Development of Cutting Tool Through Superplastic Boronizing of Duplex Stainless Steel

In this study, a cutting tool is developed from duplex stainless steel (DSS) using the superplastic boronizing technique. The feasibility of the development process is studied, and the cutting performances of the cutting tool are evaluated and compared with commercially available carbide and high-speed steel (HSS) tools. The superplastically boronized (SPB) cutting tool yielded a dense boronized layer of 50.5 µm with a surface hardness of 3956 HV. A coefficient of friction value of 0.62 is obtained, which is lower than 1.02 and 0.8 of the carbide and HSS tools. When tested on an aluminum 6061 surface under dry condition, the SPB cutting tool is also able to produce turning finishing below 0.4 µm, beyond the travel distance of 3000 m, which is comparable to the carbide tool, but produces much better results than HSS tool. Through superplastic boronizing of DSS, it is possible to produce a high-quality metal-based cutting tool that is comparable to the conventional carbide tool.