Study on Chip Morphology and Adiabatic Shear in High Speed Cutting of Alloy Steels with Different Hardness

The chip morphology and the formation and development of the adiabatic shear band within the serrated chips formed in high speed cutting of 30CrNi3MoV steel with two tempering hardness were observed and analyzed using optical microscope and SEM. The investigation shows that as the adiabatic shear phenomenon occurs and develops, the chip morphology changes as follows: ribbon chip→serrated chip with deformed band→serrated chip with transformed band→fractured chip. The cutting speed and tempering hardness is the two main factors affecting adiabatic shear, in the case of lower cutting speed the formation and development of adiabatic shear band are more sensitive to tempered hardness increase. The deformed shear bands are constituted by large deformed microstructure, while the formation of the transformed shear bands has experienced the large plastic deformation and grain refinement.