Widia, a leading manufacturer of cutting tools and part of the Kennametal group, has introduced its WS40PM indexable milling grade for processing titanium and other superalloys. WS40PM´s cobalt-rich substrate is said to provide robust fatigue resistance and edge integrity, while the multiphase AlTiN-TiN PVD coating reduces tool wear. WS40PM is suited to a wide range of high-temp steel alloys, austenitic and PH stainless steels, nickel-based super alloys such as Hastelloy and Nitronic, and titanium.

WS40PM was designed to meet the needs of the aerospace, defence and medical industries, where titanium is used for everything from landing gear and seat tracks to lifesaving implants and surgical instruments. Testing results show, however, that WS40PM is suitable for far more than titanium. “Using an initial cutting speed of 53 m/min we´re seeing 25-35% productivity gains and consistent improvement in tool life, even when milling very tough materials like Ti-5553 and Super Duplex steels,” stated Mike Sperhake, EMEA-region Product Specialist for Widia.

Widia offers a variety of coolant-fed cutter bodies such as shell mills, shoulder cutters, end mills and more, all able to accept WS40PM and other indexable milling insert grades.

“From Tier 1 aerospace suppliers to the job shop on the corner, everyone wants the same things from a tooling solution: higher accuracy, better surface finish, reliability and productivity. All are critical factors to their success, and that´s what we intend to deliver. WS40PM is a big part of that,” added Sperhake.

www.widia.com