High-speed dry compound machining of Ti6Al4V

Milling experiments on Ti6Al4V using high-speed compound machining with high-speed air dielectric were conducted in this study. The new and efficient compound machining combines arc machining and electrical discharge machining (EDM) together, both of them are working in parallel. Ti6Al4V can be quickly melted by significantly high processing energy and rapidly expelled by high-speed air flow and high-speed electrode rotation. The maximum material removal rate (MRR) of 5862 mm3/min was obtained, which was hundred times higher than that of conventional dry EDM. The influences of air flow rate, inner diameter of the tubular electrode, peak current of arc machining, peak voltage of EDM, and electrode rotation speed on MRR, relative electrode wear rate and surface roughness were studied. Moreover, the re-solidified layer, surface morphology and elementary composition were also investigated. This study demonstrates that high-speed dry compound machining of Ti6Al4V can be processed efficiently using the proper machining parameters.