Investigations on the machinability of titanium alloy using low frequency vibration assisted turning under minimum quantity lubrication

Abstract

Titanium alloy found major applications in aerospace, automobile and chemical factories due to its large strength at elevated temperature, good corrosion resistance, low thermal conductivity and light weight. Because of its superior qualities, this alloy found difficult to machine. The machinability of titanium alloy can be improved by adding low frequency vibrations (less than 1000 cycles per second) to the cutting tool. An enhancement in the machining performance can be attained by applying minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) in the cutting zone. In this study an attempt has been made to enhance the machinability of Ti6Al4V alloy by using MQL technique during low frequency vibration assisted turning (LFVAT). Experiments were conducted and the influence of low frequency vibrations plus MQL on the turning process was estimated by measuring the average surface roughness, main cutting force and tool wear. The performance of LFVAT, LFVAT + MQL, conventional turning (CT) and CT+MQL compared in terms of the aforesaid output parameters.