High Performance Titanium Milling at Low Cutting Speed

When machining titanium alloys the process stability limits increase very rapidly with reduced cutting speed. The stability rise is stronger than the drop of the cutting speed and it results in growth of removal rate. The increase in removal rate results in savings of machining costs. There is definite advantage in cutter geometry with irregular pitch for increasing the limit of stability. Use of PM HSS tools at low speeds for milling titanium alloys can be the most economical option. The paper introduces the concept of load intensity for assessing tool wear in milling.