Turning process with ceramic inserts of ADI cast material, surface analysis

Abstract Austempered ductile iron castings (ADI) are widely used due to their main characteristics, high resistance to fatigue, impacts, high strength and wear resistance, among others. These mechanical properties of ADI are achieved performing a heat treatment to produce an ausferrite microstructure, leading ADI to be considered to reduce the weight of industrial components and satisfy the most demanding mechanical requirements. The main challenge derived from these heat-treatments is the low machinability. Therefore, a precise control of the microstructure after turning is essential to optimize the cutting process. In this paper, some tests were performed using ceramic tools for dry turning of ADI castings. Based on previous works, cutting parameters are defined to perform an integrity analysis of the obtained surface: microstructure, residual stresses and microhardness were analysed.