Citation: Kuruc, M.; Vopát, T.;
Peterka, J.; Necpal, M.; Šimna, V.;
Milde, J.; Jurina, F. The Influence of
Cutting Parameters on Plastic
Deformation and Chip Compression
during the Turning of C45 Medium
Carbon Steel and 62SiMnCr4 Tool
Steel. Materials 2022, 15, 585. https://
doi.org/10.3390/ma15020585
Academic Editors: Arkadiusz Gola,
Izabela Nielsen and Patrik Grznár
Received: 15 December 2021
Accepted: 11 January 2022
Published: 13 January 2022
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Article
The Influence of Cutting Parameters on Plastic Deformation
and Chip Compression during the Turning of C45 Medium
Carbon Steel and 62SiMnCr4 Tool Steel
Marcel Kuruc * , Tomáš Vopát , Jozef Peterka , Martin Necpal , Vladimír Šimna, Ján Milde
and František Jurina
Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Vazovova 5,
81243 Bratislava, Slovakia; tomas.vopat@stuba.sk (T.V.); jozef.peterka@stuba.sk (J.P.);
martin.necpal@stuba.sk (M.N.); vladimir.simna@stuba.sk (V.Š.); jan.milde@stuba.sk (J.M.);
frantisek.jurina@stuba.sk (F.J.)
* Correspondence: marcel.kuruc@stuba.sk
Abstract:
The paper deals with the issue of cutting zone and chip compression. The aim was to
analyse the microstructure transverse section of the cutting zone on a metallographic cut, due to
determined values of chip compression and plastic deformation, which affect the cutting process
efficiency. The tested cutting tool material was coated with cemented carbide. The selected workpiece
materials were C45 medium carbon steel of ISO grade and 62SiMnCr4 tool steel of ISO (W.Nr. 1.2101)
grade. In the experiments, a DMG CTX alpha 500 turning centre was used. The cutting speed
and feed were varied, and the depth of the cut was kept constant during the turning. The plastic
deformation and chip compression determine the efficiency of the cutting process. The higher
compression requires more work to perform the process and, therefore, it requires more energy for
doing so. With the increase of the cutting speed, the deformation for C45 steel is decreased. The
rapid deformation reduction was observed when the cutting speed was increased from 145 m/min
to 180 m/min. Generally, deformation is decreasing with the increase of the feed. Only at a cutting
speed of 145 m/min was the deformation elevation observed, when the feed was increased from
0.4 mm to 0.6 mm. During the turning of the 62SiMnCr4 tool steel we observed an error value at a
cutting speed of 145 m/min and a feed of 0.4 mm was the middle cutting parameter. However, feed
dependence was clear: With an increase of the feed, the plastic deformation was decreasing. This
decreasing was more rapid with the increasing of the cutting speed. Besides plastic deformation,
there was analysed chip compression as well. With the increasing of the cutting speed, there was a
decrease of the chip compression. Due to a lack of information in the area of the chip compression
and the plastic deformation in the cutting process, we decided to investigate the cutting zone for the
turning of tool steels 62SiMnCr4, which was compared with the reference steel C45. The results could
be applied to increase the efficiency of the process and improvement of the surface integrity.
Keywords: plastic deformation; chip compression; cutting edge radius; cutting zone
1. Introduction
In the cutting process, the cutting edge penetrates the workpiece material. The material
is, therefore, deformed plastically and it is slides off along the rake face of the cutting tool.
This process is called a chip formation. The behaviour of the material in the chip formation
can be investigated within the orthogonal plane. It is possible because essential parts of
the material flow operate within this plane. A few methods have been created to visualize
the process of deformation in front of the cutting edge. Other methods have been created
to analyse the process of chip formation and the behaviour of the material in the working
zone. The obtained analyses provided information about the chip formation mechanisms,
Materials 2022, 15, 585. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15020585 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
