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Study on the machining characteristics of high-efficiency mixed gas atomized discharge ablation process of titanium alloy

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Abstract

Titanium alloy is widely used in aerospace and other industry fields because of its excellent physical and chemical properties. However, the fabrication process is still a challenge for the traditional machining processes due to the ultra hardness and chemical reactivity properties of titanium alloy. Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a significant processing approach to machine titanium alloy regardless of hardness, while accompanied by disadvantages such as electrode wear and low machining efficiency. This paper proposed a novel mixed-gas atomization discharge ablation process (MA-DAP) method for high-efficiency machining titanium alloy with low tool wear. An atomized dielectric formed by a mixed gas, which mainly composed of oxygen and supplemented by nitrogen, and water medium was used in the machining process. The exothermic oxidation between the oxygen component in the atomized dielectric and high-temperature molten material activated by spark discharges could multiply accelerate material removal of workpiece. The explosive effect generated by the vaporization expansion of the water component in the dielectric would improve the machining quality and the processing capability of large depth-to-diameter ratio holes. To investigate the machining characteristics of the new approach, comparative experiments were conducted in terms of material removal rate, electrode relative wear rate, machining accuracy, surface morphology, and recast layer. The experimental results showed that, compared with traditional EDM, the material removal rate of MA-DAP was dramatically increased by more than an order of magnitude, and other technological indexes are greatly improved simultaneously. A deep-shaped blind hole with a depth-to-diameter ratio greater than 12 was obtained by the MA-DAP.

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Funding

This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51675272, 51975290). The authors extend their sincere thanks to those who contributed in the preparation of the instructions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, 213001, China

    Linglei Kong

  2. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Linglei Kong, Zhidong Liu & Mingbo Qiu

  3. School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Xiangzhi Wang

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  1. Linglei Kong
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  2. Zhidong Liu
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  3. Xiangzhi Wang
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  4. Mingbo Qiu
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All authors have been personally and actively involved in substantive work leading to the report.

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Correspondence to Zhidong Liu.

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Kong, L., Liu, Z., Wang, X. et al. Study on the machining characteristics of high-efficiency mixed gas atomized discharge ablation process of titanium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 113, 2715–2724 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-06767-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-06767-3

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