm. In comparison to industrial deformation level can be transferred to the machining process
applications, the used parameter setting of this investigation is when considering the primary shear zone. When the cutting
much higher. In industrial applications, like the aerospace edge gets into contact with the material it will shear the material
industry, machining of Inconel 718 with cemented carbide to form the chip. With continuation of the shearing process, the
cutting tools will be processed with less axial and radial depth deformation process goes on and the strain increases.
of cut. Additionally, cutting speeds up to vc = 30 m/min and
1800 .
lower feed rates are used. This results in lower material σ = 0, σ = 0 1/sec
1600
MPa .
removal rates. The process is supported by flood cooling. 1400
σ = 1, σ = 0 1/sec
.
σ = 0, σ = 100 1/sec
The second topic (chapter 5) deals with fundamental 1200 .
σ = 1, σ = 100 1/sec
flow stress

investigations of the high-speed machining process in a linear .

1000 σ = 0, σ = 100000 1/sec
.
slot milling process with ceramic end milling tools. A ceramic 800 σ = 1, σ = 100000 1/sec
end milling tool made of Si3N4 (EADE1000A4AQH KYS40) 600
1800
400
with a tool diameter of 10 mm and four teeth is used. The 1600
MPa
200
machining parameters are set to a cutting speed vc of 628 m/min, a) 1400
0
a feed fz of 0.035 mm/tooth and an axial depth of cut ap of 1 mm. 1200
flow stress

20 216 412 608 °C804 1000

1000
The third topic (chapter 6) discusses a machining process temperature
800
with five different process steps, in which a ceramic end 600
Johnson-Cook-Parameter:
milling tool (EADE1200A6ARJ KYS40) with a tool diameter A = 450 MPa 400
of 12 mm and six teeth is used. The machining parameters are B = 1798 MPa 200
b)
set to a cutting speed vc of 625 m/min, a feed fz of 0.032 mm/tooth C = 0.0312
DEFORM 2D

0
n = 0.9143 0 0,5 1 1.5
1,5 2
and an axial depth of cut ap of 1 mm. Fig. 1 shows the machined m = 1.0
0.5
strain
workpiece and the sequential process operations. The process
starts with a helical immersion in the center of the workpiece Fig. 2. Temperature dependent flow stress determined from the Johnson-Cook
material parameter of Inconel 718 taken from DEFORM 2D.

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 Daniel Finkeldei et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1131–1135 1133

180 2000
1
µm
160 notch wear criterion
140 1800
flank wear VBmax
tool wear land

cutting force
120 rake face wear
1600
100 rake face notch wear
80
1400
60
40 1200
20
0 1000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 min
7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
main cutting time main cutting time
500µm Fig. 4. Cutting force of the trimming process of Inconel 718 with cemented
1 carbide torus end milling tools.
500µm
5. Slot milling of Inconel 718 with ceramic cutting tools
Fig. 3. Tool-wear of cemented carbide torus end milling tools in trimming of
Inconel 718. Through substitution to the use of ceramic cutting tools
Another important material coefficient is the specific cutting instead of cemented carbide cutting tools, the performance of
force. The specific cutting force of Inconel 718 can be the cutting process can be increased. For ceramic tool
predicted by the Kienzle equation with a normalized specific substrates, slot milling performs a good cutting edge
cutting force parameter kc1.1 of 2277 MPa and a slope factor engagement. A cutting force Fc of 28.8 N can be detected
mc of 0.3454. These values are measured in a turning process during the slot milling process of Inconel 718 with ceramic end
on the lathe machine HEID FS300 during this machining study. milling tools (shown in Fig. 5). Because of the used machining
parameters presented in chapter 2, a chip cross section A of
4. Milling of Inconel 718 with carbide cutting tools 0.036 mm² is achieved. This results in a specific cutting force
kc of approximately 800 MPa. When compared to the results
As it is described in chapter 2, the machining parameters from chapter 4, a significantly lower specific cutting force is
used in this study are set to a higher level to increase the noticed with ceramic cutting tools. The difference between
material removal rate. Due to this method, special requirements both specific cutting forces results from the high-speed
are demanded of the cutting tools. Fig. 3 shows the result of the machining process and the self-heating of the material during
tool-wear of the chosen cemented carbide end milling tool. the cutting process with ceramic cutting tools. Furthermore, the
Notch wear starts at the area of the edge radius after half of its ceramic tool substrate withstands the high cutting temperatures
tool life and develops rapidly up to its notch wear criterion. The and tool-wear can be reduced because of the low mechanical
rest of the interfering cutting edge shows a smooth wear load of the cutting process.
development without notching. There is only small adhesive The metallographic structure at the surface layer of the
and abrasive wear. This constant wear mechanism can be workpiece material shows a significant deformed micro-
detected in the cutting force data (shown in Fig. 4). The cutting structure (shown in Fig. 6a) because of the high deformation
force develops with a linear slope up to the end of the rate of high-speed machining. There is evident micro-cracking
machining process and exceeds a value of approximately at the surface of the machined Inconel 718 samples. In
1780 N from the beginning of the notch wear. Up to this comparison to the original state (shown in Fig. 6b) of the
machining status, the cutting-edge integrity could resist the microstructure, the machined surface has anisotropic deformed
intermitting tool stress. The reason for notching at the edge grains. The deformation zone, however, has only a thickness of
radius is the decreasing chip thickness and the higher pressure
on the cutting edge (the localized specific cutting force). When
the increasing pressure on the cutting edge reaches the critical
value of the notch impact energy, notch wear starts to develop.
From literature it can be noticed that slot milling of Inconel
718 with cemented carbide cutting tools is less efficient in
comparison to trimming because of high tool load and massive
tool-wear. Additionally, the axial depth of cut is limited to
small values up to ap = 1 mm [8]. For a theoretical
consideration of a cutting process with a cutting speed
vc = 30 m/min, a feed fz = 0.03 mm/tooth, a radial depth of cut
ae = d = 10 mm and an axial depth of cut ap = 1 mm, the
specific cutting force can be calculated to kc = 7645 MPa. This
cutting pressure leads to high tool-wear after short cutting time. Fig. 5. Cutting force measurement during slot milling operation with ceramic
cutting tools.

