Influence of Coolant in Machinability of Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V)

Muthukrishnan Namb,Davim Paulo

doi:10.4236/jsemat.2011.11002

Abstract

Application of titanium alloy has increased many fields since the past 50 years. The major drawback encountered during machining was difficult to cut and the formation of BUE (Built up Edge). This paper presents the tool wear study of TTI 15 ceramic insert (80% Aluminum oxide and 20 % Titanium carbide) on machining Ti-6Al-4V at moderate speed with and without the application of water soluble servo cut S coolant. Titanium alloy is highly refractory metal and machining titanium is challenging to the manufacturers. Experiments were carried out on medium duty lathe. Application of coolant tends to reduce toolwear and minimize adhesion of the work material on the cutting tool during machining and also improves the surface finish. Result provides some useful information.

Highlights

Machinability of a material can be defined and measured as an indication of the ease or difficult with which it can be machined
This paper presents the tool wear study of TTI 15 ceramic insert (80% Aluminum oxide and 20% Titanium carbide) on machining Ti-6Al-4V at moderate speed with and without the application of water soluble servo cut S coolant
Surface roughness obtained was very good with coolant compared with dry machining

Summary

Introduction

Machinability of a material can be defined and measured as an indication of the ease or difficult with which it can be machined. Machining of titanium and its alloys can be considered very difficult to cut materials due to its highly chemical reactivity and tendency to weld to the cutting tool, which resulted in edge chipping and rapid tool failure [4]. The advancement in the development of the cutting tools for the past few decades showed little improvement in the machinability of titanium alloys. Most of the cutting tools developed so far, including diamond ceramics and Cubic boron nitride, are highly reactive to titanium alloys, causing rapid wear especially at higher cutting speeds [6,7,8]. Studies by [10,11,12]reported that, when machining titanium alloys, straight tungsten carbide (WC/Co) cutting tools have proved their excellence in almost all processes, except of the tool wear

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion