Jet electrochemical machining of TB6 titanium alloy

Abstract

TB6 titanium alloy (Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al) is a prospective material to replace the traditional titanium alloys in aviation industry due to its excellent comprehensive properties. However, machining of TB6 titanium alloy with traditional processes is characterized by the low machining efficiency, high tool wear, reduced machining accuracy, and inferior surface finish. Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a potential processing technology for titanium alloy, but almost no investigation has been performed on TB6. This paper aims to study the feasibility and select the optimum process parameters for Jet-ECM machining of TB6 titanium alloy. The dissolution behavior of TB6 titanium alloy in sodium nitrate and sodium chloride electrolyte with different concentration and temperature is analyzed. Then, the effect of main parameters, including the composition and concentration of electrolyte, machining voltage, electrolyte flow rate, and inter-electrode gap (IEG), on machining performance is investigated in detail. From experiments, 24 V voltage, 0.6 mm IEG, 2.1 L/min flow rate, and 15 % sodium chloride electrolyte are selected as optimum parameters. The experimental results by using the chosen parameters reveal that the comprehensive machining performance, including material removal rate (10.062 g/min), surface toughness (0.231 μm), taper (2.5), and average overcut (1.01 mm), is acceptable from the viewpoint of industry.