Influence of Tools and Cutting Strategy on Milling Conditions and Quality of Horizontal Thin-Wall Structures of Titanium Alloy Ti6Al4V

Szymon Kurpiel; Bartosz Cudok; Krzysztof Zagórski; Jacek Cieślik; Krzysztof Skrzypkowski; Witold Brostow

doi:10.3390/s23249905

Influence of Tools and Cutting Strategy on Milling Conditions and Quality of Horizontal Thin-Wall Structures of Titanium Alloy Ti₆Al₄V

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Dec 18;23(24):9905. doi: 10.3390/s23249905.

Authors

Szymon Kurpiel¹, Bartosz Cudok¹, Krzysztof Zagórski¹, Jacek Cieślik¹, Krzysztof Skrzypkowski², Witold Brostow^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
² Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resource Management, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
³ Laboratory of Advanced Polymers & Optimized Materials (LAPOM), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, 3940 North Elm Street, Denton, TX 76207, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics, University of North Texas, 3940 North Elm Street, Denton, TX 76207, USA.

Abstract

Titanium and nickel alloys are used in the creation of components exposed to harsh and variable operating conditions. Such components include thin-walled structures with a variety of shapes created using milling. The driving factors behind the use of thin-walled components include the desire to reduce the weight of the structures and reduce the costs, which can sometimes be achieved by reducing the machining time. This situation necessitates, among other things, the use of new machining methods and/or better machining parameters. The available tools, geometrically designed for different strategies, allow working with similar and improved cutting parameters (increased cutting speeds or higher feed rates) without jeopardizing the necessary quality of finished products. This approach causes undesirable phenomena, such as the appearance of vibrations during machining, which adversely affect the surface quality including the surface roughness. A search is underway for cutting parameters that will minimize the vibration while meeting the quality requirements. Therefore, researching and evaluating the impact of cutting conditions are justified and common in scientific studies. In our work, we have focused on the quality characteristics of horizontal thin-walled structures from Ti₆Al₄V titanium alloys obtained in the milling process. Our experiments were conducted under controlled cutting conditions at a constant value of the material removal rate (2.03 cm³⁄min), while an increased value of the cut layer was used and tested for use in finishing machining. We used three different cutting tools, namely, one for general purpose machining, one for high-performance machining, and one for high-speed machining. Two strategies were adopted: adaptive face milling and adaptive cylindrical milling. The output quantities included the results of acceleration vibration amplitudes, and selected surface topography parameters of waviness (W_a and W_z) and roughness (R_a and R_z). The lowest values of the pertinent quantities were found for a sample machined with a high-performance tool using adaptive face milling. Surfaces typical of chatter vibrations were seen for all samples.

Keywords: Ti6Al4V; acceleration vibration; aerospace material; horizontal thin-walled element; milling; roughness; short-time Fourier transform; titanium alloy; waviness.

Grants and funding

16.16.130.942/Kurpiel/AGH University of Science and Technology