See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/271732446

A review of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools

Article  in  International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology · June 2015

DOI: 10.1007/s00170-014-6755-x

CITATIONS READS

35 4,389

3 authors, including:

Sıtkı Akıncıoğlu
Duzce University
19 PUBLICATIONS   83 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Investigation of the Results Obtained in Titanium Alloys Processed at Different Parameters in the EDM Using the Taguchi Statistical Method Method View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sıtkı Akıncıoğlu on 24 April 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Int J Adv Manuf Technol
DOI 10.1007/s00170-014-6755-x
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A review of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools
Sıtkı Akincioğlu & Hasan Gökkaya & İlyas Uygur
Received: 18 August 2014 / Accepted: 22 December 2014
# Springer-Verlag London 2015
Abstract Enhancing the performance of cutting tools is an
important factor in reducing production costs. Cutting tools are
subjected to processes such as heat treatment and coating in
order to improve their performance. Cryogenic treatment, which
is also known as sub-zero heat treatment, has made significant
contributions to the improvement of wear resistance, tool life,
dimensional integrity, and product quality of cutting tools. The
mode of application of cryogenic treatment and the type of
cutting tool both affect tool performance. Therefore, it is neces-
sary to examine the way cryogenic treatment is applied to cutting
tools and its effects on their performance. This study reviews the
literature on the performance of cryo-treated cutting tools.
Keywords Cryogenic treatment . Cutting tool . Tool life .
Tool wear
1 Introduction
The word “cryogenic” originates from the Greek word “krys”
which means cold. Heat treatment applied at unconventionally
low temperatures is referred to as cryogenic [1]. This treat-
ment has been given different names in different sources
S. Akincioğlu (*)
Gümüşova Vocational School of Higher Education, Düzce
University, Düzce, Turkey
e-mail: sitkiakincioglu@gmail.com
H. Gökkaya
Machine Engineering, Karabük Universty, Karabük 78600, Turkey
e-mail: hgokkaya@hotmail.com
İ. Uygur
Machine Engineering, Düzce Universty, Düzce, Turkey
e-mail: ilyasuygur@duzce.edu.tr
(Table 1). Cryogenic treatment began to be used in the late
sixteenth century to enhance the mechanical properties of
materials [2]. In 1937, it was found that cryogenic treatment
had positive effects on tool performance [3, 4]. Cryogenic
treatment has a wide range of applications such as in ferrous or
non-ferrous metal alloys, plastics, ceramics, and carbides as
well as in the processes of cooling [5–14] and cutting [15–24].
Cryogenic treatment is a type of heat treatment applied to
materials at low temperatures [1]. During cryogenic treatments,
samples are cooled gradually by means of a control unit using
gases such as nitrogen and helium cooled by the system to
temperatures varying between −80 and −196 °C. After a waiting
period, the samples are gradually brought back up to room
temperature [25–27]. Owing to the cryogenic treatment applied
to cutting tools, improvements in such tool features as abrasion
resistance, hardness, toughness, and electrical conductivity are
ensured by the constriction resulting from cooling and the
subsequent homogeneity of the carbide distribution. In recent
years, the use of cryogenic treatment has become widespread as
a method for increasing the performance of chip breaker tools.
The extensive use of this method in industry arose as it is
cheaper and easier to apply compared to other treatments for
increasing tool performance such as application of a coating.
Cryogenic treatment applied at temperatures between −80
and −140 °C is termed shallow cryogenic, while treatment
applied at between −140 and −196 °C is termed deep cryo-
genic treatment [28–37]. Cryogenic treatment is applied on
materials such as cutting tools, race car engines, brake discs,
tool steel, alloy steel, plastics, and composites [38–44]. Cryo-
genic treatment has various fields of application, taking into
account different variables such as soaking temperature, hold-
ing time, and cooling speed [4, 45–48]. Cryogenic treatment
has many advantages as it improves the properties of cutting
tools. The treatment results in the conversion of austenite to
martensite, increased toughness and hardness, homogenous
carbide distribution, and transformation of retained austenite

Table 1 Different terms used for cryogenic treatment [20, 41, 45, 46,
52, 54]
Number Naming
1 Cryo
2 Cryogenics
3 Cryoprocessing
4 Cryogenic processing
5 Cryogenic treatment
6 Cryogenating
7 Cryogenic stress relief
8 Cryogenically treated
9 Cryotempering
10 Deep cryogenic treatment (DCT)
11 Deep cryogenic tempering
12 Cryogenic hardening
13 Sub-zero
14 Shallow cryogenic treatment
15 Cryo-treated
16 Deep subzero process
17 Cryogenic thermal cycling treatment
at low temperatures in tool steels [49–53]. These improve-
ments in cutting tool properties increase tool life, decrease tool
wear and cutting forces, and enhance surface roughness [31,
54–56]. Shirbhate et al. investigated the impact of two vari-
ables in cryogenic treatment, the soaking temperature and
soaking period, on the performance of drills in terms of cutting
torque and surface finish of the workpiece in a drilling oper-
ation. They found that the soaking temperature and soaking
time had a great impact on the performance of the drilling
operation in terms of the selected response variables like
roughness value and torque. The use of cryogenic treatment
has had a great effect on industrial productivity in terms of the
improved tool life of drills and other such cutting tools made
of the same material [57]. Ramji et al. conducted drilling
experiments using non-treated, cryogenically treated, and
tempered carbide tipped drills at various levels of cutting
speed, feed, and tool conditions in order to study the effects
of thrust, torque, and surface roughness of drilled holes.
Cryogenically treated and cryogenically treated plus double-
tempered inserts showed superior results in terms of reduced
forces, tool wear, and surface roughness of the drilled holes
[58]. Dogra et al. compared the performance of cubic boron
nitride (CBN) inserts with coated carbide and cryogenically
treated coated and uncoated carbide inserts in terms of flank
wear, surface roughness, white layer formation, and micro-
hardness variation under dry cutting conditions for the finish
turning of hardened AISI H11 steel. The white layer formation
and micro-hardness variation was less while turning with
cryogenically treated carbide inserts than with the CBN and
untreated carbide ones [59]. Kalsi et al., in their study of wear
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
behavior in turning, revealed a significant improvement in
tungsten carbide inserts having three tempering cycles after
cryogenic treatment, with only marginal differences for inserts
subjected to two cycles of tempering [51].
Cryogenic treatment has recently been applied to enhance the
wear resistance, toughness, and tool life of cutting tools [10,
27–29, 60–67]. Yong et al. reported and analyzed the differences
in tool performance between cryogenically treated and untreated
tungsten carbide tool inserts during the high-speed milling of
medium carbon steel. They found that cryogenically treated
tools exhibited better tool wear resistance than untreated ones
[61]. In order to understand the effect of cooling, Gill et al. [63]
carried out an investigation of the wear behavior of cryogeni-
cally treated tungsten carbide inserts in turning. They found that
cryogenically treated tungsten carbide (WC–Co) inserts per-
formed significantly better in wet turning conditions under both
continuous and interrupted machining modes, especially at
higher cutting speeds. They recorded a considerable increase
in the tool life of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide. They
also investigated the metallurgical and mechanical characteriza-
tions of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide in terms of α-,
β-, γ-, and η-phase particles and wear behavior. The micro-
structures obtained after cryogenic treatments were character-
ized in order to comprehend the influence of cryogenic treat-
ment on the nature, size, and distribution of α-, β-, γ-, and η-
phase particles as compared to the untreated specimen. The
significant improvement in wear resistance of cryogenically
treated tungsten carbide material was attributed to the refine-
ment and crystallographic alignment of the hard α-phase parti-
cles, the decreased amount of cobalt binder β-phase, and the
precipitation of fine eta (η)-carbides [68]. Furthermore, Gill
et al. carried out a study in order to discover the mechanism
for the enhanced tool life, wear behavior, and machining per-
formance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts in
orthogonal turning. They found that cryogenic treatment effec-
tively enhanced the cutting life of the inserts by significantly
resisting the chipping, notch, and plastic deformation wear.
Additionally, the precipitation of η-phase carbides was found
to be responsible for enhancing the cutting life of the tungsten
carbide turning inserts [69].
Scientific studies have revealed that cryogenic treatment
applied on cutting tools improves mechanical properties such
as workpiece surface roughness, homogeneous carbide distri-
bution, hardness, and toughness [28, 29, 70–75]. However,
sufficient information about the application of cryogenic treat-
ment to cutting tools is lacking. In addition, the cryogenic
processing application system has a high initial investment
cost, which is a disadvantage in terms of the applicability of
the process.
The forces that occur during machining, including param-
eters such as pressure, friction, heat formation, and wear
require the cutting tool to have wear resistance at high tem-
peratures, good chemical stability, high heat conductibility to
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 1 Schematic presentation of
cryogenic treatment applied in a
controlled manner
prevent heat accumulation, and an adequate degree of tough-
ness against impacts [76–78]. Various methods are used to
improve the performance of cutting tools including coating,
cutting corner and chip breaker designs and heat treatment.
The historical process, areas of usage, and types of
cryogenic treatment along with its applications and ef-
fects have been examined in this study. Additionally,
research dealing with wear resistance and its effects on
tool performance, tool life, shear force, and electrical
and thermal conductivity as well as the effects of
metallurgic variations and workpiece surface roughness
on cutting tools has been surveyed.
2 Cryogenic treatment
Academic research in recent years has reported that cryogenic
treatment is an effective method that enhances the tool life and
Fig. 2 Temporal temperature
variations of the cryogenic
treatment process
wear resistance of cutting tools [25–51]. Studies have
shown that cryogenic treatment increases the hardness,
wear resistance, toughness, abrasive resistance, and tool
life of cutting tools [30–51]. Important parameters in
cryogenic treatment which affect tool performance are
cutting tool type, cooling speed, soaking period, soaking
temperature, and tempering process [2, 28, 45–48].
Therefore, in order to achieve higher efficiency, it is
important to perform cryogenic treatment under suitable
conditions according to the type of tool.
Various gases such as helium, oxygen, nitrogen, and
neon are used for cryogenic treatment [74, 79, 80].
Nitrogen constitutes a significant portion (78.03 %) of
the atmosphere, and liquid nitrogen, the most commonly
used gas in cryogenic treatment applications [4, 25, 28],
is generally abbreviated as LN2 [75]. Considering that
cryogenic treatment has a wide range of applications in
sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, aviation,
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 3 Cryogenic treatment

