Tool life and wear mechanism of WC–5TiC–0.5VC–8Co cemented carbides inserts when machining HT250 gray cast iron

Abstract Cutter development has drawn a lot of attention for cast iron machining in recent years. In this study, a special cemented carbide of WC–5TiC–0.5VC–8Co (WTVC8) was used for a comprehensive HT250 gray cast iron machining test. Compared with the baseline plain WC–8Co(WC8) carbides, WTVC8 shows significantly higher tool life under the same cutting conditions due to significantly higher hardness and red hardness. The worn flank face observation shows that adhesion wear and oxidation are the main wear mechanisms and there is no apparent chipping/breakage and abrasion wear for both WTVC8 and WC8. Based on Taylor's equation, the accurate tool life models for both WTVC8 and WC8 have been constructed, which shows clearly that cutting speed has the most significant effect on tool life, followed by depth of cut and feed rate. The tool life models can serve as a quantified guidance for cutting performance optimization.