Study of Chip Morphology, Flank Wear on Different Machinability Conditions of Titanium Alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) Using Response Surface Methodology Approach

Titanium alloy is having a widespread application in the field of aerospace, marine and automobile industries. However, its machining is still a challenging task for the manufacturing industries due to the chemical reactivity and poor thermal conductivity properties. In this study, machining of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) was carried out with WM25CT cutting inserts. The effects of cutting speed, feed and depth of cut on cutting force, surface roughness, chip-reduction coefficient and flank wear of the cutting tool were analyzed. The response surface methodology (RSM) approach with central composite design and face centered was used to carry out the experimentation. The second order quadratic equations were developed and compared with the experimented data sets. From the analysis of the chip morphology, it was observed that side flow of chips and gap between the lamella of the chips varied with respect to the change in the process parameters. The type of chip produced also varied according to the variation of the process parameters. Severe nose damage was observed at cutting speed 160 m/min, feed 0.14 mm/rev, depth of cut 0.75 mm. Due to this snarled ribbon type of chips were produced in place of occurrence of the serration in the chips.