Thermal influence of cutting tool coatings

The paper deals with the qualification of the thermal behaviour of the system "work material-coated carbide cutting tool-chip", with the purpose of reaching a better understanding of the heat flow entering into the tool substrate during a turning operation. Heat transfer in the deposit-substrate system was analysed for a simple tip geometry. A model of heat transfer in the cutting tool has been proposed. Results shows that the coating thermal barrier does not exist in continuous cutting operations, but that seems to be significant in discontinuous cutting operation, especially performed with high cutting speeds. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.