Seco offers answer to swarf control in tough turning operations such as railway wheel processing

​For manufacturers struggling to manage metalworking chips and optimise tool life in tough turning operations, Seco’s new -RR93 and -R3 geometries, part of its RCMx range of turning inserts, provide an answer.

Designed for extreme applications such as turning railway wheels, these additions combine new roughing and medium finishing chip-breakers with Duratomic coating technology.

The -RR93 chip-breaker boosts tool life, improves productivity, increases product reliability, enlarges chip-control working area and enhances surface finish. This new design replaces the -RR94 geometry.

The -R3 geometry excels in medium finishing applications in steels, difficult stainless steels and super alloys. Its optimally positioned grooves control chips even when depths of cut run as small as 1.5 mm, high feed rates range from 0.6 mm/rev to 1.2 mm/rev and cutting speeds reach 90 m/min. to 160 m/min. (Within these cutting-data ranges, the correct choices depend on materials and machine conditions.) The -R3 geometry replaces the previous -R2 geometry.

Throughout the RCMx range of inserts, the RCMT20-R2 positive screw-clamped range additions significantly reduce machining vibration, yielding smoother finishes. This is ideal for railway wheel finishing and medium roughing applications of challenging materials. Dedicated insert edge treatments and retained functional toughness arrest comb cracks and increase edge security.

For improved mechanical and thermal properties that enhance performance, the Duratomic CVD aluminium-oxide coating process manipulates coating components at the atomic level. This technology's used-edge detection reduces cutting-edge waste.

The new -RR93 and -R3 geometries, as well as the Duratomic grades, have been tested in most common railway wheel materials, including R7, R8, R9, M1, Class B and Class C.

Range Overview

  • -RR93: 9 inserts (RCMX20, RCMX25, RCMX32)
  • -R3: 10 inserts (RCMX20, RCMX25, RCMX32, RCMT20)
  • All inserts available in new Duratomic TP grades
  • RCMX20-R3 available in grades TS2000 and TS2050