cycle. a SCT tool. b DCT tool
[35]

electronic, food processing, and health (for cooling pur-
poses), it is inevitable that a widely available element
would be used in this treatment. This gas is colorless,
odorless, and tasteless, with a melting point of
−210.01 °C and a boiling point of −195.8 °C [47,
80]. The scheme of a system providing cryogenic treat-
ment in a controlled manner is presented in Fig. 1.
2.1 Rate of cooling
There are two principle approaches regarding the rate of
cooling in cryogenic heat treatment. The first approach is
termed thermal shock, in which the samples are rapidly
brought to a cryogenic application temperature. In the
other approach, the samples are gradually brought to
Table 2 Cryogenic treatment soaking periods
cryogenic temperature (Fig. 2) [45, 46, 71]. A review of
previous studies reveals that when the samples are directly
exposed to cryogenic heat, micro cracks develop on the
samples due to the sudden temperature changes resulting
from thermal shock [36, 49, 51, 53, 81].
Bal [54] applied cryogenic treatment on carbide cutting
tools by cooling and heating the tools at two different
rates in order to evaluate the effect of the cooling speed.
Using 0.5 and 1 °C/min as the rates of cooling, the
researcher completed the total heating and cooling treat-
ments in 8 and 4 h, respectively. Bal reported that the
tools had better wear resistance with cryogenic treatment
applied at the 0.5 °C/min rate of cooling. He concluded
that, at a rate of cooling of 1 °C/min, the carbide distri-
bution in the microstructures was improved. Many re-
searchers have carried out similar studies [3, 29, 58]. Gill
[35] applied shallow and deep cryogenic treatment to

Number Cryogenic treatment References

soaking period (h)

1 1 [81, 96, 97]

2 3 [98, 99]
3 5–6 [30, 31, 56, 100]
4 8 [101]
5 9 [33]
6 12 [82]
7 16 [56]
8 18 [83, 84]
9 20 [60, 76, 101]
10 22 [85]
11 24 [2, 6, 7, 11–13, 17, 44, 47–49,
73, 75–77, 81, 85–90, 97, 100]
12 36 [36, 82]
13 40 [82]
Fig. 4 Deep cryogenic treatment diagram [81]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
AISI M2 HSS tools. The cryogenic treatment was applied
at a rate of cooling of 0.5 °C/min (Fig. 3) in order to
prevent potential damage in the microstructure of the
tools.
Thermal shock applied on cutting tools decreases the
time of cryogenic treatment; therefore, it is more eco-
nomical as it reduces costs [45]. Although the gradual
heating/cooling treatment is a high-cost procedure, it
can be stated that it is more advantageous in terms of
cutting tool performance. It is known that cracks can
occur in the microstructures of cutting tools after expo-
sure to thermal shock. Thus, various cryogenic treat-
ments applied on cutting tools employ the slow
cooling/heating method [28, 32, 52, 54, 55, 59, 71].
2.2 Soaking period
The soaking period is an important parameter in the
conversion of material from austenite to martensite, the
formation of new carbides and for carbide distribution
[45–47]. The optimization of the soaking period is im-
portant for achieving maximum efficiency and reducing
costs in cryogenic treatment [2, 46]. A review of the
literature on cutting tools and materials showed that the
samples were subjected to cryogenic treatment soaking
periods of between 1 and 40 h (Table 2).
Baldissera et al. [33] exposed test samples to cryo-
genic heat for 9- and 24-h soaking periods for cryogen-
ic treatment in order to investigate the wear and corro-
sion resistance, hardness, and soluble material condi-
tions of AISI 302 austenitic stainless steel. They con-
cluded that a 9-h soaking period was adequate for wear
behavior. Darwin et al. [82] subjected samples to 12-,
24-, and 36-h soaking periods to give maximum wear
Fig. 5 Variations of hardness for different cryogenic treatment soaking
periods [1]
Table 3 Red hardness of P-40 tools [40]
Temperature (°C) Rockwell hardness (HRA)
P-40 untreated P-40 deep cryogenic treated
Room Temp. 84 83.5
100 83 83.2
200 81.5 82
300 78 80
400 76 77.8
500 71 74.6
600 59 66
resistance to martensite stainless steel (SR34, containing
18 % Cr) commercial segments. The researchers report-
ed that they had obtained the best wear resistance with
a soaking period of 36 h. Moreover, they determined a
24 % increase in the wear resistance of samples with
the 36-h soaking period [82].
Shirbhate et al. [57] applied cryogenic treatment to
HSS (M2) cutting tools by holding them for 8, 16, and
24 h. They reported that in drilling experiments, a 24-h
holding time had yielded a better performance in cutting
tool cutting torque, surface roughness, and wear resis-
tance. The researchers determined a 35 % improvement
in workpiece material surface roughness after cryogenic
treatment. Baldissera et al. [81] examined the effect of
cryogenic treatment on the mechanical properties of
18NiCrMo5 carbide steel. The researchers compared
cryogenic treatment soaking periods (Fig. 4) of 1 h
(M1) and 24 h (M24) and concluded that hardness
and stresses were higher in samples held for a 24-h
soaking period than in those held for a 1-h soaking
period.
Gu et al. [1] analyzed the effect of cryogenic treatment
parameters on Ti–6Al–4V alloy and compared the effects of
different cryogenic treatment periods on the hardness of sam-
ples (Fig. 5). The authors achieved maximum hardness at a
72-h holding time.
According to the literature, in general, similar im-
provements have been achieved in cryogenic treatment
applied to cutting tools and in cryogenic treatment ap-
plied to steel. In this framework, it is important to
examine studies on steel in order to analyze the effect
of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools. A great majority
of studies on cryo-treated tools are observed to focus on
a 24-h soaking period (Table 3). However, some studies
have obtained better results at lower or higher holding
times. The results obtained for different soaking periods
varied according to the material of the cryo-treated tool
and the machining type of the tool.

