Surface damage in machining titanium 6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo alloy

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of cutting speed and tool wear and length on the surface damage produced during orthogonal machining of titanium 6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo alloy under dry unlubricated and lubricated conditions. Cutting speeds ranging from 20 to 160 ft min⁻¹ (10 to 80 cm sec⁻¹) lengths ranging from 0.000 to 0.02 in (0.051 cm) were used. Key-cut-keystone which is a highly chlorinated water-soluble oil was used as the lubricant. The results of the investigation show that the damage in the surface due to machining consists of a wide variety of defects such as chatter marks, long straight grooves, cavities, macro- and microcracks, and severe plastic deformation, etc. The severity of the damage decreases with an increase in the cutting speed and tool wearland length. The presence of lubricant in the cutting region resulted in a surface of extremely high integrity.