COMPARISON BETWEEN PVD AND CVD+PVD COATED INSERTS FOR CUTTING FORCES AND TOOL WEAR DURING TURNING OF RAMAX-2

A comparison is made between PVD coated and CVD+PVD coated inserts during machining of Ramax-2 (a stainless steel mould material). The cutting forces are measured using Kistler lathe tool dynamometer, first using PVD coated inserts and then CVD+PVD coated inserts. The flank wear of these inserts is observed by machining Ramax-2 at the optimum parameters. The surface finish is also measured with portable surface roughness meter. The results shows that Ramax-2 can be economically cut if CVD+PVD coated inserts are used. The tool life with CVD+PVD coated inserts is found higher as compared to PVD coated inserts, although the surface roughness and cutting forces are almost the same for both kinds of inserts.