Cryogenic machining of hard-to-cut materials

This paper presents a technique for machining of advanced ceramics with liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooled polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tool, titanium alloys, Inconel alloys, and tantalum with cemented carbide tools. With LN2 cooling, the temperature in the cutting zone is reduced to a lower range, therefore, the hot-strength and hot-hardness of the tool remain high, and the temperature-dependent tool wear reduces significantly under all machining conditions. The surface roughness of all materials machined with LN2 cooling were found to be much better than the surface roughness of materials machined without LN2 cooling after the same length of cutting. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.