This technical brief is the extension of our previous work developed by Zhang et al. (2016, “Effects of Process Parameters on White Layer Formation and Morphology in Hard Turning of AISI52100 Steel,” ASME J. Manuf. Sci. Eng., 138(7), p. 074502). We investigated the effects of sequential cuts on microstructure alteration in hard turning of AISI52100 steel. Samples undergone five sequential cuts are prepared with different radial feed rates and cutting speeds. Optical microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are employed to analyze the microstructures of white layer and bulk materials after sequential cutting processes. Through the studies we first find out the increasing of white layer thickness in the sequential cuts. This trend in sequential cuts does work for different process parameters, belonging to the usually used ones in hard turning of AISI52100 steel. In addition, we find that the white layer thickness increases with the increasing of cutting speed, as recorded in the literature. To reveal the mechanism of white layer formation, XRD measurements of white layers generated in the sequential cuts are made. As a result retained austenite in white layers is identified, which states that the thermally driven phase transformations dominate the white layer formation, rather than the severe plastic deformation in cuts. Furthermore, retained austenite contents in sequential cuts with different process parameters are discussed. While using a smaller radial feed rate, the greater retained austenite content found in experiments is attributed to the generated compressive surface residual stresses, which possibly restricts the martensitic transformation.
