Removal of heat-formed coating from a titanium alloy using high pressure waterjet: Influence of machining parameters on surface texture and residual stress

Titanium alloys are widely used in the aerospace and medical industries owing to their high strength to weight ratio and outstanding corrosion resistance. A problem for titanium or titanium alloys is the existence of a hard, brittle and oxygen-enriched layer on the surface (so called alpha case). This is usually formed during hot forming processes or after long-term service at elevated temperatures in an open-air environment. With the development of waterjet systems, high pressure waterjet has shown its capability for the removal of such hard and difficult-to-machine coatings. Waterjet machining is usually associated with a surface roughening, which is unwanted for most of aerospace applications, but is beneficial for medical application where fixation is required (e.g. metal orthopedic implants). A potential benefit of waterjet material removal is that the process may introduce compressive residual stress to the machined surface and subsurface layers. In this study, Ti–6Al–4V with an alpha case layer was subjected to plain waterjet impact over a range of parametric conditions, to fully remove the alpha case layer. The resulting surfaces were then analyzed to demonstrate the influence of process parameters on both surface roughness and residual stress measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD).