Investigation of chip formation of Ti-6Al-4V in oxygen-free atmosphere

Titanium and titanium alloys have high strength at low density, good corrosion resistance and excellent biocompatibility. Therefore, the use of titanium materials is well established in high-performance applications such as aerospace and biomedical. However, titanium and titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4 V have low thermal conductivity, exhibit unfavorable chip formation with typical segmented chips and have high chemical affinity to surrounding elements such as oxygen. Tool wear and the properties of the component surface and sub-surface are significantly influenced by the presence of oxygen and resulting chemical interactions. Among other things, chemical reactions such as oxidation occur due to the high temperatures and presence of oxygen. In this work, the chip formation of Ti-6Al-4 V at different cutting speeds in discontinuous orthogonal cutting process under different atmospheres is investigated. A conventional air atmosphere, a pure argon atmosphere and a silane-doped atmosphere were used. The oxygen content of the silane-doped argon atmosphere corresponds to an extremely high vacuum (XHV), which is practically oxygen-free. It was found that chip formation is affected by the surrounding atmosphere. At the cutting speed v(c) = 80 m/min, non-periodic segmentation is present under oxygen-free atmosphere, while segmental chip formation occurs under air. This is accompanied by up to 16.5% lower feed force under inert gas atmosphere, which is due to reduced friction caused by the use of an oxygen-free atmosphere.

Automated summary

Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used in high-performance applications due to their high strength, low density, good corrosion resistance, and excellent biocompatibility. However, they face challenges such as low thermal conductivity, unfavorable chip formation, and chemical interactions with oxygen. This study investigates the chip formation of Ti-6Al-4 V under different cutting speeds and atmospheres, revealing the impact of the surrounding atmosphere on chip formation. It was found that an oxygen-free atmosphere leads to non-periodic segmentation of chips, while air atmosphere leads to segmental chip formation. The use of an oxygen-free atmosphere also reduces friction and lowers the feed force.