TITANIUM NITRIDE COATING OF HIGH SPEED STEEL AND CARBIDE METAL CUTTING TOOLS USING FLUID BED FURNACE TECHNOLOGY

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE IN PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED FROM HIGH SPEED STEEL AND CARBIDE METAL CUTTING TOOLS BY THE ADDITION OF HARD SURFACE COATINGS SUCH AS TITANIUM NITRIDE, SILICON NITRIDE ,TITANIUM CARBIDE, ALUMINUM OXIDE AND VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF THE ABOVE. THESE COATINGS ARE DIFFICULT TO APPLY UNIFORM LY, PARTICULARLY IN THE CASE OF COMPLEX GEOMETRIES AND ARE EXPENSIVE, REQUIRING HIGH COST EQUIPMENT AT LONG CYCLES AT HIGH ENERGY COST. PROCEDYNE HAS BEEN DEVELOPING AND COM COMMERCIALIZING VARIOUS HEAT TREATING METHODS USING FLUID BED HEAT TREATING FURNACES. PRELIMINARY R&D WITH TITANIUM NITRIDE COATINGS INDICATES THAT THE HARD COATINGS MAY BE APPLIED MORE EFFECTIVELY AND AT LOWER COST USING FLUID BED FURNACES. THIS PROPOSED R&D PROGRAM HAS, AS ITS OBJECTIVE, TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF USING FLUID BED TECHNOLOGY FOR PUTTING A HARD TITANIUM NITRIDE COATING ON CARBIDE AND STEELTOOLS, DETERMINE OPTIMUM COATING CONDITIONS, AND THE CHAR ACTERISTICS OF THE TIN COATING. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THISEFFORT WILL LEAD TO A COMPREHENSIVE R&D PROGRAM IN PHASE II OF HARD COATING USING FLUID BED TECHNOLOGY AND MAJOR COMMER-CIALIZATION OF THE PROGRAM IN PHASE III.