Analysis of Tool Wear and Chip Morphology during Turning of AZ31B Magnesium Alloy under Dry Environment

The present research investigated the turning of AZ31B magnesium alloy in a dry environment using carbide tool inserts coated with tungsten carbonitride (TiCn) and thin alumina (Al2O3). A Box–Behnken design based on fifteen experiments showed a proportional increasing trend of flank wear with all three machining parameters, i.e., cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut. The most influential parameter is the cutting speed. A maximum flank wear of 299.34 µm due to excessive adhesion of work material on the tool face was observed at a high cutting speed. Machining at low speed resulted in a significant reduction in tool wear due to less chipping. The tool wear and chip morphology study confirmed the results.