Use of nitrogen gas in high-speed milling of Ti-6Al-4V

To inhibit chips burning in the high-speed cutting of Ti-6Al-4V, nitrogen gas with 0.7 MPa pressure was ejected at the milling zone. The high speed flowing of nitrogen gas speeds up the chips leaving, and prevents the chips from burning at the same time. By this method the cutting force is reduced. Especially, the temperature increment of the finished surface is smaller than 5 °C. This prevents the increase of hardness, improves the roughness of the finished surface, and reduces the tools wear. Comparing and analyzing the morphology and color of chips, which are obtained from the high-speed machining of Ti-6Al-4V with and without nitrogen gas ejection, show the action mechanism of nitrogen gas during the high-speed machining of titanium alloy, and it is concluded that nitrogen gas can be used to realize the proper high-speed milling of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy.