International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550

Surface integrity in nish hard turning of case-hardened steels

J. Rech
a,
, A. Moisan
b
a
LTDS, Ecole Nationale dIngenieurs de Saint-Etienne, 58 Rue Jean Parot, Saint-Etienne 42000, France
b
LABOMAP, Ecole Nationale Superieure dArts et Metiers, Cluny 71250, France
Received 17 July 2002; accepted 5 August 2002
Abstract
Highly stressed steel components, e.g., gears and bearing parts, are appropriate applications for hard turning. Therefore, the
process effects on signicant engineering properties of work materials have to be carefully analyzed. Roughness, residual stresses,
and white layers as parts of surface integrity, are functions of the machining parameters and of the cuttability of the cutting edge,
i.e. of the tool wear.
The aim of this work was to study the inuence of feed rate, cutting speed, and tool wear on the effects induced by hard turning
on case-hardened 27MnCr5 gear conebrakes and to point out the technical limitations in mass production.
2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hard turning; Residual stresses; White layers; Surface integrity
1. Introduction
Traditionally, machining of hardened steel compo-
nents has been the domain of grinding. Recently, cBN
(cubic boron nitride) tooling has proven to be a viable
alternative, providing both environmental and cost bene-
ts. cBN tools show good performance during machin-
ing of hardened steels because of their high hot hardness,
low solubility in iron, and good fracture toughness. It
offers the possibility of greater process exibility,
reduced machining time, lower energy consumption,
swarf recycling possibilities, and the optional use of a
coolant. Despite these evident advantages, industrial
realization of hard machining has not risen in compari-
son with the potential spectrum of applications. The
clearly unsatisfactory industrial acceptance of hard
machining technology can be attributed partly to insuf-
cient knowledge of the component behavior of hard
machined technical surfaces and partly to the uncertainty
about the attainable accuracies-to-size. Particularly, the
presence of tensile residual stresses at the surface of a
component and the formation of a hard white layer have

Corresponding author..
E-mail address: joel.rech@enise.fr (J. Rech).
0890-6955/03/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0890-6955(02)00141-4
usually been considered as detrimental to the compo-
nents performance (rightly or wrongly).
Highly stressed steel components, e.g., gear and bear-
ing parts, are appropriate applications of hard turning.
Investigations into residual stresses, white layer, and sur-
face roughness (surface integrity) as a function of mach-
ining parameters and tool ank wear were undertaken
on gear conebrakes of the same composition and ther-
mal history.
2. Experimental procedure
Field tests were investigated on gear conebrakes so as
to dene the limitation of the hard turning process in
mass production. Gears conebrakes are made of case-
hardened 27MnCr5 steel. Table 1 shows the chemical
composition of this steel. The cementation provides an
850 HV
0.3
hardness on the external surface and affects
about 0.6 mm of the bulk material, as shown in
Table 1
27MnCr5 chemical analysis (% ponderal, before heat treatment)
C Mn Cr Cu Ti Al Si S P
0.23 1.1 1.00 0.4 0.01 0.015 0.10 0.025 0.03
544 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
Fig. 1. Properties of the machined surface after case hardening.
Fig. 1. The composition of the case-hardened layer is
nearly constant in a 0.3 mm regular depth. The carbon
content in the layer is modied: about 1% carbon. As a
consequence, the machined material is close to a
100MnCr5 steel.
The case hardening also modies the residual stress
prole, and compressive stresses have been induced. The
removed depth of cut is 0.15 mm because of the previous
turning operations (before heat treatment). As one can
observe in Fig. 1, the surface discovered by the hard
turning operation should still have a 850 HV
0.3
hardness
and a tangential external residual stress of 400 MPa if
the cutting process did not affect the machined surface
(which is not usually the case).
