Generally, cermet is produced by combining good main features of two kinds of materials, they are ceramic and metal. The ceramic provides thermal and chemical resistance as well as excellent oxidation resistance. While the metal gives high flexibility and great thermal conductivity. In general, a cermet consists of a ceramic material such as titanium carbide with a metal binder- nickel, for instance.
Recently, Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Corp., develops a new cermet grade derived from different forms of titanium carbide grains based on an optimal balance of high wear resistance grains and high toughness grains, resulting in the cermet which provides proper combination of excellent high wear and fracture resistance.
The different grain structures comprises of the following qualifications: (Fig. 1)
• W-rich : High toughness
• Ti-rich : fine grains giving high wear resistance
• Composite Phase: large sized grains allowing high toughness
• Mixed Structure Phase: Combining grains for the best qualification of high rigidity and high toughness
T1500A is manufactured by the technology as mentioned above. Moreover, the new cutting edge design technology provides smoother cutting (Fig. 2) and stable edge for better.surface finish Such state-of-the-art technology makes the outer layer of T1500A the most rigid and highest wear resistance. The rigid at the outer is gradually reduced as getting deeper into the inside of the insert but increasing in stiffness instead. In a conclusion, its outer surface is very high wear resistant while the inside under the surface is high in stiffness. As a result, the cermet T1500A is the best balance (Fig. 3).
Based on the mentioned reasons, T1500A is excellent in wear resistance (Fig. 4), wearing rate is less than another grades by 1.5 times. The crack resistance characteristic allows it able to attain interrupt cuts (Fig. 5) better than another grades 1.5 times. In addition, the roundness and grossiness also complement to the super surface finish (Fig. 6, 7).
The cermet grade T1500A is suitable for steel finish turning which requires great surface finish, longer tool life and better substantial cost reduction.
