In the present paper, the effects of cutting parameters and coating material on the performances of cutting tools in turning of AISI 52100 steel are discussed experimentally. A comparative study was carried out between uncoated and coated (with TiCN-TiN coating layer) cermet tools. The substrate composition and the geometry of the inserts compared were the same. A mathematical model was developed based on the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). ANOVA method was used to quantify the effect of cutting parameters on the machining surface quality and the cutting forces. The results show that feed rate has the most effect on surface quality. However, cutting depth has the significant effect on the cutting force components. The effect of coating layers on the surface quality was also studied. A lower surface roughness was observed when using PVD (TiCN-TiN) coated insert. A second order regression model was developed and a good accuracy was obtained with correlation coefficients in the range of 95% to 97%.
