PSI - Issue 81

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 81 (2026) 346–352

© 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers Crack formation and fracture in WC – Co cemented carbides are recognised as key limiting factors for reliable tool operation. Previous studies have shown that failure is typically governed by the initiation and growth of short surface cracks, which are highly sensitive to microstructural features such as WC grain size, cobalt binder content, and processing defects. Mikado et al. (2017) demonstrated that under rotating bending, short surface fatigue cracks in fine-grained WC – Co propagate along WC/WC and VIII International Conference “In - service Damage of Materials: Diagnostics and Prediction“ (DMDP 2025) Stability of pulsed-magnetic-treated cutting plates in heavy machinery production Viktor Kovalov, Galyna Klymenko, Yana Vasylchenko*, Maksym Shapovalov, Egor Zaharov Donbas State Engineering Academy, 84313 Kramatorsk, Ukraine Abstract The paper presents the results of operational and laboratory tests of cutting inserts made of hard alloys modified by pulsed magnetic field treatment (PMFT) and combined technologies, conducted in the production conditions of enterprises in Kramatorsk on heavy lathes of models KZh16274F3, 1A670F3 and similar. The research was carried out during the proce ssing of structural steels (40Kh) ≈ AISI 5140 (40Cr), (55Kh) ≈ AISI 1055 (55Cr3), (50KhN) ≈ 36CrNi, (45KhNM) ≈ 40CrNiMo, (90KhF) ≈ 100Cr6 (bearing steel), (3Kh13) ≈ AISI 420 (X20Cr13, martensitic stainless) and involved determining the destructive feed, stability and performance of the plates in a range of cutting modes corresponding to the conditions of heavy rough machining. To assess strength, the three-point bending method was used on samples cut from VK3 (WC – 3%Co, ISO K10 analogue), VK8 (WC – 8%Co, ISO K20 analogue) brazed plates, followed by fractographic analysis. The experiments showed that after PMFT treatment, the mechanical characteristics of the alloys stabilised, the coefficient of variation of tool stability decreased, and the average and γ -percentage periods of operation without failure increased. In particular, the average tool life increased by 1.6 times, the γ - percentage (γ = 80%) increased by 3.5 times, and the coefficient of variation decreased by more than half. Fractographic studies have shown that plate failure occurs mainly due to the formation of main cracks, which originate in areas of micro- and macro-level defect concentration. For samples with a high level of defectiveness, rapid crack growth was observed, which led to premature destruction (the flexural strength was approximately 900 MPa). In contrast, plates with low defect levels showed the development of several parallel cracks, which slowed down destruction and allowed for a higher level of strength (the flexural strength was approximately 1477 MPa). PMFT contributed to a reduction in the spread of the strength limit and slowed down the development of critical cracks. Thus, the developed methodological approaches to assessing the structural strength of cutting plates and the test results confirm the feasibility of using PMFT to improve the efficiency of carbide tools on heavy machine tools. This reduces the likelihood of catastrophic failures, controls crack formation, and increases the service life of tooling in the production conditions of heavy machinery manufacturing enterprises. 1. Introduction In heavy machining operations, cutting tools are subjected to extreme mechanical and thermal loads, which significantly affect tool life, reliability, and process stability. Cemented carbide inserts are widely used in heavy-duty turning and milling due to their high hardness and wear resistance. However, under severe cutting conditions, these tools are prone to microcracking, chipping, and brittle fracture, leading to premature tool failure and increased scatter in tool life. Therefore, improving the structural integrity and reliability of cemented carbide cutting tools remains an important scientific and practical challenge.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +38(050) 814 77 30. E-mail address: wasilchenko.ua@gmail.com

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.03.060