Experimental Investigation of the Cutting Performance of SiAlON Ceramic Cutting Tool in Titanium Machining

Titanium alloys are said to be difficult-to-cut materials because of its relatively high strength, low ductile yield, low modulus of elasticity and low thermal conductivity. One of the ways by which the machinability of titanium alloy can be addressed is via the development of special cutting tool. Hence, this paper presents an experimental study for the investigation of cutting during milling of Ti6Al4V with SiAlON ceramic cutting inserts. Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling machine was used to execute the practical experiments by making use of a dynamometer to measure the cutting forces and an infrared video camera for measuring the temperature generated during the machining of titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) alloy. Cutting parameters, which include cutting speed, feed/tooth, feed rate and depth of cut, were evaluated from the cutting inserts employed and the results were obtained with the help of the Kistler Software. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was adopted for the feasible combination of the process parameters for the physical experimentations and the results obtained for the experimental responses namely; cutting force, temperature, surface roughness and vibration were evaluated. The results indicate the feasibility of the SiAlON ceramic cutting inserts for machining titanium alloy. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of the responses results produced four mathematical models for predicting the magnitude of the experimental responses. This study presents empirical results and mathematical models that can assist machinists in achieving effective machinability of titanium alloy.