As described in Fig. 2, continuous dry turning tests
were performed on a lathe of high stiffness. Finish cut-
ting was conducted at a cutting speed V
c
in the range of
50 to 250 m/min, a feed rate f in the range 0.05 to 0.2
mm/rev and a depth of cut of a
p
= 0.15 mm. The cBN
tool inserts were ISO code TNGA 160408 S (chamfer
normal rake angle g
n
= 20, chamfer width: 0.1 mm,
honing edge radius = 0.03 mm) coated with a 1 m TiN
Fig. 2. Elements used for the experiments.
layer. The tool holder was a MTJNR27050-16. The cut-
ting edge inclination angle of the insert is
s
= 6, and
the normal rake angle is g
n
= 6. An EDS analysis of
the cBN insert has shown that it is mainly composed
of about (in weight) 60% BN, 35% TiCN and some few
elements such as A1, W, and Co.
Tool ank wear was measured after each test by using
an optical microscope.
Two- and three-dimensional surface roughness values
have been measured on the conebrakes using a stylus
prolometer. The two-dimensional surface roughness
was measured using a trace length of 4.8 mm, a cut-off
length of 0.8 mm, and a gauss lter. The values were
recorded at ve equally spaced locations around the cir-
cumference of the specimen. Mean values are plotted in
Fig. 3.
3. Surface roughness
In nishing operations, as in hard turning, the end of
tool life is usually based on a predetermined damage
545 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
Fig. 3. Inuence of the cutting parameters on the surface roughness parameters after nish hard turning Steel 27MnCr5, 850 HV
0.3
, a
p
= 0.15
mm, Insert TNGA 160408 S (TiN coated).
level of the machined surface. So as to explain and pre-
dict the surface roughness, investigations have been con-
ducted to determine the effect of three parameters such
as feed rate f, cutting speed V
c
, and ank wear VB. Three
surface roughness parameters have been measured: R
a
,
R, and R
max
The general topography of the machined surface con-
sists of long straight grooves in a direction parallel to
the cutting velocity. These grooves are caused by the
micro-geometry of the cutting edge. Examination of the
machined surfaces (Fig. 3a) using three-dimensional top-
ography reveals the dependence of surface roughness on
tool radius as well as on feed rate. This kind of surface
is forbidden for a number of applications (oil tightness)
but does not concern gear conebrakes, and can be avo-
ided with additional abrasive processes such as lapping.
The theoretical expression of the surface roughness
parameter R
a
is:
Ra
f
2
18.3.r

(f:feed rate (mm/ rev), r

: insert radius 0.8mm).

(1)
This model is based on a perfect geometrical model,
made of circles (radius 0.8 mm) with a pitch of f mm.
In this expression, the ank wear is neglected, which
is justied by the fact that all experiments have been
conducted with new inserts (no ank wear).
The measured experimental values are shown in Figs.
3b and 3c. One can observe that feed rate is the main
parameter that inuences the surface roughness com-
pared to the inuence of cutting speed. Fig. 3b also indi-
cates that the evolution of the experimental values is
almost the same as that predicted by Eq. (1), irrespective
of the cutting speed (in the range 50 to 150 m/min).
Experimental curves show that cutting speed has a
546 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
smaller inuence on nishing operations, especially at
low feed rate. The results for cutting speeds higher than
150 m/min (200 and 250 m/min) have been presented
to show that an evolution signicantly different can be
observed. These results are not suitable for large-scale
applications because the inserts are quickly worn after
just a few seconds. As a consequence, it can be con-
cluded that in the suitable cutting conditions area, the
surface roughness parameter R
a
is not signicantly
inuenced by the cutting speed, but is mainly inuenced
by the feed rate.
Observation of the surface machined at lower feed
revealed the existence of a severe plastic ow (identical
pictures as those observed in Fig. 3e). Despite the fact
that a good surface nish was obtained using a small
feed (where the height of the feed marks becomes
smaller), a close examination of the machined surface
shows that extensive material ow existed. A typical
SEM picture of material side ow can be observed in
Fig. 3e. As presented by [12], the material side ow is
dened as a displacement of the workpiece material in
a direction opposite to the feed direction such that burrs
form on the feed mark ridges. The workpiece material
in the cutting zone is subjected to a high enough tem-
perature and pressure to cause complete plastication.
Chip material ows in a direction perpendicular to that
of the chip. This material sticks on to the newly
machined surface and causes damage to the machined
surface quality, even if the surface roughness is kept
within the desired tolerance. In addition, the adhered
material is hard and abrasive, such that it wears any sur-
face that comes into contact with the produced surface.
