Surface states and wear behavior of drills of ground, sandblasted and plasmanitrided samples and drills made of AISI M2 high speed steel

In the present work the effect of different surface conditions on plasma nitriding response of AISI M2 high speed steel was investigated. The plasma nitriding of ground and sandblasted samples and drills was performed at temperatures of 400 degreesC and 500 degreesC for two gas mixtures: 5 vol.% N-2 and 76 vol.% N-2 in hydrogen. Surface layers were characterized before and after plasma nitriding concerning the microstructure, roughness, microhardness, chemical composition, phase composition and residual stress states. Machining tests were carried out with drills during which drilling forces and flank wear have been measured. A significant effect of the surface state prior to nitriding on residual stress states and the properties of the nitrided layer and untreated core has been observed. Thinner nitrided layers on ground and sandblasted samples were attributed to high compressive residual stress states and a stress affected diffusion of nitrogen and carbon. In the machining tests, sandblasted drills exhibited the best performance. Lower nitrogen concentrations in the gas atmosphere without the formation of a compound layer gave the lowest drill flank wear for sandblasted surfaces while higher nitrogen concentrations led to a reduction of drilling forces and torque.