This paper reports on an investigation treating a hard-milled surface as a surface undergoing severe plastic deformation at elevated temperatures. This surface exhibits remarkable magnetic anisotropy (expressed in term of Barkhausen noise). This paper also shows that Barkhausen noise emission in a hard-milled surface is a function of tool wear and the corresponding microstructure transformations initiated in the tool/machined surface interface. The paper discusses the specific character of Barkhausen noise bursts and the unusually high magnitude of Barkhausen noise pulses, especially at a low degree of tool wear. The main causes can be seen in specific structures and the corresponding domain configurations formed during rapid cooling following surface heating. Domains are not randomly but preferentially oriented in the direction of the cutting speed. Barkhausen noise signals (measured in two perpendicular directions such as cutting speed and feed direction) indicate that the mechanism of Bloch wall motion during cyclic magnetization in hard-milled surfaces differs from surfaces produced by grinding cycles or the raw surface after heat treatment.
Keywords: Barkhausen noise; hard-milling; tool wear.