Degradation modes and tool wear mechanisms in finish and rough machining of Ti17 Titanium alloy under high-pressure water jet assistance

This article presents the results of an experimental study on the Ti17 titanium alloy, which was carried out to analyze tool wear and the degradation mechanisms of an uncoated tungsten carbide tool insert. Two machining conditions, roughing and finishing, have been studied under different lubrication conditions. The experimental procedure included measurement of the cutting forces and the surface roughness. Different techniques have been used to explain the tool wear mechanisms. Distribution maps of the elemental composition of the titanium alloy and the tool inserts have been created using Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). An area of material deposition on the tool rake face, characterized by a high titanium concentration has been observed. The width of this area and the concentration of titanium, decrease when increasing water jet pressure. The study shows that wear mechanisms, with and without high-pressure water jet assistance (HPWJA) are not the same. For example, for the roughing condition using conventional lubrication, the temperature in the cutting area becomes very high, this causes plastic deformation of the cutting edge which results in its rapid collapse. By contrast, this problem disappears when machining with HPWJA. In addition, the evolution of flank wear (VB) is stabilized with high-pressure lubrication. In this case, the most critical degradation mode is due to notch wear (VBn) leading to the sudden rupture of the cutting edge.