Development of Cutting Technology in Strong Alkaline Water

Abstract

Recently titanium alloys and nickel alloys have become widely used for making aeronautic and astronautic parts. During machining of those metals, most of the cutting heat generated is severely conducted to the cutting tool as the thermal conductivity of those materials are very low and resulting the shorter tool life. It is required for a durable tool with excellent cooling capacity. Thus, in this research, cutting technology in strong alkaline water for machining of titanium alloys and nickel alloys was developed and evaluated by experiments. Firstly, the corrosion characteristics of titanium alloy and some other materials were investigated using water and strong alkaline water. Then, durable cutting tool with high and efficient cooling capacity was developed. This cutting process was taken inside the vessel filled with strong alkaline water. The tool life and cutting accuracy with applying proposed method are investigated by experiments using Ti6Al4V. From the results, it is concluded that; (1) The cooling capacity of the new tool using strong alkaline water is very effective for maintaining the longer tool life, (2) The developed new tool is effective for high speed cutting of titanium alloys and nickel alloys, (3) The proposed new tool and compulsory cooling system are economical and eco-friendly.