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Machining of GTAW additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V structures

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Abstract

Titanium components such as spars, brackets and landing gear assemblies, containing deep pockets, thin walls and fixturing holes are used in almost all aircraft. The traditional method of fabricating these parts involves significant amount of machining resulting in unsustainably high buy-to-fly ratios. For this reason, additive manufacturing (AM) processes are being considered for making near-net shape components. Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an economical AM process with higher deposition rates which has been employed to fabricate these titanium components. However, the GTAW-fabricated parts require post-finish machining to meet the strict dimensional tolerances as per design. On the other hand, it is well known that titanium is a difficult-to-machine material. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the machinability of Ti-6Al-4V thin wall and pad structures produced using GTAW additive manufacturing in terms of cutting forces, surface roughness and tool wear during milling and drilling operations. The cutting forces were found to be lower by about 13–21% during milling owing to the lower hardness of the additively manufactured wall in comparison to the wrought T-fillet structure. In contrast, the normal drilling force was higher by about 10–15% for the additively manufactured pad due to its higher hardness as compared to the wrought Ti-6Al-4V billet, though the tool wear was noticed to be higher when drilling the wrought billet. Nevertheless, it was concluded that the machinability of the GTAW-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V was better than the wrought counterpart.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) for carrying out this work. The authors also acknowledge the assistance provided by Seco Tools for the milling trials and Sutton Tools for the drilling trials, results from which are presented in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

    N. Hoye & D. Cuiuri

  2. Defence Materials Technology Centre, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia

    N. Hoye, D. Cuiuri, R. A. Rahman Rashid & S. Palanisamy

  3. School of Engineering, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia

    R. A. Rahman Rashid & S. Palanisamy

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  1. N. Hoye
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  2. D. Cuiuri
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  3. R. A. Rahman Rashid
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  4. S. Palanisamy
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Correspondence to S. Palanisamy.

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Hoye, N., Cuiuri, D., Rahman Rashid, R.A. et al. Machining of GTAW additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V structures. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 99, 313–326 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2494-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2494-8

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