MILLING FORCE AND SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY OF Ti-6Al-4V TITANIUM ALLOY CLADDED BY THE LASER

Abstract

After the damaged blade is repaired by laser cladding, the quality of the recontouring by milling determines its working performance in reservice. Ti-6Al-4V, titanium alloy, commonly used as the material of manufacturing aero-engine blades, is selected as the experiment material. Laser cladding technology is used to prepare a cladding layer, and milling experiments are carried out on the cladding layer. The effects of milling process parameters on the milling force, roughness, and surface topography are studied. The results show that when the milling speed ([Formula: see text]) increases to 50[Formula: see text]m/min, the milling force and roughness ([Formula: see text]) reach the maximum and at this moment the surface topography is the worst. Afterwards, with an increase in [Formula: see text], both the milling force and [Formula: see text] decrease in proportion, and the surface topography also becomes better. As the feed per tooth ([Formula: see text]) increases, the milling force and [Formula: see text] also increase. However, the increasing trend gradually slows down. After [Formula: see text] increases to 0.08[Formula: see text]mm/z, the milling force and [Formula: see text] almost no longer increase and the surface topography remains almost unchanged. With an increase in milling width ([Formula: see text]), the milling force and [Formula: see text] increase on the whole. But while [Formula: see text] increases from 0.4[Formula: see text]mm to 0.8[Formula: see text]mm, the milling force and [Formula: see text] increase very slowly. When [Formula: see text] reaches over 0.8[Formula: see text]mm, the milling force and [Formula: see text] increase rapidly again. As [Formula: see text] changes, the surface topography changes according to the milling force and roughness. On this basis, it is found that while machining a laser cladding layer, the milling force directly affects the surface roughness and topography. Therefore, by adjusting [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], one can obtain the small milling force and good milling surface of the laser cladding TC4 layer.