Coated Carbide Grades turn cast and ductile irons.

Press Release Summary:




Grade KC9325, suited for gray cast and nodular irons, performs under interrupted cut conditions, and Grade KC9315, suited for use with ductile irons, employs coating that resists flank wear. Both grades reduce production time without any reduction in tool life. Grade KC9325 has MTCVD TiCN coating and fine grain aluminum oxide coating layer for total thickness of 16 microns, while Grade KC9315 has same 2 layers plus outer layer of TiN/TiCN for total thickness of 18 microns.



Original Press Release:



New Grades Provide Performance Gains In Turning Cast and Ductile Irons



(Latrobe, PA, USA -- February 6, 2003) -- Kennametal has introduced two new coated carbide grades that provide dramatic improvements in cutting speed with no reduction in tool life while turning gray cast and ductile irons. Grade KC9325 provides outstanding performance on gray cast and nodular irons even under heavy interrupted cut conditions. Grade KC9315 offers the ultimate in high-speed performance on ductile irons with a special coating designed to resist flank wear. Both new grades take advantage of recent advancements in Kennametal coating technology that have established Kennametal's new steel turning grades, KC9110 and KC9125, as the best in class. "The coatings on these new grades are 25% to 75% thicker than conventional coated grades and the result is they outperform nearly everything that we put them up against," said Rich Denton, Senior Product Manager, Turning Inserts for Kennametal. "In a typical application, we can take a part that normally takes 4 minutes to produce and make it in only 2.5 minutes without any reduction in tool life. The end result is significantly lower per unit cost and higher throughput."

A key technological advancement in the new grades is interface layers that increase the adhesion between coating layers. The interfacial surface area of each layer has also been increased by changing the formulation of the precursors in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to increase surface roughness. The medium temperature CVD (MTCVD) TiCN coating layer used in the new grades also provides a significant advantage by eliminating the tendency found in higher-temperature CVD TiCN coatings to form an eta phase that can reduce the transverse rupture strength of the insert. In addition, microfinishing of the cutting edge reduces surface roughness, minimizing the possibility of built-up edge. Moving from inside to outside, Grade KC9325 has a MTCVD TiCN coating and a fine grain aluminum oxide coating layer for a total thickness of 16 microns. Grade KC9315 has the same two layers plus an outer layer of TiN/TiCN that provides flank wear resistance for a total thickness of 18 microns.

As an example of the performance improvements that can be achieved with the new grades, Denton pointed to a 65-45-12 ductile cast iron transmission component that is produced at 1035 surface feet per minute (SFM), 0.016 inches per revolution (ipr) feed rate, and a 0.050 inch depth of cut (doc). The new KC9315 grade provides a tool life of 468 pieces per edge, compared to 225 pieces per edge for the original grade and 400 pieces per edge for the best competitive grade tested. In another application on a nodular iron hub, the original coated carbide grade provided a tool life of 35 pieces per edge at 800 sfm, 0.008 ipr, and 0.060 inch doc. Kennametal's new KC9315 grade delivered a 71% improvement, raising that figure to 60 pieces per edge. Finally, on a ductile iron hub that is run at 795 sfm, 0.013 ipr, and 0.100 inch doc, KC9315 provides a life of 190 pieces per edge, a 52% improvement over the competitive coated grade used previously.

For more information about Kennametal products, please call 800-446-7738 or visit www.kennametal.com.

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