Abstract
BTi-6431S is a promising material for aero-engine and supersonic speed aircraft parts application. However, the machinability of the alloy is relatively poor due to its high mechanical properties at high temperature. Laser-assisted machining (LAM) is a promising solution to reduce the cutting pressures when machining difficult-to-cut materials, such as Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In this paper, the machinability of this near-alpha alloy has been investigated in terms of cutting force, chip formation, and tool wear in different laser power conditions over a range of cutting parameters. This investigation shows that the BTi-6431S alloy is considerably less responsive to LAM compared to Ti-6Al-4V, and the tool life was not extended by using the LAM process for BTi-6431S. The main tool failure mode is flank wear and rake face chip** under conventional machining (CM) condition, while the diffusion wear is the main tool failure mode under LAM. The machinability of BTi-6431S near-alpha titanium alloy is significantly lower than that of Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
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Gao, Y., Wang, G., Bermingham, M.J. et al. Cutting force, chip formation, and tool wear during the laser-assisted machining a near-alpha titanium alloy BTi-6431S. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 79, 1949–1960 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-6917-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-6917-5