Stainless steel is a nickel-based alloy. Although its hardness is not high compared with other cemented carbides, it is difficult to cut. The main reasons are as follows:
1. Large cutting force
The plastic deformation of stainless steel is large during the cutting process, and the higher the elongation, the greater the cutting difficulty.
2. High temperature strength
Because stainless steel contains a large amount of elements such as cobalt, nickel and molybdenum, it has good plasticity and toughness, and has a large tendency to work hardening, so the cutting load is heavy. Moreover, some carbides will be precipitated inside it during the cutting process, which will aggravate the scratch damage to the tool.
3. The influence of chips is too large
During the cutting process, it is easy to form a built-up edge, which adheres to the surface of the tool, and the phenomenon of chip clogging will occur in serious cases. This will not only affect the roughness of machining, but also easily cause the surface of the tool to fall off or even chip, reducing cutting efficiency and performance.
4. Large coefficient of linear expansion
Under the action of cutting temperature, workpieces with large linear expansion coefficients are prone to thermal deformation and affect dimensional accuracy.
As for the solution, we must consider several factors: mainly including the choice of tool material, the choice of tool geometric parameters, the choice of cutting amount, the choice of cutting fluid, and the appropriate heat treatment of the workpiece.