Fig. 6 Variations of hardness at different cryogenic treatment soaking
temperatures [1]
2.3 Soaking temperature
Cryogenic treatment applied at low temperatures shows
variations according to the type of tool. Cryogenic
treatment temperatures applied to cutting tools range
between −80 and −196 °C [54, 58, 59, 83, 84]. In order
to enhance mechanical properties such as wear resistance,
hardness, and toughness, the appropriate soaking temper-
ature should be determined for the tool that will undergo
cryogenic treatment [57]. Various studies carried out for
this purpose have attempted to achieve optimization by
using different soaking temperatures to find the best one
for cryogenic treatment. It has been reported that, among
cryogenic treatment parameters, soaking temperature is
the most effective parameter in enhancing the wear resis-
tance of the samples. Researchers have determined the
optimum cryogenic treatment temperature as −184 °C.
Fig. 7 Deep cryogenic treatment
cycle for AISI T42 [79]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Firouzdor et al. investigated the effect of deep cryogenic
treatment (−196 °C) on the tool life and wear resistance
performance of HSS drills in the drilling of CK40 carbon
steel under dry conditions. They found that cryogenic
treatment applied to HSS tools increased tool life by
77 % [57, 79, 85–91]. Gu et al. [1] carried out similar
studies. They conducted a study to investigate the effect
of cryogenic treatment temperature on the hardness of Ti–
6Al–4V alloy and found that deep cryogenic treatment
(−196 °C) was the most effective parameter on the hard-
ness of the alloy (Fig. 6).
Previous studies have shown that the effects of dif-
ferent cryogenic treatment temperatures vary according
to the type of material [57]. Therefore, it is important to
determine the most suitable cryogenic treatment temper-
ature according to the material properties of the tools
that will undergo cryogenic treatment.
2.4 Tempering process
Cutting tools are generally tempered after cryogenic
treatment [17, 69, 71]. The tempering process is per-
formed to eliminate internal stresses on the cutting tool
that occur due to excessive cooling [54, 68]. Generally,
the tempering process is applied to cutting tools by
holding them at 150–200 °C for 1.5–2 h [25, 32, 59].
In some previous studies, more than one tempering
process was applied consecutively (Fig. 3) after cryo-
genic treatment [35, 58, 76]. The primary aim of the
cryogenic treatment and tempering cycle is to convert
materials from austenite to martensite and to increase
hardness. Another aim is to enhance wear resistance by
improving the carbide distribution in the microstructure
[42, 73, 92]. These studies attempted to find the best
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 8 Effect of treatment on
flank wear width [25]
cycle for the tool by trying various combinations of
these cycles [83].
Firouzdor et al. found that cryogenic treatment ex-
tended tool life by 77 % when applied to tools for the
drilling of CK40 carbon steel in dry conditions. On the
other hand, tempering performed after cryogenic treat-
ment was seen to increase tool life by 126 % [25].
Ramji et al. analyzed the drilling of gray cast iron using
untreated carbide drills, cryo-treated carbide drills, and
carbide drills that were subjected to single tempering
and double tempering after heat treatment. Based on
their results, the researchers reported improvements in
cutting force, tool wear and surface roughness with the
cryo-treated and double-tempered tools [58]. Candane
et al. repeated the tempering treatment two times con-
secutively after cryogenic treatment (Fig. 7) to achieve
fine carbide distribution in the samples of AISI T42
HSS material [79].
Firouzdor et al. [25] reported the profound influence
of cryogenic treatment (CT) and tempering (CTT) on
wear resistance as exhibited by flank wear width
(Fig. 8) of M2 HSS steels. A low-temperature tempering
Fig. 9 Detailed cryogenic
treatment cycle [51]
(CTT) at 200 °C after cryogenic treatment was also
found to be highly beneficial.
Kalsi et al. [51] investigated the effect on tool per-
formance of the tempering cycle applied to carbide tools
after cryogenic treatment (Fig. 9). The researchers re-
ported that cryogenic treatment had improved the micro-
hardness of the inserts. However, the micro-hardness
decreased with an increase in the number of tempering
cycles after the treatment.
3 Application of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools
Recent studies have shown that cryogenic treatment
improves the wear resistance, tool life, cutting forces,
surface roughness, thermal and electrical conductivity,
and metallurgical properties of cutting tools [54, 56,
66, 72, 83]. Cutting tool life is affected by various
factors such as cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut,
tool material, thermal treatment of tools, workpiece ma-
terial, and cutting factors. The primary characteristics of

Fig. 10 Microstructure images of P-30 tungsten-based cementite carbide tool. a Untreated. b Deep cryo-treated [29]
a good cutting tool can be listed as red hardness, wear
resistance, impact resistance, abrasive wear resistance,
thermal conductivity, among others [49, 76]. Cryogenic
treatment can be applied to tools used in general turn-
ing, drilling, and milling and in various other
operations.
3.1 Turning applications
In recent years, much research has dealt with the effect
of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools in turning oper-
ations. It is understood that the cryogenic treatment of
inserts provides many positive effects in turning includ-
ing reduction of cutting force and surface roughness
along with greater wear resistance and tool life. There
have been many studies concerned with increasing the
impact of cryogenic treatment and investigating the
cause of its effect on inserts [92]. Reddy et al. [29]
conducted machining operations using deep cryo-treated,
multi-layer CVD-coated tungsten carbide (TiCN, TiN)
tools on C45 workpiece material and found that the real
Fig. 11 Flank wear development in HSS tools and carbide inserts [39]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
cutting force and surface roughness decreased depending
on the increase in cutting speed. They used deep cryo-
treated tungsten carbide (ISO P-30) cutting tools and
analyzed their microstructure (Fig. 10). The microstruc-
ture analyses showed that thin eta ( ) carbide was
formed during long-term exposure to cryogenic treat-
ment. The researchers reported that these eta carbides
had developed as a supplement to the existing large
carbides and formed a more consistent, intensive, and
hard matrix with the larger carbides.
The low bonding content of carbide cutting tools
causes the increase of thermal conductivity via cryogen-
ic treatment. Cryogenic treatment enhances thermal con-
ductivity by increasing the particle size of the cementite
carbide. The increase of particle size contributes to
approximation of the carbide particles and increases
the thermal conductivity of the carbide phase. Increased
thermal conductivity improves the heat distribution ca-
pacity of cutting tools; thus, the temperature at the edge
of the tool is decreased [29]. Thakur et al. applied
controlled cryogenic treatment on cementite tungsten
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Table 4 Electrical resistance and conductivity of P-40 tools [40]
Condition of cutting tool Electrical Electrical conductivity
insert resistivity (ohm-m) (ohm-m)−1
Untreated 2.517*10−3 397.20
Deep cryogenic treated 1.997*10−3 500.62
carbide cutting tools and achieved improvements in
wear resistance. The researchers concluded that this
positive increase in wear resistance had resulted from
physical changes like the densification of cobalt, which
holds carbide particles [28]. In his study, Priyadarshini
conducted a flank wear test by applying cryogenic treat-
ment to HSS and carbide tools. According to the flank
wear results he obtained (Fig. 11), the HSS and carbide
tools exhibited 19.2 and 17.18 % less wear, respectively
[39].
Reddy et al. conducted a machining study on AISI
1040 steel by applying cryogenic treatment to P-40
tungsten carbide tools. The researchers found that deep
cryogenic treatment enhanced the electrical conductivity
of the carbide tools (Table 4). The increase in thermal
conductivity enhanced the heat dissipation capacity of
the cutting tool and helped in decreasing the tool tip
temperature, resulting in more hot hardness during ma-
chining, which led to less tool wear in the deep cryo-
treated tools compared to the untreated tools [40].
Furthermore, they analyzed variations in the hardness
of the cryo-treated tungsten carbide tools (Table 3) and
found an increase in the red hardness values of the
cryo-treated tools. Thus, the tools retained performance
longer at high temperatures [40].
They also found that tool life was increased by 27 %
and the main cutting forces were decreased by 11 %
with deep cryogenic treatment when compared to un-
treated inserts [40]. Singh et al. investigated the effect
on HSS tools while lathing SAE 1020 steel. In the
Fig. 12 SEM images of tool
flank wear. a Untreated tool. b
Cryo-treated tool [66]
process of turning, they set the rate of shear as 58 m/
mm, the feed rate as 0.5 m/mm, and the depth of cut as
0.8 mm. The cryo-treated (CT) cutting tools showed
microstructural changes in the material that could influ-
ence the life of the tools significantly. Their results
showed that CT HSS tools exhibited a better perfor-
mance than the un-cryo-treated (UT) HSS tools based
on tool wear, surface roughness of the work specimen,
and power consumption during operation. There is a
large body of research on the wear resistance and tool
life of carbide cutting tools and it was stated by Singh
et al. that the microstructure of the tools was more
sensitive and had a more regular distribution after the
treatment [31]. Vadivel et al. achieved a significant
improvement in the flank wear (Fig. 12) and crater wear
(Fig. 13) of cryo-treated cutting tools. The researchers
reported that this improvement was achieved by the
chemical stabilization of the tools via cryogenic treat-
ment [66].
Gill et al. [69] enhanced the effects of shallow and
deep cryo-treated carbide tools in C-65 steel turning.
Based on preliminary turning tests, the cutting speed
was varied in four increments: 110, 130, 150, and
180 m/min. All the cutting tests were performed at a
feed rate of 0.1 mm/rev and depth of cut of 1 mm.
Cryogenic treatment appeared to be effective in reduc-
ing surface roughness (Fig. 14) for relatively longer
machining times. Cryogenic treatment causes crystal
structure changes in both the hard and soft binder phase
of tungsten carbide which, along with the precipitation
of -phase carbides, may have been responsible for the
enhanced cutting life of the cutting inserts.
Dogra et al. machined AISI H11 steel using CBN,
TiCN, TiN-coated carbide (CC), coated carbide (CCT),
and untreated carbide (UCT) insert tools under dry
conditions with finish cut and evaluated the tool wear.
The researchers reported that free surface roughness in
the CBN tools (Fig. 15) was lower than in the other

