Abstract
Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V is a difficult-to-machine material which is extensively used in the aerospace and medical industries. Machining titanium is associated with a short tool life and low productivity. In this paper, a new cooling-lubrication system based on electrohydrodynamic atomization was designed, manufactured and tested and the relevant theory was developed. The major novelty of the system lies within the use of electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) and a three-electrode setup for generating lubricant droplets. The system was tested and compared with that of flood, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and compressed air machining. The proposed system can extend the tool life by 6 and 22 times when compared with MQL and flood cooling, respectively. This is equivalent to more than 170 min tool life at 120 m/min cutting speed allowing for significant productivity gains in machining Ti6Al4V.
Highlights
Grade 5 titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V, is the most used titanium alloy in industry and is extensively used in aerospace and medical implant applications
It is estimated that 80% of the heat is transferred into the cutting tool which can result in thermal softening and tribochemical wear leading to short tool life [5]
The performance of the system was benchmarked against flood cooling, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and air cooling using an identical setup to the electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA)-MQL system
Summary
Grade 5 titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V, is the most used titanium alloy in industry and is extensively used in aerospace and medical implant applications. Ti6Al4V possesses high strength-to-weight ratio, high toughness and hardness as well as high corrosion resistance and biocompatibility [1]. It can maintain its mechanical properties at a wide range of temperatures, making it an ideal candidate for aerospace applications [2]. Together with poor thermal conductivity, these material properties are responsible for making Ti6Al4V a difficult-to-machine material [3]. Due to the short tool-chip contact length and poor thermal conductivity, high thermal loads and mechanical pressures are generated at the cutting zone. It is estimated that 80% of the heat is transferred into the cutting tool which can result in thermal softening and tribochemical wear leading to short tool life [5]
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