High speed ball nose end milling of γ-TiAl alloys

► Benchmarking established alloy Ti-45Al-8Nb-0.2C as providing a ∼25% increase in tool life. ► Surface roughness Ra of <0.6 μm was found to be achievable. ► Cutting temperature measured using an infra red pyrometer was found to range between 250 and 430 °C. ► Fracture/pullout ranging from a few microns to millimetres was observed on every surface. ► Less fracture/pullout was observed for the smaller grain size Ti-45Al-2Mn-2Nb +0.8%vol. TiB2.