Fig. 13 SEM images of tool
crater wear. a Untreated tool. b
Cryo-treated tool [66]
tools. However, they reported that the wear value of the
carbide tools in the subsequent machining periods was
close to the wear values obtained in the CBN tools. It
was reported that, at low cutting speeds and feed rates,
the carbide tools were comparable to the CBN tools in
terms of life. The tool life of cryo-treated coated carbide
inserts was improved by 16–23 % in different cases in
comparison with the untreated coated carbide inserts,
which is in good agreement with previous findings.
Cryo-treated inserts performed well in comparison with
untreated ones; this was mainly due to the improved
thermal conductivity and hot hardness of the inserts,
more homogeneous carbide distribution, and the reliev-
ing of stresses introduced during the synthesis of the
carbide tools [59].
Yong et al. investigated the effect of cryogenic treat-
ment on carbide tools in the orthogonal turning of
ASSAB 760 medium carbon steel. The researchers
found that cryogenic treatment enhanced the chipping
Fig. 14 Surface roughness with
progress of turning time for a
cutting speed of 110 m/min [69]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
and flank wear of the tool. However, in long-term
machining, cryogenic treatment was reported to lose its
character since the tool was exposed to high tempera-
tures [83]. Silva et al. applied cryogenic treatment to
M2 HSS tools and reported a 65–343 % improvement
in tool life depending on drilling conditions during the
drilling of the steel [84]. Bal [93] examined PVD-coated
carbide inserts and uncoated carbide inserts subjected to
deep cryogenic treatment (−190 °C) and conducted ma-
chining studies on stainless steel using both untreated
and deep cryogenically treated carbide cutting tool in-
serts. The surface finish produced on machining the
workpiece was better with the deep cryogenically treat-
ed carbide tools when compared to the untreated carbide
tools. The cutting forces for the cryo-treated inserts
were lower than the non-cryo-treated inserts. This was
due to less distortion of the cutting edge of the cryo-
treated inserts in comparison to the untreated ones.
Moreover, this indicated that when carbide tools are
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 15 Wear images in CBN
tools. a Cryo-treated tool. b
Untreated tool [59]
exposed to cryogenic temperatures, fine-particle, homo-
geneously distributed carbides are formed in their
microstructure.
Cryogenic treatment has made contributions of vary-
ing degrees when applied to cutting tools, depending on
the cutting tool type, the material machined, and the
cutting conditions. A review of previous studies has
revealed that cryogenic treatment makes positive contri-
butions to the wear resistance and tool life of uncoated
tungsten carbide, PVD- and CVD-coated, HSS and other
turning tools.
3.2 Drilling applications
In many industrial applications, cryogenic treatment is
also applied to the drill [58, 61, 62]. Drills are exposed
to high temperatures during drilling. Therefore, the
Fig. 16 A typical energy dispersive X-ray spectrum from carbide
particles with the indicated elements [25]
cutting tool performance should be further developed
using methods such as the cryogenic process. Many
researchers have found that the performance of the drill
was improved with cryogenic treatment [52, 58, 62].
Firouzdor et al. [25] studied the influence of deep
cryogenic treatment on the wear resistance and tool life
of M2 HSS drills in the high-speed dry drilling config-
uration of carbon steels. The experimental results indi-
cated improvements of 77 and 126 % in the cryogenic-
treated (CT) and cryogenic-temper-treated (CTT) drill
lives, respectively, compared to the untreated (R) drill.
The wear resistance improvement was mainly attributed
to the resistance of the cryo-treated drills to the diffu-
sion wear mechanism due to the fine, homogeneous
carbide particles formed during cryogenic treatment.
Additionally, the transformation of retained austenite to
martensite played an effective role, i.e., improved the
hardness values. Enhanced dissolution and diffusion in
the resulting transformed shear band at the secondary
shear zone can lead to a high wear rate of the tool by
the diffusion mechanism. Following the results of EDX
analysis (Fig. 16), the volume fractions of carbides in
the CT and CTT drills were seen as approximately
10 %, whereas the R ones were about 6 %. The pre-
cipitated carbides increased the matrix strength through
a dispersion hardening effect.
Ramji et al. evaluated surface roughness by measur-
ing the torque and shear force occurring when cast iron
was pierced with a cryo-treated HSS drill. They applied
the cryogenic process to the drill at −178.9 °C for 24 h.
The cryogenic treatment resulted in less thrust force and
torque and yielded a superior surface finish compared to
non-treated drills [62]. Shirbhate et al. investigated the
impact of cryogenic treatment on the performance of
drills in terms of cutting torque and surface finish of
the workpiece in drilling operations. The soak tempera-
ture in the cryogenic treatment was the most influential
factor in the whole process as the values of cutting
torque and surface roughness were lowest at the

Fig. 17 Treated samples
(×1500). a Single-tempered and
machined. b Double-tempered
and machined [58]
−185 °C soak temperature. A reduction of around 10 %
was detected in the cutting torque along with improve-
ment in wear resistance and thereby in tool life. This
change was a clear indication of reduction in the an-
isotropy of the tool due to the cryogenic treatment [57].
In another study, Ramji et al. [58] used non-treated,
cryogenically treated (CT), single-tempered (CTT1),
and double-tempered (CTT2) carbide-tipped drills at
various levels of cutting speed, feed, and tool condi-
tions. The cryogenic treatment involved cooling the
inserts from room temperature to cryogenic temperature
(−178.9 °C) in 3 h and soaking at this temperature for
24 h. The cryo-treated and cryo-treated double-tempered
inserts showed superior results in terms of tool wear.
Formation of fine carbides and the precipitation of more
carbides in the CT, CTT1 (Fig. 17a), and CTT2
(Fig. 17b) samples were able to reduce the carbon and
alloy contents in the matrix, which improved the tough-
ness of the matrix; therefore, the combination of higher
carbide content and tougher matrix enhanced the wear
resistance. The cryo-treated carbide drills proved better
than the non-treated ones in terms of less thrust force
Fig. 18 Hardness values for
different types of thermal
treatments [36]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
and torque and better surface finish in the drilling of
white cast iron specimens.
Çiçek et al. [94] evaluated shear force and surface
roughness while cryogenically treated M35 high-speed
steel (HSS) AISI 304 and 316 were being pierced. The
deep cryogenic treatment for the M35 HSS drills was
performed by lowering the temperature from room tem-
perature to −196 °C and holding at this cryogenic
temperature for 24 h, then raising the temperature back
to room temperature. Lower thrust force and surface
roughness values were measured in the drilling of both
the AISI 304 and AISI 316 stainless steel with the
treated drills at all cutting speeds due to the improved
microstructural and mechanical properties of the treated
drills when compared to the untreated drills.
Drilling tools that were subjected to cryogenic treat-
ment exhibited lower cutting forces during machining
than the tools that were not subjected to cryogenic
treatment [29, 40, 52, 58, 62]. Decrease in cutting
forces due to the increase of cutting speed also caused
a decrease in tool wear. Thus, wear and deformations in
the cutting edges of the cutting tools were reduced [25,
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 19 Variations of fine carbide (FC) density and coarse carbide (CC)
density as a function of the cryo-soaking period [17]
55, 95]. These cutting tool improvements vary accord-
ing to the tool type and the cryogenic treatment appli-
cation parameters [2, 46, 47, 74].
3.3 Other applications
Cryogenic treatment is suitable for many applications
outside of turning and drilling, such as milling, micro-
structure analysis, and wear and sliding tests for inves-
tigation of the performance of cutting tool materials [28,
36, 39, 60]. Influences of the cryogenic process on
cutting tools have been investigated using tests and the
analyses. Examinations have shown the positive impact
of the cryogenic process on cutting tools and tool ma-
terials [53, 55, 80, 81].
After enhancing the mechanical properties of cement-
ite carbide tools, Thakur et al. conducted microstructure
analyses. They observed certain alterations in the micro-
structure of the carbide tools due to cobalt densification.
Due to the physical changes, i.e., densification of the
cobalt metal binder which holds the carbide particles
firmly, the controlled cryogenic treatment had improved
the wear resistance. In the latter two treatments, it was
seen from the microstructure that there was uniform
distribution of tungsten carbide particles [28]. Yong
et al. examined the effect of cryogenic treatment in
the high-speed surface milling of ASSAB 760 medium
carbon steel/tungsten carbide tools. When compared to
the untreated tools, the tool life of the cryo-treated tools
was increased by 28.9 % in dry conditions and by
38.6 % with the use of a cooling fluid [10]. Silva
et al. investigated the effect of cryogenic treatment on
M2 high-speed steel tools using laboratories and shop
floor tests in an automotive industrial setting. Sliding
abrasion and hardness tests were also carried out as well
as microstructural analysis. They applied cryogenic
treatment to enhance the performance of the HSS tools
and determined the austenite in the microstructure of the
tool to be very close to 0 %. Thus, they showed that
25 % of the microstructure has been converted to mar-
tensite by the cryogenic treatment. Furthermore, the
cryogenic treatment increased the performance of the
M2 HSS twist drills. The gain observed during drilling
steel, adopting catastrophic failure as the end of tool life
criterion, varied from 65 to 343 % depending on the
cutting conditions used [76]. As austenite and martensite
have different crystal structures at different dimensions,
residual stresses occur when the two structures co-exist.
Cryogenic treatment eliminates these stresses by
converting the austenite into a martensite structure [15,
53, 81, 92]. In their study, Gill et al. ascertained that
shallow (SCT) and deep (DCT) cryogenic processes
applied to AISI M2 HSS samples (CQT) caused a small
increase (Fig. 18) in hardness values. The hardness of
AISI M2 HSS increased by 7.76 % after the material
was subjected to cryogenic treatment. The primary rea-
son responsible for the enhanced hardness of the AISI
M2 HSS was the conversion of soft χRA into relatively
hard martensite. Both types of cryogenic treatments
substantially decreased the wear rate of the AISI M2
HSS compared to conventionally treated samples [36].
Dhokey et al. [17] studied the effect of metallurgical
and mechanical characterization of cryo-treated
(−185 °C between 16 and 48 h) AISI M2 in terms of
carbide precipitation and wear behavior. Carbide density
was higher for lower residual stress with the 16-h
soaking period (Fig. 19). This is because of the inco-
herent carbide precipitation that occurred during the
warming-up period by the stress relaxation of the ma-
trix. The increase in electrical resistivity noticed during
the warming up indicated the generation of lattice de-
fects followed by precipitation of carbides.
Many studies have been carried out on cryogenic treat-
ment; a summary of the findings and details of some of them
are given in Table 5.
Various studies have shown that many properties of
tool materials including homogeneous carbide distribu-
tion, conversion of austenite to martensite, increased
toughness and hardness, electrical resistivity, etc. are
improved by cryogenic treatment [36, 39, 50, 51, 53,
80]. These improvements in cutting tool properties in-
crease tool life, decrease tool wear, decrease cutting
forces, and enhance surface roughness [60, 61]. Chang-
es in the macrostructure and mechanical properties of
cryo-treated cutting tools enhance tool performance [36].
In light of the studies examining the effects of
Table 5 A summary of literature on the application of cryogenic treatment on tools

No. Researchers Application Sample Cryogenic Cryogenic Tempering Tools Results

treatment treatment period
temperatures (h)
(°C)

1 Thakur et al. [28] Turning Cementite tungsten −196 24 – Tungsten carbide (WC) Increased wear resistance, cobalt
carbide densification, homogenous
carbide distributionincreased
hardness by complex phase
formation
2 Reddy et al. [29] Turning c45 −176 24 – CVD (TiCN, TiN) Low wear, low cutting force, better
roughness
3 Thornton et al. [34] Turning AISI 1045 −180 24 180 H13A 9.2 % increase in hardness and an
increase in abrasive wear
resistance
4 Priyadarshini [39] Turning Sliding test Mild steel −196 24 – M2, S400 The tool life is increased by 19 % for
M2 and 17 % for carbide
5 Reddy et al. [40] Turning AISI 1040 −176 24 – ISO P-40 11 % decrease in cutting force, 20 %
improvement in surface roughness
6 Singh et al. [49] Turning SAE-1020 −196 20, 60 – HSS (T42), S 500 Good roughness achieved, micro
structure was homogenously
distributed, edge deformations
decreased, lower weight loss
achieved
7 Dogra et al. [59] Turning AISI H11 −196 24 Applied CBN (TiCN, TiN) Comparability of CBN tools to
PCBN tool in terms of various
properties, low micro hardness
change during machining
8 Gill et al. [63] Turning C-60 −196 24 196 Tungsten carbide (WC) Enhanced tool life in interrupted
machining under cooling
conditions
9 Singh et al. [71] Turning AISI/SAE-1020 −110, −184 10,18 150 T-42, S-400 Improved tool wear, The
microstructure has been found
more refined and uniformly
distributed
10 Çiçek et al. [72] Turning AISI H13 −145 24 565 ceramic inserts Lowest wear and surface roughness
(Ra) values
11 Yong et al. [83] Turning ASSAB 760 −184 18 Applied Carbide tool Decrease in chipping and flank wear,
high performance in low
machining speeds
12 Poomari et al. [84] Turning AISI 4340 −195 18 – PVD-coated TiAlN Increased tool life, decrease in tool
life as cutting speed increases
13 Özbek et al. [102] Turning AISI 316 −145 12, 24, 36, 48 60 carbide Increased hardness and improved
micro-structure of cemented
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

carbide inserts
Table 5 (continued)

No. Researchers Application Sample Cryogenic Cryogenic Tempering Tools Results

treatment treatment period
temperatures (h)
(°C)

14 Gill et al. [103] Turning −110, −196 18, 38 TiAlN carbide Reduced adhesion strength, enhance
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

the cutting life

15 Firouzdor et al. [25] Drilling CK40 −196 24 200 °C/1 s HSS tool Tool life increase 77 %,
cryogenic+tempering increase
126 %, conversion from austenite
to martensite, fine and
homogenous carbide distribution
16 Ramji ve arkadaşları [62] Drilling Gray cast −178.9 24 – HSS Improvement in cutting force, torque
and surface roughness
17 Çiçek et al., [52] Drilling AISI 304 ve 316 −196 24 – M35 HSS Homogenous carbide distribution
and density, conversion from
austenite to martensite, better
cutting force, tool life, tool wear,
32 % increase in tool life
18 Shirbhate et al. [57] Drilling M.S plate −90, −195 8,16,24 150 AISI M2 About 10 % reduction in cutting
torque, 35 % reduction in Ra
(−185 °C–24 h)
19 Ramji et al. [58] Drilling Gray cast –178,9 24 178 Carbide drill Decrease in cutting force,
improvement in surface
roughness, decrease in tool wear
20 Silva et al. [76] Drilling Steel −196 20 196/ 3 times M2 HSS Increase in performance 65 and
343 % longer tool life depending
on drilling conditions
21 Ramji et al. [104] Drilling Gray cast iron −178,9 24 – HSS The treated drills were found superior
to the non-treated in all the test
conditions in terms of lesser thrust
force, torque and also superior
surface roughness of the
specimens
22 Jeleńkowski [50] Metallurgical analysis – −180 24 180 HS6-5-2 It refines the substructure of
martensite laths and plates,
enhancement of toughness and
wear resistance
23 Kalsi et al. [51] Metallography analysis – −30, −196 24 200×3 Tungsten carbide Cryogenic treatment helped in
fineness, uniform, distribution and
densification of cobalt binder that
held, the carbides more firmly for
better wear-resistance
24 Thamizhmanii et al. [60] Milling Inconel 718 −196 20 – PVD coated tool Good surface roughness at high
cutting speed and low feed rate
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fine precipitates of carbides of size

cryogenic treatment on cutting tool performance, micro-

improving mechanical properties

structure analyses conducted after the treatment gain

Increase in hardness and wear

Increase in hardness and wear

importance. Such analyses can indicate increases in

38.6 % increase in tool life

110 % increase in tool life

improvement in mechanical properties ratios and can

(wear, hardness and

be used to determine the reasons for these increases

microstructure)
[50, 51, 61].

