Investigations on the effects of multi-layered coated inserts in machining Ti-6Al-4V alloy with experiments and finite element simulations

This paper presents investigations on turning Ti-6Al-4V alloy with multi-layer coated inserts. Turning of Ti-6Al-4V using uncoated, TiAlN coated, and TiAlN + cBN coated single and multi-layer coated tungsten carbide inserts is conducted, forces and tool wear are measured. 3D finite element modelling is utilized to predict chip formation, forces, temperatures and tool wear on these inserts. Modified material models with strain softening effect are developed to simulate chip formation with finite element analysis and investigate temperature fields for coated inserts. Predicted forces and tool wear contours are compared with experiments. The temperature distributions and tool wear contours demonstrate some advantages of coated insert designs.