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 1134 Daniel Finkeldei et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1131–1135

Tool machine: Hermle C42U cutting speed: vc = 625 m/min

a) microcracking 50µm Tool holder: RegoFix powrGrip feed: fz = 0.032 mm/z
Tool diameter: d = 12 mm axial depth of cut: ap = 1 mm
primary flank face rake face secondary flank face

new cutting edge

1mm 1mm

δ-phase (Ni3Nb) 4mm

Inconel 718
ceramic end mill, Ø10 mm, z = 4 1mm 1mm

after machining
n = 20000 1/min (vc = 628 m/min)

(th = 1 min)
1 level
vf = 2800 mm/min (fz = 0.035 mm/z )

b) 50µm 4mm

1mm 1mm

after machining

(th = 3 min)
3 levels
4mm

Fig. 8. Tool-wear when machining the special workpiece of Inconel 718 with
ceramic cutting tools.

Inconel 718 The end milling tool shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 has
original state
machined a total number of five planes; but the tool was already
worn after three planes because the nose radius started
Fig. 6. Structural analysis of Inconel 718 a) after and b) before slot milling
with a ceramic end mill. flattening and the cutting edges changed their original shape.
This results in a tool life of 2.74 min when the tool life criterion
50 to 75 µm. Outside of this zone, the remaining structure is was reached after three planes. During machining of the first
insignificantly affected by machining. After a finishing process (th = 0.91 min) and second (th = 1.82 min) plane of the
with a maximum depth of cut of 0.1 mm, the section with workpiece, the ceramic cutting tool made a noisy cut. This
micro-cracking and deformation can be removed. noise decreased when machining more than three planes
(th = 2.74 min) of the workpiece. There is a significant abrasive
6. Milling of Inconel 718 with ceramic cutting tools tool-wear at the tool nose, which results in the above mentioned
flattening of the nose radius after three levels (Fig. 8, third row)
In the following, a high-speed machining process for rough and creates a reshaped cutting edge geometry. However, this
milling of a complex workpiece contour (shown in Fig. 1) made flattening of the tool nose can cause the smoother cut of the
of Inconel 718 is performed. This case example is machined ceramic cutting tool during this high loaded machining process
with a larger sized ceramic end milling tool with a tool diameter and a total movement length lf of 14.5 m was reached.
of 12 mm (shown in Fig. 7). Normally, such a ceramic end In a theoretical consideration to machine just the cross in the
milling tool can process hard materials in slot milling or middle of such a part (process no. 2 and 3) with cemented
trimming in a good manner. In addition to these process carbide cutting tools, there has to be a significant decrease in
operations, the cutting tool should machine the workpiece in a the machining parameters. Slot milling needs less axial depth
helical immersion and a pocketing process. Pocketing consists of cut of ap = 0.5 mm up to 1 mm at decreased cutting speeds
of a helical immersion and trimming. All of these machining up to vc = 55 m/min and feed up to fz = 0.05 mm/tooth [8]. As it is
operations make the machining process difficult. pointed out in chapter 4, trimming can be performed with an
The aim of this investigation is the analysis of the wear increased cutting speed of vc = 60 m/min and fz = 0.05 mm/tooth for
mechanism of ceramic end milling tools. All processes are a radial and axial depth of cut up to ae = 4 mm and ap = 10 mm.
listed in chapter 2 and Fig. 1. Table 1 describes all movement For machining the cross with a maximum depth of 3 mm, the
lengths and main cutting times of each process. cutting process needs a total machining time of 4.28 min.
Compared to the cutting process with the ceramic end milling
tool, a machining time of just th = 0.77 min is required. This
cutting edge (CE) 1 can be seen as a raise in performance of 558 %.
Table 1. Movement length lf and main cutting time th of the machining
process of one complete plane with an axial depth of cut of 1 mm.

Proc. no. movement length lf Main cutting time th

1 219.9 mm 4.14 sec
axial:
radial:
CE radius rβ = 13.6 µm
2 240.5 mm 4.52 sec
CE radius rβ = 9.4 µm 3 576.6 mm 10.84 sec
wedge angle β = 83.1°
wedge angle β = 84°
profile flattening Δr = 4.9 µm
profile flattening Δr = 7.2 µm 4 430.4 mm 8.10 sec
nose radius re = 1.5 mm
5 1439.6 mm 27.12 sec
Fig. 7. Geometrical properties of the used ceramic end milling tool. Σ 2907.0 mm 54.72 sec

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 Daniel Finkeldei et al. / Procedia CIRP 81 (2019) 1131–1135 1135

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