Latest advances in the micro-milling of titanium alloys: a review

Micro-machining, particularly micro-milling, of titanium alloys is receiving great attention by researchers in the last years. When milling features of micro size, the process cannot be assumed to be similar to conventional milling. As result, the process has to be extensively analysed. Firstly, in the present paper, the main characteristics of micro-milling, such as size effects, are presented. After that, as main objective, the latest trends in the micro-milling of titanium alloys are reported. Mainly, a comprehensive review of studies dealing with important topics for the micro-milling is presented. These studies were classified in topics such as surface integrity, cutting tools, cooling/lubrication systems, finite element method, process optimization and monitoring.