A lower feed increases the area in which the chip
thickness was lower than the minimum chip thickness.
Hence, instead of cutting, a large part of the material
was ploughed and this led to material side ow. This is
conrmed by the evolution of the experimental R
a
curves
which are higher than the theoretical curve for a 0.05
mm/rev feed rate. It attests to the damage of the surface
roughness at low feed rate. As a consequence, it seems
that a minimal feed rate exists. This minimum value is
in relation to the minimum chip thickness and the honing
edge radius (0.03 mm). In this case, the minimum feed
rate seems to be between 0.05 and 0.1 mm/rev.
Additionally, Fig. 3d shows the effect of tool wear on
the surface topography during the machining of hard-
ened steel. It represents the evolution of the surface
roughness parameters (R
a
, R, R
max
) with the number of
workpieces produced, i.e., with the ank wear [12].
Due to the thermal effect of tool wear, the material in
the cutting zone becomes so viscous that it lls the
grooves and ows in a uniform and homogeneous way
to the side of the cutting tool forming high ridges.
Furthermore, one can observe in Fig. 3d that the sur-
face roughness parameter R
a
is not very sensitive to the
ank wear and, as a consequence, to the material side
ow occurrence. On the contrary, R and R
max
are much
more sensitive to the material ow. This attests to the
necessity of having both types of parameter: one that
indicates the mean surface roughness of the surface
(justied by the functionality of the surface) and another
that indicates the damage of the tool (ank wear and
material side ow).
4. Residual stresses prole
The prole and level of induced residual stresses are
among the major criteria on gear conebrakes because of
the high shearing load involved on these surfaces.
Residual stresses as a function of cutting speed, feed
rate, and ank wear were investigated. Using an X-ray
diffractometer, combined with a chemical polisher,
depth proling of residual stresses has been done.
Results are presented in Figs. 4 and 5.
Residual stresses are the results of three effects: mech-
anical, thermal, and metallurgical. In hard turning, these
three effects are governed by the characteristics and
properties of the tool (material, coating, geometry,
wear), by the machining parameters, and by the tool
work material interactions. The changes in the physical
properties of the workpiece surface due to hard turning
have to be attributed partly to the cutting pressure and
partly to the cutting temperature. In order to compare
the changes caused by hard turning, it is essential to ana-
lyze the corresponding chip formation mechanism [3
4]. In the area around the tip of the cutting edge, the
compressive stress levels must be very high, as this is
the only way of ensuring that the work material will
plastify to a sufcient degree to allow chip formation.
The high level of mechanical stress being exerted on the
surface of the workpiece tends to induce compressive
residual stresses.
Thermal stresses result mainly from the friction
between the wear land VB and the workpiece. The high
direct stress levels cause high tangential stress which, in
conjunction with the relative motion between cutting
edge and workpiece, results in high levels of friction
energy. It must therefore be assumed that most of the
heat ows into the workpiece. Additionally, it is evident
that wear land friction alone can result in extremely high
temperatures which do not penetrate deep into the work-
piece. Since [4], the temperature distribution, measured
with a CCD infrared camera in orthogonal cBN hard
turning of a 100Cr6 steel (62 HRC, V
c
= 184 m/min, a
p
= 2 mm, f = 0.1 mm/rev, insert cBN), shows that the
maximum temperature is located on the ank face and
reaches between 800 and 1100 C. When these tempera-
tures exceed the transition temperature (transition
temperature is dependent on the heat rate), martensite
produced by friction develops, which is recognizable as
a white layer in micrographs. The formation of marten-
547 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
Fig. 4. Inuence of ank wear on the prole of residual stresses after nish hard turning 27MnCr5, 850 HV
0.3
, a
p
= 0.15 mm, Insert TNGA
160408 S (TiN coated).
Fig. 5. Inuence of the cutting conditions on the external residual stresses after hard turning 27MnCr5, 850 HV
0.3
, a
p
= 0.15 mm, Insert TNGA
160408 S (TiN coated).
site as a result of friction causes tensile residual stress
which superimposes itself on the residual compressive
stress resulting from mechanical effects.
In all cases, the residual stress proles in the axial
direction as well as in the circumferential direction have
the same evolution. For that reason, only the circumfer-
ential residual stress measurements will be discussed.
