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Wear behaviour of PVD coated and cryogenically treated tools for Ti-6Al-4V turning

  • Thematic Issue: Advanced Modeling and Innovative Processes
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Abstract

Titanium alloys, mainly because of their poor thermal conductivity, need to be cut at relatively low cutting speeds, with obvious negative consequences on the profitability of machining. An important amount of research has been done in order to increase productivity in titanium machining operations: high performance coatings and innovative technologies to improve insert resistance to wear represent promising solutions. In this work, a highly performing cutting insert (coated with a TiAlN layer obtained by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) magnetron sputtering) has been tested against the option of applying a Deep Cryogenic Treatment (DCT), when used for rough turning of aerospace titanium. The effects of the DCT have been experimentally investigated with two different experimental plans at low and high cutting speeds (respectively vc ≤ 50 m/min, vc ≥ 60 m/min). Statistical analyses of the results have been performed. The results show that at low cutting speed, the DCT treatment does not increase the tool life. At higher values of vc, flank wear vs. time curves of coated tools have been determined, with and without DCT, and they clearly show that cryogenically treated tools present better wear resistance at higher cutting speeds. The wear mechanisms on the rake face and the flank for these two TiAlN coated tools have been analysed using a scanning electron microscope. The adhesion of titanium on the tool surface is lower for a DCT treated insert. The results indicate that the hardening of tools induced by the cryogenic treatment improves their useful life in high rate machining of titanium.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the very precious contribution of several engineers and technicians who helped in both the experimental activity and the analysis of the results: Valerio Mussi and Corrado Buroni of MUSP for their valuable help in the conduction of experiments; Marco Costanzi of Tifast for his advices and analyses on the titanium alloy, Alessandro Farinotti of Lafer for his unmatched expertise on the coatings, Gaetano Pittalà and Gianluigi Bezzon of Sandvik for their help in the selection of the tools and the experimental conditions. This work has been partly funded by the Tecnopolo of Piacenza.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Meccanica, Politecnico di Milano, via La Masa 1, 20156, Milano, Italy

    Matteo Strano & Paolo Albertelli

  2. Laboratory Macchine Utensili e Sistemi di Produzione, MUSP, via Tirotti 9, Piacenza, Italy

    Elio Chiappini & Stefano Tirelli

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  1. Matteo Strano
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  2. Paolo Albertelli
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  3. Elio Chiappini
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  4. Stefano Tirelli
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Correspondence to Matteo Strano.

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Strano, M., Albertelli, P., Chiappini, E. et al. Wear behaviour of PVD coated and cryogenically treated tools for Ti-6Al-4V turning. Int J Mater Form 8, 601–611 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12289-014-1215-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12289-014-1215-6

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