Wear, 92 (1983)

113 - 123

113

EVALUATION OF CARBIDE GRADES AND A NEW CU!PIING GEOMETRY FOR MACHINING TITANIUM ALLOYS

R. KOMANDURI and W. R. REED, Jr. Building K-l, Corporate Research and Development, Box 8, Schenectady, NY 12301 (U.S.A.) (Received June 2,1983) General Electric Company, P.O.

Summary A new cutting geometry consisting of a high clearance angle (from 10 to 15) together with a high negative rake angle (from -10 to -15) is proposed for increasing cemented tungsten carbide tool life during the machining of titanium alloys. This geometry would allow the use of a conventional insert (with an included angle of 90) of any suitable shape (e.g. round, square or triangular) on a modified tool holder. The new geometry is found to yield longer tool life than does a high clearance angle (+15) alone or a conventional tool with a low negative rake angle (-5) and a low clearance angle (+5). Further, the lower cobalt grade (Carboloy grade 999) and finer carbide grain size tools (Carboloy grade 895) are found to yield longer tool life than the higher cobalt grade medium carbide grain size tools (Carboloy grade 883), which are currently the most commonly used grade. A new ceramic tool material, an Si-Al-O-N compound, is found not to be suitable for machining titanium alloys because of rapid wear.

1. Introduction Titanium alloys are generally difficult to machine at surface cutting speeds higher than 100 ft min- with high speed steel (HSS) tools and 200 ft min- with cemented tungsten carbide tools. Most other commercial tool materials, including ceramics, diamond and cubic boron nitride, are highly reactive with titanium alloys and consequently are not used to machine these alloys. HSS tools and cemented tungsten carbide tools, developed some 50 - 75 years ago, are the only two common tool materials used for machining titanium alloys. In spite of extensive tool material development and the introduction of several new tool materials in the past 25 years, there is not yet a new tool material that can machine titanium alloys at high speeds because most of them either dissolve or react chemically with titanium at the conditions of machining.
0043-1648/83/$3.00 @ Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in Switzerland

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It is interesting to note that back in 1955 Siekmann [I] pointed out that machining titanium and its alloys would always be a problem, no matter what ~chniques are employed to transform this metal into chips, 28 years later this statement is still true in so far as cutting tool materials are concerned. For increasing productivity, no choice remains except to use the existing tool materials more effectively. A fundamental understanding of the chip formation process and the various micromechanisms of tool wear in the machining of ti~ium alloys can illuminate ways to accomplish this goal. Pertinent aspects of these findings will be covered briefly in this report; the details have been discussed elsewhere [ 2,3 1.

2. On the mechanism of chip formation A critical review of the literature [2], machining studies of Ti-6Al-4V work material at various speeds observed with the aid of high speed photography, and in situ machining experiments inside a scanning electron microscope [ 3 ] lead to the conclusion that the chip formation process over a range of cutting conditions (speeds, feeds and depths of cut) and tool geometry (rake angle) is inhomogeneous and cyclic. A shear-localized type of chip is formed with periodic upsetting of the segment, followed by intense shear between the segment being formed and the one just formed. The initial contact on the tool face with the segment being formed is extremely short and is at the apex of the tool. This situation imposes severe stress at the tools apex, which is the weakest part. As the upsetting progresses, rolling of the segment on the tool face occurs as a result of intense localized shear between this segment and the one just formed, with almost no sliding along the tool face. Prom the point of view of crater wear, this stage is extremely critical. The rolling of the freshly formed segment on the tool face and the intimate contact of the chemically active (unexposed to the surroundings) intensely sheared surface at high pressure and temperature can promote adhesion and possible chemical interactions between the constituents of the tool and the work material. In addition, subsequent rapid sliding of the chip segment causes breakage of the bonds established between the tool and the chip segment, possibly leading to microchipping of the tool or rapid erosion of the tool material. Although details of the micromechanisms leading to rapid crater wear at the apex of the tool in the machining of titanium alloys are not well established, that tools wear rapidly remains a fact, and control is needed to prolong tool life.

