Comparison of specific cutting energy in dry and wet post-process turning of Ti6Al4V EBM parts

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is accelerating more and more today. Among its advantages, AM is claimed to be green technology. However, AM parts usually require postprocessing to improve their surface finishing and to be assembled. In this study, some Ti6Al4V cylindrical samples have been manufactured by Electron Beam Melting and then post-processed by turning. Both dry and wet turning has been performed under the same process parameters. Surface roughness has been measured both before and after each turning pass along the parallel and perpendicular direction to the cylindrical axis and energy consumption has been recorded during each turning pass. Specific Cutting Energy (SCE) has been calculated to evaluate the energy efficiency of the turning process. The results of this study demonstrate that dry turning is more energy efficient than wet turning by selecting the same machining process parameters while obtaining a comparable surface roughness.