Investigation Cooling and Lubrication Strategies for Sustainable Machining of Titanium Alloys

• The manufacturing sector is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the industrialized world today. Manufacturing industry is concerned with being more competitive and profitable. Profit margins are directly related to the productivity of the company, and productivity improvements can be achieved by making manufacturing processes more efficient and sustainable. Knowledge of cutting conditions and their impact on machined surface and tool life enable productivity improvement.  These days the main emphasis is not only to increase productivity, but also to make processes cleaner and more environmental friendly. This research aims to study machinability of difficult to cut, titanium alloys, in close reference to the application of different cooling/ lubrication strategies and their environmental impact. Total energy consumed (kWh) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced in machining are common environmental indicators. In this research project environmental implications of the cutting process were calculated in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy consumption analysis. The experimental work consisted of controlled machining tests with cutting force, surface roughness, power, and flank wear measurements under dry, mist, combination of vegetable oil mist and cooled air (MQL+CA) and flood cutting environments. The current study provides better understanding of the cutting performance of TiAlN coated and uncoated carbide tools. The study also investigated tool failure modes, tool wear mechanisms, surface roughness and energy consumption to improve machinability of Titanium alloys. The study revealed the promising behaviour of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) under specific ranges of cutting speed for both coated and uncoated tools.  Variation in the cutting force showed close link with built up edge (BUE) formation. MQL based systems have huge potential to improve machinability of Titanium alloys and should be investigated further.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Titanium alloys

Machinability

Energy consumption

Production Engineering

Industriell produktion

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