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Cryoprocessing of cutting tool materials—a review

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Abstract

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, 143521, Punjab, India

    Simranpreet Singh Gill & Jagdev Singh

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roopnagar, 140001, Punjab, India

    Harpreet Singh

  3. Department of Production Engineering, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, 141006, Punjab, India

    Rupinder Singh

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  1. Simranpreet Singh Gill
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  2. Harpreet Singh
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  3. Rupinder Singh
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  4. Jagdev Singh
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Correspondence to Simranpreet Singh Gill.

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Gill, S.S., Singh, H., Singh, R. et al. Cryoprocessing of cutting tool materials—a review. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 48, 175–192 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-009-2263-9

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