Surface quality evaluation after milling Inconel 718 with cutting edge preparation

Abstract

Nickel alloys have the ability to resist extreme conditions; as a result, they are in evidence among different industrial areas. Nickel alloy machining is often associated with high manufacturing costs and low productivity. Cutting-edge tool geometry is one of the key factors in order to enable high-performance cutting operations with these alloys. Besides that, the cutting fluid use can reduce friction and temperature. On the other hand, dry machining brings environmental benefits and, in addition, it can protect the factory worker from several diseases caused by the contact with the cutting fluid. Therefore, experimental tests were realized, focusing on understanding the surface integrity behavior after milling of Inconel 718. The experiments occurred with the use of original and polished tools. Besides that, the milling process was performed in dry and MQL conditions. The texture, roughness, hardness, and affected layer were tightly studied. A great difference was found in texture and roughness behavior among dry-machined surfaces and with MQL application, due to thermal and friction effects. Cutting-edge preparation showed better results in this case, as original tool edges were sharp. The smaller affected layer deformations were obtained by original tools with MQL application, and hardness measurements did not exhibit significant variation. Among the tested conditions, the best performance was achieved with the use of MQL and, in general, cutting-edge preparation did not show significant variation.