Identification of Temperatures in Cutting Zone when Dry Machining of Nickel Alloy Inconel 718

The cutting temperature is one of most important parameters that influence the tool life and the quality of machined surfaces. Its identification and determination is key objective in specialized machining processes such as dry machining of hard-to-machine materials. It is well known that maximum temperature is obtained in the tool rake face at the vicinity of the cutting edge. A moderate level of cutting edge temperature and a low thermal shock reduce the tool wear phenomena, and a low temperature gradient in the machined sublayer reduces the risk of high tensile residual stresses. This paper deals with identification of temperature and temperature gradient during dry peripheral milling of Inconel 718. The thermocouple method was used to measure the temperature directly in the cutting zone. An original thermocouple was specially developed for measuring of temperature in the cutting zone, surface and subsurface layers of machined surface. The measurements were used to identification the temperature gradients and to reconstruct the thermal distribution in cutting zone with various cutting conditions.