0.3–0.5 μ

resistance

resistance
Results

4 Conclusions
M2, T1, D3 (TiN coated)
A review of the effects of cryogenic treatment on cutting tools
has shown that:
AISI M2 (HSS)
Carbide tool

& Cryogenic treatment is an effective heat treatment that can

AISI M35

AISI T42

AISI T42

be widely applied to various cutting tools (tungsten car-

Tools

bide, HSS, PVD- and CVD-coated carbide, etc.). This

method can help to reduce production costs by increasing
cutting tool performance.
Tempering

& In order to achieve maximum benefits from cryogenic

150×2

200×2

treatment on cutting tools, cryogenic treatment parameters

200

200

(holding temperature, holding time, identification of heat

–

treatment to be applied before or after, etc.) should be

treatment period

applied under optimum conditions according to the tool

Cryogenic

material and operational settings.

& The treatment on cutting tools applied between −80 and
8, 24

6, 24
(h)

38
24

24

24

−140 °C is termed shallow cryogenic, while the treatment

applied between −140 and −196 °C is termed deep cryo-
temperatures

−140, −180
−110, −196

genic treatment. Both treatments offer different contribu-

−84, −195
Cryogenic
treatment

tions according to cutting tool type and material. It is

−150

−195

−196
(°C)

important to determine appropriate temperatures in order

to obtain maximum performance.
& Unlike conventional heat treatment, cryogenic treatment is
not a superficial method; it affects the entire material. It
ASSAB 760

enhances the toughness and hardness values of cutting

Sample

tools by homogenizing the carbide distribution within

them.
–

& Cryogenic treatment applied to cutting tools enhances tool

wear resistance and tool life due to the improvements in
mechanical properties.
Mechanical tests

& An analysis of cryogenic treatment times applied to cut-

Application

Flank wear

ting tools has revealed that the times vary between 1 and
Wear test

Wear test

Wear test
Milling

40 h. However, according to previous studies, the cryo-

genic treatment time applied to cutting tools was generally
around 24 h.
& For optimization of the cryogenic process, the ideal
soaking periods are determined according to the type of
Candane et al. [53]

Candane et al. [79]

Yong et al. [61]

tool to be used and the material to be processed.

Table 5 (continued)

Lal et al., [55]

Gill et al. [69]

Candane [81]

&
No. Researchers

Different tempering treatments are conducted after heat

treatment in order to eliminate internal stresses in the tool
material which occur due to excessive cooling during
cryogenic treatment. These treatments were found to con-
26
25

27

28
29

30

tribute to cutting tool performance. The tempering period

Int J Adv Manuf Technol
and soaking temperatures should be determined according
to the type of tools to which the tempering will be applied.
& As a result of cryogenic treatment, cutting forces de-
creased and surface roughness improved in parallel with
improvements in the wear resistance of cutting tools.
& Due to the increase in the red hardness of cutting tools,
cryogenic treatment enables machining at high cutting
speeds.
& The low bond content in tungsten carbide samples gener-
ally increased thermal conductivity. Cryogenic treatment
also enhanced thermal conductivity by increasing the par-
ticle size of cementite carbides and reforming particle
boundaries. The increased thermal conductivity because
of cryogenic treatment reduced tool wear by enhancing
the heat distribution capacity in cutting tools.
& Wear resistance improvement has mainly been attributed
to the resistance of cryogenically treated HSS to the dif-
fusion wear mechanism due to the formation of fine,
homogeneous carbide particles during cryogenic treat-
ment. Additionally, transformation of retained austenite
to martensite plays an effective role, i.e., improves hard-
ness values.
& Cryogenic treatment of cutting inserts causes crystal struc-
ture changes in both the hard and the soft binder phases of
tungsten carbide which, along with the precipitation of
carbides, may be responsible for the enhanced cutting life.
& Very little has been done in the way of cryogenic process
studies on different types of tools such as CBN, ceramic,
etc. The effects of cryogenic treatment on such tools can
be explored.
& Optimization of tool performance and reduction of the
cost of tools can be achieved by using different cryogenic
process parameters when necessary in order to determine
the effect of the cryogenic process.
& Generally, when cutting tools take their final forms, the
cryogenic processes are applied. The effect of their appli-
cation on performance can be researched while the cutting
tools are being produced by applying the cryogenic treat-
ment before hardening or coating.
References
1. Gu K, Wang J, Zhou Y (2014) Effect of cryogenic treatment on
wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy for biomedical applications. J
Mech Behav Biomed 30:131–139
2. Baldissera P, Delprete C (2008) Deep cryogenic treatment: a bib-
liographic review. O Mech Eng J 2:1–11
3. Amini K, Amin A, Sirus J (2012) Investigating the effect of holding
duration on the microstructure of 1.2080 tool steel during the deep
cryogenic heat treatment. Vacuum 86:1534–1540
4. Susheel K (2010) Cryogenic processing: a study of materials at low
temperatures. J Low Temp Phys 158:934–945
5. Yıldız Y, Nalbant M (2008) A review of cryogenic cooling in
machining processes. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 48:947–964
6. Sharma VS, Dogra M, Suri NM (2008) Advances in the turning
process for productivity improvement—a review. J Eng Manuf 222:
1417
7. Balout B, Songmene V, Masounave J (2007) An experimental study
of dust generation during dry drilling of pre-cooled and pre-heated
workpiece materials. J Manuf Process 9(1):23–34
8. Ranajit G, Zurecki Z, Frey JH (2003) Cryogenic machining with
brittle tools and effect on tool life, proceedings of IMECE’03
16–21
9. Sharma VS, Dogra M, Suri NM (2008) Cooling techniques for
improved productivity in turning. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 49:
435–453
10. Dhar NR, Kamruzzaman M (2007) Cutting temperature, tool wear,
surface roughness and dimensional deviation in turning AISI-4037
steel under cryogenic condition. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 47:754–
759
11. Dhar NR, Islam S (2006) Effect of cryogenic cooling by liquid
nitrogen jet on tool wear and product quality in turning AISI-9310
steel. ARPN J Eng Appl Sci 1:1–6
12. Ahmed MI, Ismail AF, Abakr YA, Amin AKMN (2007)
Effectiveness of cryogenic machining with modified tool holder. J
Mater Process Technol 185:91–96
13. Gisip J, Gazo R, Stewart HA (2009) Effects of cryogenic treatment
and refrigerated air on tool wear when machining medium density
fiberboard. J Mater Process Technol 209:5117–5122
14. Gandarias A, Lacalle LNL, Azpitarte X, Lamikiz A (2008) Study of
the performance of the turning and drilling of austenitic stainless
steels using two coolant techniques. Int J Mach Mach Mater 3:1–17
15. Barron RF (1982) Cryogenic treatment of metals to improve wear
resistance. Cryogenics 22:409–413
16. Yildiz Y, Sundaram MM (2012) Cryogenic machining of compos-
ites. Mach Technol Com Mat 365–393
17. Dhokey NB, Hake A, Kadu S, Bhoskar I, Dey GK (2014) Influence
of cryoprocessing on mechanism of carbide development in cobalt-
bearing high-speed steel (M35). Metall Mater Trans 45:1508–1516
18. El-Tayeb NSM, Yap TC, Brevern PV (2010) Wear characteristics of
titanium alloy Ti54f or cryogenic sliding applications. Tribol Int 43:
2345–2354
19. Das D, Dutta AK, Toppo V, Ray KK (2007) Effect of deep cryo-
genic treatment on the carbide precipitation and tribological behav-
ior of D2 steel. Mater Manuf Process 22:474–480
20. Gogte CL, Likhite A, Peshwe D, Bhokarikar A, Shetty R (2014)
Effect of cryogenic processing on surface roughness of age
hardenable AA6061 alloy. Mater Manuf Process 29(6):710–714
21. Li YS, Tao NR, Lu K (2008) Microstructural evolution and nano-
structure formation in copper during dynamic plastic deformation at
cryogenic temperatures. Acta Mater 56:230–241
22. Nayan N, Murty SVSN, Abhay K, Bhanu Pant JHA, Sharma SC,
George KM, Sastry GVS (2014) Mechanical properties of alumin-
ium–copper–lithium alloy AA2195 at cryogenic temperatures.
Mater Des 58:445–450
23. Isaak CJ, Reitz W (2008) The effects of cryogenic treatment on the
thermal conductivity of GRCop-84. Mater Manuf Process 23:82–91
24. Jiang Y, Chen D, Chen Z, Liu J (2010) Effect of cryogenic treatment
on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31 magne-
sium alloy. Mater Manuf Process 25:837–841
25. Firouzdor V, Nejati E, Khomamizadeh F (2008) Effect of deep
cryogenic treatment on wear resistance and tool life of M2 HSS
drill. J Mater Process Technol 206:467–472
26. Senthilkumar D, Rajendran I (2011) Influence of shallow and deep
cryogenic treatment on tribological behavior of En 19 steel. J Iron
Steel Res Int 18(9):53–59

27. Podgornik B, Leskovšek V, Vižintin J (2009) Influence of deep-
cryogenic treatment on tribological properties of P/M high-speed
steel. Mater Manuf Process 24:734–738
28. Thakur D, Ramamoorthy B, Vijayaraghavan L (2008) Influence of
different post treatments on tungsten carbide–cobalt inserts. Mater
Lett 62:4403–4406
29. Reddy TVS, Sornakumar T, Reddy MV, Venkatram R (2009)
Machinability of C45 steel with deep cryogenic treated tungsten
carbide cutting tool inserts. Int J Refract Met Hard Mater 27:181–
185
30. Bensely A, Venkatesh S, Lal DM, Nagarajan G, Rajadurai A, Junik
K (2008) Effect of cryogenic treatment on distribution of residual
stress in case carburized En 353 steel. Mater Sci Eng A479:229–235
31. Bensely A, Prabhakaran A, Mohan Lal D, Nagarajan G (2006)
Enhancing the wear resistance of case carburized steel (En 353)
by cryogenic treatment. Cryogenics 45:747–754
32. Xuan FZ, Huang X, Tu ST (2008) Comparisons of 30Cr2Ni4MoV
rotor steel with different treatments on corrosion resistance in high
temperature water. Mater Design 29:1533–1539
33. Baldissera P, Delprete C (2010) Deep cryogenic treatment of AISI
302 stainless steel: part II—fatigue and corrosion. Mater Design 31:
4731–4737
34. Thornton R, Slatter T, Lewis R (2014) Effects of deep cryogenic
treatment on the wear development of H13A tungsten carbide
inserts when machining AISI 1045 steel. Prod Eng Res Devel 8:
355–364
35. Gill SS (2012) Machining performance of cryogenically treated
AISI M2 high speed steel tools. JERS 3(2):45–49
36. Gill SS, Singh J, Singh R, Singh H (2012) Effect of cryogenic
treatment on AISI M2 high speed steel: metallurgical and mechan-
ical characterization. JMEPEG 21:1320–1326
37. Senthilkumara D, Rajendran I, Pellizzari M, Siiriainen J (2011)
Influence of shallow and deep cryogenic treatment on the residual
state of stress of 4140 steel. J Mater Process Technol 211:396–401
38. Das D, Dutta AK, Ray KK (2009) Optimization of the duration of
cryogenic processing to maximize wear resistance of AISI D2 steel.
Cryogenics 49:176–184
39. Priyadarshini A (2007) A study of the effect of cryogenic treatment
on the performance of high speed steel and carbide inserts. Rourkela
25–64
40. Sreerama Reddy TV, Sornakumar T, Venkatarama Reddy M (2009)
Turning studies of deep cryogenic treated P-40 tungsten carbide
cutting tool inserts-technical communication. Mach Sci Technol
13(2):269–281
41. Indumathi J, Bijwe J, Ghosh AK, Fahim M, Krishnaraj N (1999)
Wear of cryo-treated engineering polymers and composites. Wear
1(225–229):343–353
42. Pande KN, Peshwe DR, Kumar A (2012) Effect of the cryogenic
treatment on polyamide and optimization of its parameters for the
enhancement of wear performance. T Indian I Metals 65(3):313–
319
43. Zhang Z, Zhang H, Guo F, Wang K, Jiang W (2009) Enhanced wear
resistance of hybrid PTFE/Kevlar fabric/phenolic composite by
cryogenic treatment. J Mater Sci 44:6199–6205
44. Gill SS, Singh H (2013) Cryogenic treatment of materials: cutting
tools and polymers. Polym Cryog Temp 245–275
45. Reitz W, Pendray J (2001) Cryoprocessıng of materials: a review of
current status. Mater Manuf Process 16:829–840
46. Gill SS, Singh H (2010) Cryoprocessing of cutting tool materials—
a review. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 48:175–192
47. Kalsi NS, Sehgal R, Sharma VS (2010) Cryogenic treatment of tool
materials: a review. Mater Manuf Process 25:1077–1100
48. Gill SS, Singh J, Singh R, Singh H (2011) Metallurgical principles
of cryogenically treated tool steels—a review on the current state of
science. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 54:59–82
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
49. Singh LP, Singh J (2011) Effects of cryogenic treatment on high-
speed steel tools. J Eng Technol 2:88–93
50. Jeleńkowski J, Ciski A, Babul T (2010) Effect of deep cryogenic
treatment on substructure of HS6-5-2 high speed steel. J Ach Mater
Manuf Eng 43:80–86
51. Kalsi NS, Sehgal R, Sharma VS (2014) Effect of tempering after
cryogenic treatment of tungsten carbide–cobalt bounded inserts.
Bull Mater Sci 37(2):327–335
52. Çiçek A, Kıvak T, Uygur İ, Ekici E, Turgut Y (2012) Performance
of cryogenically treated M35 HSS drills in drilling of austenitic
stainless steels. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 60:65–73
53. Candane D, Alagumurthi N, Palaniradja K (2013) Effect of cryo-
genic treatment on microstructure and wear characteristics of AISI
M35 HSS. Int J Mater Sci App 2(2):56–65
54. Bensely A, Venkateswaran S, Subisak AD, Mohan Lal D, Rajadurai
A, Lenkey GB, Paulin P (2012) Influence of deep cryogenic treat-
ment on alloy carbide precipitations and mechanical properties of
AISI M2 high speed tool steel. Cold Facts 28(2)
55. Lal DM, Renganarayanan S, Kalanidhi A (2001) Cryogenic treat-
ment to augment wear resistance of tool and die steels. Cryogenics
41:149–155
56. Gogte CL, Iyer KM, Paretkar RK, Peshwe DR (2009) Deep subzero
processing of metals and alloys: evolution of microstructure of AISI
T42 tool steel. Mater Manuf Process 24(7–8):718–722
57. Shirbhate AD, Deshpande NV, Puri YM (2012) Effect of cryogenic
treatment on cutting torque and surface finish in drilling operation
with AISI M2 high speed steel. Int J Mech Eng Rob Res 1:1–10
58. Ramji BR, Narasimha MHN, Krishna M (2010) Performance anal-
ysis of cryogenically treated carbide drills in drilling white cast iron.
Int J Appl Eng Resc, Dindigul 1:553–560
59. Dogra M, Sharma VS, Sachdeva A, Suri NM, Dureja JS (2011)
Performance evaluation of CBN, coated carbide, cryogenically
treated uncoated/coated carbide inserts in finish-turning of hardened
steel. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 57:541–553
60. Thamizhmanii S, Nagib M, Sulaiman H (2011) Performance of
deep cryogenically treated and non-treated PVD inserts in milling.
J Ach Mater Manuf Eng 49(2):460–466
61. Yong AYL, Seah KHW, Rahman M (2007) Performance of cryo-
genically treated tungsten carbide tools in milling operations. Int J
Adv Manuf Technol 32:638–643
62. Ramji BR, Murthy HNN, Krishna M (2010) Performance study of
cryo treated HSS drills in drilling cast iron. Int J Eng Sci Technol
2(7):2530–2536
63. Gill SS, Singh R, Singh H, Singh J (2009) Wear behavior of
cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts under dry and wet
turning conditions. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 49:256–260
64. SreeramaReddy TV, Sornakumar T, VenkataramaReddy M,
Venkatram R (2008) Machining performance of low temperature
treated P-30 tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts. Cryogenics 48:
458–461
65. Chang YP, Wang G, Horng JH, Chu LM, Hwang YC (2013) Effects
of deep cryogenic treatment on wear mechanisms and microthermal
expansion for the material of drive elements. Adv Mater Sci Eng
