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Tool life and hole surface integrity studies for hole-making of Ti6Al4V alloy

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Abstract

With a significant growth in the use of titanium alloys in the aviation manufacturing industry, the key challenge of making high-quality holes in the aircraft assembly process needs to be addressed. In this work, case studies deploying traditional drilling and helical milling technologies are carried out to investigate the tool life and hole surface integrity for hole-making of titanium alloy. Results show that the helical milling process leads to much longer tool life, generally lower hole surface roughness, and higher hole subsurface microhardness. In addition, no plastically deformed layer or white layer has been observed in holes produced by helical milling. In contrast, a slightly softened region was always present on the drilled surface. The residual stress distributions within the hole surface, including compressive and tensile residual stress, have also been investigated in detail.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin City, 300072, People’s Republic of China

    Qing Zhao, Xuda Qin, Chunhui Ji & Yonghang Li

  2. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

    Dan Sun & Yan Jin

Authors
  1. Qing Zhao
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  2. Xuda Qin
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  3. Chunhui Ji
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  4. Yonghang Li
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  5. Dan Sun
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  6. Yan Jin
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Correspondence to Chunhui Ji.

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Zhao, Q., Qin, X., Ji, C. et al. Tool life and hole surface integrity studies for hole-making of Ti6Al4V alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 79, 1017–1026 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-6890-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-6890-z

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