40. Finite Element Simulation and Experimental Investigations to Predict Tool Flank Wear Rate During Microturning of Ti–6Al–4V Alloy

Mechanical micromachining has gained wide acceptance in the manufacture of miniaturized components for a wide range of applications including aerospace, biomedical, electronics, etc. in recent decades. Microturning is one of the important machining techniques used for manufacturing these components. In micromachining, as the undeformed chip thickness becomes comparable with the cutting edge radius, size effect highly influences the material deformation mechanism. Therefore, the tool experiences a nonlinear variation in cutting forces and specific cutting energy, which accelerates the tool wear. The tool wear mechanism becomes even more complex in the case of micromachining of difficult to machine materials like Ti–6Al–4V alloy. Tool wear is influenced by the combined effect of mechanisms like material adhesion, abrasion, erosion, diffusive wear, fracture, etc. In the present work, the adhesive tool wear model, proposed by Usui et al. is used for the tool wear estimation in micro regime. The tool wear model is calibrated using a hybrid approach based on both finite element simulations and cutting experiments. Validation experiments are done to compare experimental and predicted flank wear rates. Results show that the predicted flank wear rates using Usui model, using calibrated constants, showed better agreement with experimental results.