INVESTIGATION OF THE MICRO-ABRASIVE WEAR RESISTANCE IN COATED SURFACES OF MACHINE TOOLS.

High heat generation with the consequent increase in temperature is still a limiting factor for productivity and quality in machining processes. Cutting Fluids in Abundance -- CFA is the standard Lubri-cooling technique to avoid high temperatures problems. However, cutting fluids, particularly those of mineral base, bring substantial environmental and human health problems as they are toxic. Coatings are a very used method to protect the tool during machining mainly prolonging its useful life. Due to the great industrial applicability of coatings, there is a growing need to understand the fundamental properties of these thin films and how they act in protecting a surface. The study of coatings has a multidisciplinary aspect since it involves the knowledge of their chemical, physical and tribological properties. The aim of this work was to compare the coating adhesion through the Calowear test, on ISO K grade carbide inserts coated with TiAlN-Futura®, AlCrN-Alcrona®, and AlCrN-Helica®, textured by blasting and by laser-jetting. The results showed higher abrasive wear resistance of the AlCrN-Helica coating, in comparison to TiAlN-Futura® and AlCrN-Alcrona®, the latter having the least advantage. On average, the coatings wear coefficients of the deposited laser textured substrates were lower than those of the blasted substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]