High-Speed Turning of Titanium Matrix Composites with PCD and Carbide Tools

Abstract

High-speed turning tests were performed on vol.10%(TiCp+TiBw)/TC4 composite (TMC) in the speed range of 60-120m/min using PCD and carbide tools to investigate the tool life, tool wear, cutting temperatures and cutting forces. The results showed that the carbide tool was not suit for the machining of TMC. Tool life of PCD was confined to 12 min for all the cutting conditions. Flank wear increased obviously with the increasing cutting speed especially when the cutting speed surpassed 80m/min. PCD tool mainly took place chipping, peeling, abrasive wear and adhesive wear at the rake face and flank. The cutting temperatures of carbide were about 1.5-2.0 times higher than that of the PCD. Under the same cutting condition, cutting temperature of TMC was nearly 100°C higher than that of the TC4 matrix. The cutting forces were confined to 130N and 150N for the PCD and carbide tool respectively. For the carbide the cutting forces slightly decreased when the cutting speed increased from 60m/min to 120m/min. When using the worn tool, the cutting forces significantly decreased with the increasing cutting speed especially for the peripheral force component.