Tool life of nanocomposite Ti–Al–Si–N coated end-mill by hybrid coating system in high speed machining of hardened AISI D2 steel

Abstract Ti–Al–Si–N films were deposited on WC–Co substrates by a hybrid coating system. The synthesized Ti–Al–Si–N films were revealed to be composites of solid-solution (Ti,Al,Si)N crystallites and amorphous Si 3 N 4 by instrumental analyses such as XRD and HRTEM. The highest micro-hardness value (50 GPa) was obtained from the Ti–Al–Si–N film having the Si content of 9 at.%, the microstructure of which was characterized by a nanocomposite of nc-(Ti,Al,Si)N/a-Si 3 N 4 . The tool lives of Ti–Al–Si–N coated tool for AISI D2 steel of hardness 62 HRC were studied under various cutting speeds in high speed machining center. Tool wear curves with cutting length were presented.