ID945657,7 doi:10.1155/2013/945657
66. Vadivel K, Rudramoorthy R (2009) Performance analysis of cryo-
genically treated coated carbide inserts. Int J Adv Manuf Technol
42:222–232
67. Šolić S, Cajner F, Panjan P (2013) Influence of deep cryogenic
treatment of high speed steel substrate on TiAlN coating properties.
Mater Werkst 44(12):950–958
68. Gill SS, Singh J, Singh H, Singh R (2012) Metallurgical and
mechanical characteristics of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide
(WC–Co). Int J Adv Manuf Technol 58:119–131
69. Gill SS, Singh H, Singh R, Singh J (2011) Flank wear and machin-
ing performance of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide inserts.
Mater Manuf Process 26:1430–1441
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
70. He H, Han W, Li H, Li D, Yang J, Gu T, Deng T (2014) Effect of
deep cryogenic treatment on machinability and wear mechanism of
TiAlN coated tools during dry turning. Int J Precis Eng Manuf 15:
655–660
71. Singh LP, Singh J (2012) Effects of cryogenic treatment on the
cutting tool durability 3:111–23
72. Çiçek A, Kara F, Kivak T, Ekici E (2013) Evaluation of machin-
ability of hardened and cryo-treated AISI H13 hot work tool steel
with ceramic inserts. Int J Refract Met Hard Mater 41:461–469
73. Çiçek A, Kıvak T, Ekici E (2013) Optimization of drilling param-
eters using Taguchi technique and response surface methodology
(RSM) in drilling of AISI 304 steel with cryogenically treated HSS
drills. J Intell Manuf. doi:10.1007/s10845-013-0783-5
74. Balasubramanian S, Gupta MK, Singh KK (2012) Cryogenics and
its application with reference to spice grinding: a review. Crit Rev
Food Sci Nutr 52:781–794
75. Zhao Z, Hong SY (1992) Cryogenic properties of some cutting tool
materials. J Mater Eng Perform 1(5):705–714
76. Silva FJ, Franco SD, Machado AR, Ezugwu EO, Souza JAM
(2006) Performance of cryogenically treated HSS tools. Wear 261:
674–685
77. Fulemova J, Janda Z (2014) Influence of the cutting edge radius and
the cutting edge preparation on tool life and cutting forces at inserts
with wiper geometry. Process Eng 69:565
78. Lacalle LNL, Lamikiz A, Larrinoa JF, Azkona I (2011) Machining
of hard materials. In: P. Davim (ed) Advanced cutting tools, 11th
edn. 33–86
79. Candane D, Alagumurthi N, Palaniradja K (2013) Tribological
studies on deep cryogenic treated AISI T42 high speed steel using
response surface methodology. Adv Mater 2:12–22
80. Radebaugh R (2002) In the Mac Millan encyclopedia of chemistry,
cryogenics. Macmillan, New York
81. Baldissera P, Delprete C (2009) Effects of deep cryogenic treatment
on static mechanical properties of 18NiCrMo5 carburized steel.
Mater Des 30:1435–1440
82. Darwin JD, Lal DM, Nagarajan G (2008) Optimization of cryogenic
treatment to maximize the wear resistance of 18 % Cr martensitic
stainless steel by Taguchi method. J Mater Process Technol 195:
241–247
83. Yong AYL, Seah KHW, Rahman M (2006) Performance evaluation
of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide tools in turning. Int J Mach
Tools Manuf 46:2051–2056
84. Poomari A, Mohan B, Rajadurai A, Senthilkumar A (2012) Study
on tool life of coated, cryogenically treated and coated and plain
cermet cutting tools while machining steel. Eur J Sci Res 85(3):
394–407
85. Preciado M, Bravo PM, Alegre JM (2006) Effect of low temperature
tempering prior cryogenic treatment on carburized steels. J Mater
Process Technol 176:41–44
86. Vimal AJ, Bensely A, Lal DM, Srinivasan K (2008) Deep cryogenic
treatment improves wear resistance of En 31 steel. Mater Manuf
Process 23(4):369–376
87. Zhirafar S, Rezaeian A, Pugha M (2007) Effect of cryogenic treat-
ment on the mechanical properties of 4340 steel. J Mater Process
Technol 186:298–303
View publication stats
88. Bensely A, Shyamala L, Harish S, Lal DM, Nagarajan G,
Junik K, Rajadurai A (2009) Fatigue behaviour and fracture
mechanism of cryogenically treated En 353 steel. Mater Des
30:2955–2962
89. Senthilkumar D, Rajendran I (2011) Influence of shallow and deep
cryogenic treatment on tribological behavior of En 19 steel. J Iron
Steel Res Int 918(9):53–59
90. Harish S, Bensely A, Lal DM, Rajadurai A, Lenkey GB (2009)
Microstructural study of cryogenically treated En 31 bearing steel. J
Mater Process Technol 209:3351–3357
91. Defu LUO, Shen L (2012) Effect of cryogenic and QPQ compound
treatment on the microstructures and performance of high speed
steel. Chin J Mech Eng 25:1–6
92. Seah KHW, Rahman M, Yong KH (2003) Performance evaluation
of cryogenically treated tungsten carbide cutting tool inserts. Proc
Inst Mech Eng 217(B):29–43
93. Bal KS (2012) Performance appraisal of cryo‐treated tool by turning
operation. Rourkela 25–45
94. Çiçek A, Uygur I, Kivak T, Altan Zeybek, N (2012) Machinability
of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel with cryogenically treated M35
high-speed steel twist drills. J Manuf Sci Eng Trans ASME134 (6),
061003
95. Lacalle LNL, Lamikiz A (2009) Machine tools for high perfor-
mance machining. Springer, New York, pp 75–366
96. Leskovsek V, Kalin M, Vizintin J (2006) Influence of deep-
cryogenic treatment on wear resistance of vacuum heat-treated
HSS. Vacuum 80:507–518
97. Baldissera P (2009) Fatigue scatter reduction through deep cryo-
genic treatment on the 18NiCrMo5 carburized steel. Mater Des 30:
3636–3642
98. Liu H, Wang J, Yang H, Shen B, Gao S, Huang S (2006) Effect of
cryogenic treatment on property of 14Cr2Mn2V high chromium
cast iron subjected to subcritical treatment. J Iron Steel Res Int
13(6):43–48
99. Wang J, Xiong J, Fan H, Yang HS, Liu HH, Shen BL (2009) Effects
of high temperature and cryogenic treatment on the microstructure
and abrasion resistance of a high chromium cast iron. J Mater
Process Technol 209:3236–3240
100. Bensely A, Senthilkumar D, Lal DM, Nagarajan G, Rajadurai A
(2007) Effect of cryogenic treatment on tensile behavior of case
carburized steel-815M17. Mater Charact 58:485–491
101. Dhokey NB, Nirbhavne S (2009) Dry sliding wear of cryo treated
multiple tempered D-3 tool steel. J Mater Process Technol 209:
1484–1490
102. Özbek N, Çiçek A, Gülesin M, Özbek O (2014) Investigation of the
effects of cryogenic treatment applied at different holding times to
cemented carbide inserts on tool wear. Int J Mach Tool Manuf, doi:
10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2014.06.007
103. Gill SS, Singh J, Singh H, Singh R (2011) Investigation on wear
behaviour of cryogenically treated TiAlN coated tungsten carbide
inserts in turning. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 51:25–33
104. Ramji BR, Narasimha Murthy HN, Krishna M, Raghu MJ (2010)
Performance study of cryogenically treated HSS drills in drilling
gray cast iron using orthogonal array technique. Res J Appl Sci Eng
Technol 2(5):487–491