A typical residual stress prole in the circumferential
direction is shown in Fig. 4c. For a new insert and a
cutting speed of 100 m/min, the external residual stress
is about 250 MPa. Beneath the surface the prole
decreases to 800 MPa at a distance of 0.07 mm, and
then increases to the level of the bulk material (400
MPa). This prole is particularly interesting when
fatigue resistance has to be considered [37]: the level
is always compressive.
5. Residual stresses and ank wear
Fig. 4c shows the inuence of ank wear on the
residual stress prole. One can observe that the external
residual stress increases with ank wear and, at the same
time, the maximum compressive residual stress shifts
548 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
further below the surface. Flank wear increases the level
of friction energy and thus cutting temperatures. This
indicates that a new cutting tool generates a compressive
residual stress at the surface, whereas a worn tool tends
to generate a tensile residual stress at the surface.
Furthermore, the microstructure of the workpiece no.
165, produced in the cutting conditions described in Fig.
4, reveals the presence of an affected zone of about 0.01
mm thickness. After etching with a 5% nital solution for
5 s, a white layer is observable, followed by a dark layer,
and nally the bulk material. White layers are commonly
found in severe grinding [8] and electro-discharge mach-
ining [9]. White layers seem to be detrimental to parts
performance, and have to be avoided or a post-n-
ishing process is required.
White layers are the consequence of high friction
energy and heat, generated either by the cutting process
depending on the tool wear or by a too-high cutting
speed. White-layer formation is dominantly a thermal
process involving phase transformation of the steel,
possibly activated by plastic strain. Today, the micro-
structural evolution during white-layer formation is not
fully explained. Nevertheless it is possible to say that,
for a hypereutectoid steel such as 100MnCr5, martensite
(starting microstructure in hard turning) is a metastable
structure that will decompose to ferrite and cementite
when heated (a tempering process). However, the high
heating rate encountered during cutting (for instance 2.1
10
6
C/s [4]) may prevent martensite from decompos-
ing. Due to its high carbon concentration, martensite may
transform without diffusion to austenite (reverse mar-
tensitic transformation) with no carbide dissolution
needed. This is in contrast to conventional hardening
where the starting structure of mild steels is ferrite with
cementite that requires soaking time for cementite dis-
solution into austenite. Carbides in affected zones show
no differences from the bulk, further suggesting no car-
bide dissolution during the white layer formation. The
X-ray diffraction analysis of a white layer has shown
that the volume fraction of austenite is much more
important than in the bulk area [4,10,11,12,13]. This
indicates the important phase transformations that have
occurred during cutting. The substantial increase of aus-
tenite at hard-turned surfaces is probably due to an insuf-
cient cooling rate or to a lack of tempering resulting
from the thermal cycle occurring during cutting.
In conclusion, it has to be pointed out that tool ank
wear is a major parameter in nish hard turning, where
the insert has to be changed more quickly than could be
predetermined considering roughness parameters. As an
example, for a surface roughness criteria R 1.5 m,
280 workpieces can be machined, and in the same time,
a criteria of 0 MPa will stop the production after
100 workpieces. The main problem for mass production
plants is the necessary quick quantication of the level
of residual stresses.
6. Inuence of cutting parameters on residual
stresses
Fig. 4b shows the evolution of the external tangential
residual stress in function of the cutting speed for differ-
ent feed rates. One can observe that cutting speed tends
to increase the external residual stress, irrespective of
the feed rate in the range of 50 to 150 m/min. On the
other hand, the evolution of the curves changes above
200 m/min. It has to be noticed that the values of the
residual stresses produced with cutting speeds of 200 and
250 m/min are useless in the case of mass production.
In these cutting conditions, ank wear rate is so high
that it is impossible to produce a workpiece with respect
to economical and technical conditions (presence of
white layers). As a consequence, one can conclude that,
in economical cutting conditions (50150 m/min), the
cutting speed tends to increase the level of external
residual stresses. This result has been conrmed by
complementary tests conducted on an uncoated cBN
insert (Fig. 6), and by other authors [37].
Fig. 4a also shows the effect of feed rate on the
residual stresses in the circumferential direction. In the
range of 0.05 to 0.1 mm/rev, the residual stresses near
the surface shifted towards compression as feed rate was
increased. On the other hand, in the range of 0.1 to 0.2
mm/rev, the residual stresses near the surface shifted
towards tension as feed rate was increased. These results
are similar irrespective of the cutting speed (in the suit-
able range of cutting speeds). The limit of feed rate (0.1
mm/rev) can be explained by the relation between the
small chip thickness at low feed rate and the cutting edge
honing radius (0.03 mm). With low feed rates under 0.1
mm/rev, the friction energy conducted in the machined
surface should be higher, because the chip thickness is
too small and part of the chips may be squeezed below
the clearance face, as described by [2].
Nevertheless, compared to the evolution of the
residual stress level with the cutting speed, one can con-
clude that the feed rate does not have a major inuence
on the residual stresses. Furthermore, at a depth below
0.03 mm, there was no change in the residual stress pro-
les. These results indicate that the feed rate did not
signicantly affect the residual stresses in the deep sub-
surface, as previously shown by [14].
7. Inuence of TiN coating
Fig. 6 shows the evolution of the R
a
roughness para-
meter and of the external tangential residual stress as a
function of the cutting speed for an uncoated cBN insert
and for a TiN-coated cBN insert. One can observe that
a TiN coating tends to decrease the external residual
stress between 150 and 350 MPa. The benet of a coat-
ing is more important regarding the residual stress level
549 J. Rech, A. Moisan / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 43 (2003) 543550
Fig. 6. Inuence of the TiN coating on external residual stress and roughness after hard turning 27MnCr5, 850 HV
0.3
, a
p
= 0.15 mm, TNGA
160408 S, f = 0.1 mm/rev.
for high cutting speeds. This improvement may be attri-
buted to the good tribological behavior of TiN coating,
which decreases the cutting friction energy and the mean
cutting temperature at the toolchip interface, as shown
by [15]. This result correlates wear resistance improve-
ments observed with TiN-coated cBN inserts during
hard turning operations [4].
The observation of the evolution of the R
a
roughness
parameter with the cutting speed shows a great decrease
of the R
a
values for the uncoated insert at low cutting
speeds. The theoretical value expected was 0.4 m,
whereas measurements indicate 0.2 m. The examin-
ation of the machined surfaces and of the uncoated insert
with an SEM have proved the presence of an important
material side ow (similar to that in Fig. 3) and of an
important material sticking on the cutting edge. This
indicates that uncoated inserts are not suitable for hard
turning operations at low cutting speeds with respect to
the surface topography, but also with respect to the
residual stress level.
8. Concluding remarks
1. For highly loaded parts, e.g., gears, the physical and
technological material properties are of major impor-
tance on the ability of a surface to perform the
required service functions; hardness, microstructure,
residual stresses prole and level (surface integrity)
are among such properties.
2. Finishing cutting processes, such as grinding or hard
turning, have a great inuence on the surface integ-
rity, because of the thermomechanical material
removal mechanisms.
3. The hard turning process is interesting with regard to
its capacities to produce a low surface roughness (R
a
0.2 m) during a long cutting time and also to
induce compressive residual stresses when machining
at low feed rate and low cutting speed. Feed rate is
the major parameter that inuences the surface rough-
ness, whereas cutting speed is the major parameter
that inuences the residual stress level.
4. TiN coating sustantially improves the surface integ-
rity of hard turned surfaces.
5. The hard turning process has some restrictions,
especially because of the generated helical surface
topography (not existing in cylindrical grinding
processes) and the occurrence of material side ow
at very low feed rates or with worn tools. An other
restriction of hard turning is the inuence of the ank
wear which shifts the residual stresses towards
tension and also tends to induce white layers. In hard
turning operations, residual stress levels and white
layers are the main criteria for a change of insert, far
before roughness or accuracies-to-size, although these
parameters are very difcult to follow in a pro-
duction plant.
6. The restrictions of hard turning could be solved by
the association with a subsequent abrasive process
(such as lapping or belt grinding), which is supposed
to delete the helical topography and the presence of
material side ow, and, at the same time, should shift
the residual stress level towards compression [16].
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