Cryoprocessing of cutting tool materials—a review

Cryoprocessing, a supplementary process to conventional heat treatment process, is the process of deep-freezing materials at cryogenic temperatures to enhance the mechanical and physical properties of materials being treated. The execution of cryoprocessing on cutting tool materials increases wear resistance, hardness, and dimensional stability and reduces tool consumption and down time for the machine tool set up, thus leading to cost reductions. The effects of cryoprocessing on tool steels and carbides, metallurgical aspects including reduced amount of retained austenite, precipitation of η-carbides, phase change in carbides, improvement in wear resistance, and applications are reviewed for manufacturing industry. Although it has been confirmed that cryogenic processing can improve the service life of tools, the degree of improvement experienced and the underlying mechanism remains ambiguous. The steps involved in cryoprocessing are critical enough to account for the significant incongruity in post-treated performance.

[1]  A. Molinari,et al.  Deep cryogenic treatment of AISI M2 high-speed steel , 2008 .

[2]  J. M. Alegre,et al.  Effect of low temperature tempering prior cryogenic treatment on carburized steels , 2006 .

[3]  Zbigniew Zurecki,et al.  Cryogenic Quenching of Steel Revisited , 2005 .

[4]  K. Moore,et al.  Cryogenic Treatment of Three Heat-Treated Tool Steels , 1993 .

[5]  S. Renganarayanan,et al.  Cryogenic treatment to augment wear resistance of tool and die steels , 2001 .

[6]  F. Meng,et al.  Role of Eta-carbide Precipitations in the Wear Resistance Improvements of Fe-12Cr-Mo-V-1.4C Tool Steel by Cryogenic Treatment , 1994 .

[7]  Leonard Perry,et al.  AC 2007-437: EVALUATION OF THE COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF CRYOGENICALLY TREATED CUTTING INSERTS AS A CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECT , 2007 .

[8]  P. Stratton,et al.  Optimising nano-carbide precipitation in tool steels , 2007 .

[9]  Fanju Meng,et al.  Wear resistance and microstructure of cryogenic treated Fe-1.4Cr-1C bearing steel , 1994 .

[10]  M. Rahman,et al.  Performance evaluation of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts , 2003 .

[11]  A. N. Popandopulo,et al.  Transformations in high-speed steels during cold treatment , 1980 .

[12]  John T. Roth,et al.  Effectiveness of the Cryogenic Treatment of Tungsten Carbide Inserts on Tool Wear When in Full Production Operations , 2004 .

[13]  D. Mohan Lal,et al.  Deep Cryogenic Treatment Improves Wear Resistance of En 31 Steel , 2008 .

[14]  A. Molinari,et al.  Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the mechanical properties of tool steels , 2001 .

[15]  J. Gates,et al.  A transformation toughening white cast iron , 1997 .

[16]  Jagdev Singh,et al.  Wear behaviour of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts under dry and wet turning conditions , 2009 .

[17]  M. Kalin,et al.  Influence of deep-cryogenic treatment on wear resistance of vacuum heat-treated HSS , 2006 .

[18]  Joan Hall-Craggs,et al.  Sound Spectrographic Analysis , 1980 .

[19]  R. Rudramoorthy,et al.  Performance analysis of cryogenically treated coated carbide inserts , 2009 .

[20]  G. Nagarajan,et al.  Optimization of cryogenic treatment to maximize the wear resistance of 18% Cr martensitic stainless steel by Taguchi method , 2008 .

[21]  V. Firouzdor,et al.  Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on wear resistance and tool life of M2 HSS drill , 2008 .

[22]  T. V. SreeramaReddy,et al.  Machinability of C45 steel with deep cryogenic treated tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts , 2009 .

[23]  Álisson Rocha Machado,et al.  Performance of cryogenically treated HSS tools , 2006 .

[24]  Jinyong Xu,et al.  A study on double glow plasma surface metallurgy Mo–Cr high speed steel of carbon steel , 2007 .

[25]  Wang Jun,et al.  Effect of cryogenic treatment on the matrix structure and abrasion resistance of white cast iron subjected to destabilization treatment , 2006 .

[26]  G. Nagarajan,et al.  Effect of cryogenic treatment on distribution of residual stress in case carburized En 353 steel , 2008 .

[27]  Li Shi.  Effect of Cryogenic Treatment on the Abrasive-resistance of T12 Steel , 2000 .

[28]  G. Nagarajan,et al.  Enhancing the wear resistance of case carburized steel (En 353) by cryogenic treatment , 2005 .

[29]  R. Barron,et al.  Cryogenic treatment of metals to improve wear resistance , 1982 .

[30]  Mark A.M. Bourke,et al.  Microstructure of cryogenic treated M2 tool steel , 2003 .

[31]  D. Das,et al.  Effect of Deep Cryogenic Treatment on the Carbide Precipitation and Tribological Behavior of D2 Steel , 2007 .

[32]  M. Rahman,et al.  Performance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide tools in milling operations , 2007 .

[33]  Debdulal Das,et al.  Influence of varied cryotreatment on the wear behavior of AISI D2 steel , 2009 .

[34]  Martin Pugh,et al.  Effect of cryogenic treatment on the mechanical properties of 4340 steel , 2007 .

[35]  Lin Xiaoping,et al.  Classic contributions: cryogenic treatment Deep cryogenic treatment of high speed steel: microstructure and mechanism , 2008 .

[36]  Wayne Reitz,et al.  CRYOPROCESSING OF MATERIALS: A REVIEW OF CURRENT STATUS , 2001 .

[37]  Y. Limoge,et al.  Molecular dynamics study of vacancy like defects in a model glass : dynamical behaviour and diffusion , 1993 .

[38]  K.H.W. Seah,et al.  Performance evaluation of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide tools in turning , 2006 .

[39]  H. A. Stewart.  Cryogenic treatment of tungsten carbide reduces tool wear when machining medium density fiberboard , 2004 .

[40]  Jože Vižintin,et al.  Wear Behavior of Deep-Cryogenic Treated High-Speed Steels at Different Loads , 2006 .

[41]  Allan Stojko.  Sub-zero Treatment of Tool Steels , 2001 .

[42]  G. Nagarajan,et al.  Effect of cryogenic treatment on tensile behavior of case carburized steel-815M17 , 2007 .