New dimension in steel machining

A well-informed steel machining operator in Asia knows that the P in the ISO carbide grade table stands for alloyed and non-alloyed steel, steel casting, stainless, ferritic and martensitic steel and long-chipping malleable cast iron. But for Walter, P also has another meaning: in the case of the new Tiger.Tec(R) Silver ISO P Generation, the P also stands for a new dimension in productivity and process reliability.

Cutting tool materials and new geometries

Jorg Drobniewski, head of cutting tool material development at Walter, talks about the recently developed Walter ISO P Generation. "Here, the new and unique Tiger.Tec(R) Silver CVD coating process has been combined with the versatile range of geometries for steel machining, also recently developed. With the Tiger.Tec(R) Silver ISO P Generation, an increase in steel turning output of up to 75% is achieved."

The platform for the new generation of inserts is a new micro - structured aluminium oxide. With the crystalline configuration, the tool life can be increased by 50% when there is crater wear and this can be used to reduce the machining times for the workpieces considerably. With the improved cutting edge preparation process (microedge technology), it is also possible to increase the tool life by 30% if there is flank face wear or plastic deformation of the insert. The mechanical post-treatment creates the unique residual stress rate, which ultimately guarantees greater process reliability in mass production. In the case of inserts, cracks, micro-chipping and insert breakages are enormously reduced, and given similar wear, a constant tool life is achieved for each cutting edge. Thanks to optimum seating in the toolholder, the ground contact surfaces increase machining reliability when making interrupted cuts and they can generally improve dynamic machining performance dramatically. The silver flank faces (finish)act as an indicator layer for simple wear detection.

Tiger.Tec(R) Silver ISO P Generation
The new generation of inserts for steel turning consists of three grades: WPP10S (ISO P10), WPP20S (ISO P20) and WPP30S (ISO P30). Of the new cutting tool materials, the WPP10S (ISO P10) grade has the highest temperature resistance and hardness. It has excellent wear resistance and is suitable for processes ranging from continuous cutting action to minor interrupted cuts at very high cutting speeds. The medium-grade cutting tool material WPP20S (ISO P20) is notable for its consistent properties and is suitable for use as a universal cutting material for processes ranging from roughing to finishing. In this case, the grade of cutting tool material guarantees outstanding machining reliability and offers a solution for automatic production processes in particular. The WPP30S (ISO P30) grade was developed as a tough cutting material for interrupted cuts or unstable conditions, while offering maximum machining reliability.

Covering steel machining
In addition to the three grades, four new chip breakers have been developed in parallel within
Walter’s ISO P Generation: FP5, MP3, MP5 and RP5. The indexable insert geometries in the double
sided, negative version all have large universal breaking areas, which increase the performance
of the inserts. The four geometries have been precisely matched to one another and their area of application has been increased by 20% to 40% compared with previous geometries. According to
Jorg Drobniewski, “We are now able to cover the majority of application ranges in steel machining
with just four geometries.”

This is a major advantage to users in Asia. Thanks to the Tiger.Tec(R) Silver coating, they achieve maximum productivity. The increase in theZoom Lebron XII 12