Performance Comparison of Al2O3 Cutting Tool with and without Reinforcement of Graphene Nanoplatelets

Al2O3 is a commonly used cutting tool material for machining cast iron and hard steels. However its low fracture toughness has been its potential drawback to use it for wider applications. In order to improve the fracture toughness, graphene nanoplatelets has been used as the reinforcement. The Al2O3 -TiCN composite have been made by powder metallurgy. The present work compares the performance characteristics of Al2O3 -TiCN with and without graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) in CNC machining. The machining performance of the prepared cutting tools is tested in terms of temperature generated, flank wear, cutting force and surface finish. It is observed that the prepared composite tool with GNP has much improved machining performance over the Al2O3 cutting tool that has no GNP reinforcement. The work has the unique novelty of using GNP as the reinforcement in Al2O3 cutting tool material.