Experimental Investigation on Surface Integrity in Cryogenic Machining of Maraging Steel

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of machining environments such as cryogenic, wet, and dry conditions on the surface integrity of machined surfaces during end milling of MDN 250 maraging steel. During the machining of maraging steel, cutting temperatures and strain rates increased, resulting in a loss of mechanical properties and surface integrity of the machined surface. Surface integrity was an important factor influencing the components’ functional performance and quality, just like dimensional accuracy. In this study, the machining parameters such as spindle speed, feed rate, and depth of cut were kept constant, and the cutting environment was varied between cryogenic, dry, and wet conditions respectively. Surface integrity metrics such as surface roughness, microstructure evolution, residual stress, and microhardness were analyzed using Talysurf, electron back-scattered diffraction, x-ray diffraction, and Vickers microhardness test respectively. The correlated results conceded that cryogenic machining improved surface integrity compared to dry and wet machining. It also demonstrated that cryogenic machining was a viable manufacturing substitute to traditional machining using cutting fluids. The average grain size of the machined surface of the maraging steel under cryogenic, wet, and dry conditions was found to be 20.56, 24.92, and 11.54 µm respectively. The surface roughness was also reduced by up to 50% under the cryogenic environment compared to the dry environment. The residual stress results showed that stresses were compressive under dry, wet, and cryogenic environments, and the highest compressive stress was reported under a cryogenic environment (? 355 MPa). © ASM International 2025.