3. On tool wear The two modes of wear in the machining of titanium alloys are partial cratering at the apex of the tool and flank wear on the clearance face. In the conventional form of crater wear, which occurs mostly in the machining of

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steels, the crater begins a slight distance away from the tool edge and progresses gradually to an increasing depth. The shape of the crater is somewhat like an ellipsoid. By contrast, in the machining of titanium alloys, the maximum crater depth occurs at the apex and only half the crater is formed. This is due to the nature of the chip segmentation process, shear localization between the segments and the flow of the chip segment on the tool face, as discussed earlier [2,3]. Figures l(a) and l(b) are classical photographs of the crater blatting these differences: Fig. l(a) was taken during the machining of a steel (after Trigger and Chao [4]) and Fig. l(b) was taken during the machining of a titanium alloy (after Colwell and Truckenmiller [ 51). In a recent publication Hartung and Kramer [6] showed similar evidence of a tool crater at the apex (ref. 6, Fig. 6) of a carbide tool when machining a Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Flank wear on the clearance face in the mach~~g of ti~ium alloys appears to be of the classical type involving adhesion and pullout, abrasion and chemical interactions.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 1. Differences in the location and shape of the crater wear: (a) conventional full crater wear away from the tool tip in machining steels (after Trigger and Chao [4]); (b) partial crater wear at the apex in machining titanium alloys (after Colwell and Truckenmiller [ 51).

Two approaches for improving tool life seem plausible. The first is the materials approach, wherein a new tool material is developed that resists one or both forms of wear through improved hot hardness and minimal chemical interaction via a diffusion barrier between the constituents of the tool and work material, The tool m~ufactu~~ work on this problem more or less on a continuous basis. The second approach is a mechanical one, wherein a new tool geometry is developed on the basis of the mechanics of the process that can minimize the wear. This report will deal with the latter approach.

4. New cutting geometry for longer tool life The new cutting geometry consists of a high clearance angle (about 15) to reduce flank wear together with a high negative rake angle (about -15)

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to improve the strength of the tool tip. Such a simple modified geometry will allow a conventional insert with a 90 included angle of any suitable shape (e.g. round, square or triangular) to be used on all comers or edge segments successively. It is well known that increasing the clearance angle can decrease flank wear. For machining many less difficult to machine materials such as aluminum alloys, it is a standard practice to increase the clearance angle up to 15. This larger angle will also reduce rubbing and metal build-up. However, for machining stronger materials, the use of such high clearance angles will decrease the included angle between the rake face and the clearance face and tend to make the tool tip weaker, unless a corresponding decrease in the rake angle is made. This is especially so with positive rake tools. The lower strength of cemented carbides and ceramics compared with high speed steel tools has necessitated the use of rake angles of -5 and clearance angles of +5, which not only minimizes the tensile stress on the tool rake face but also permits the use of eight comers of a square throwaway insert. In the machining of titanium alloys over a range of rake angles from +45 to -20 in planing-type orthogonal machining tests at low speed (150 in min-), the cutting force was found to increase only marginally with increase in negative rake angle. The thrust force, however, was found to increase significantly (Fig. 2). Nevertheless, a reasonably stiff toolworkpiece system can withstand the increased thrust force of a higher negative rake angle. The result is that increasing the negative rake angle increases the included angle at the apex of the tool and strengthens the tool tip mechanically, enabling one to use all comers of a tool with a 90 included angle.

300

Fig. 2. Variation in the cutting (0) and thrust (X) components F, and Ft of the force with rake angle in orthogonal machining of Ti-6A1-4V (cutting speed, 150 in min- l; width of cut, 0.060 in; depth of cut, 0.010 in; tool, Carboloy grade 883).

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5. Test objectives Three test objectives were identified: (1) to verify the hypothesis that a cemented carbide tool with a higher clearance angle together with a high negative rake angle (to maintain an included angle of 90) achieves a longer tool life then a conventional tool with a low clearance angle and a low rake angle for machining titanium alloys; (2) to evaluate the best straight cemented tungsten carbide grade in the turning of Ti-6Al-4V for longer tool life; (3) to explore the potential of a new ceramic tool material, an Si-Al-ON compound (Kyon 2000 (trademark of Kennametal Inc.)), for machining titanium alloys.

6. Test plan and results A conventional tool holder had been modified to provide a +17 clearance angle and -17 rake angle. This tool holder and a conventional tool holder, which provides a + 5 clearance angle and - 5 rake angle with a negative rake insert, were used in the tests. A positive rake insert was also used on the standard tool holder to give a high clearance angle (+16) but a low negative rake angle (-5). Table 1 gives a summary of the tool geometries used. Machining tests were conducted on a Lodge and Shipley lathe over a range of cutting speeds and feeds. Cim Free 238 (1:20) was used as a coolant. Four different grades of cemented straight tungsten carbide and a new ceramic tool material, an Si-Al-O-N compound (Kyon 2000~, were the two tool materials used in the tests. Table 2 gives a summary of the tool materials and the grades used. Figure 3 presents the variation in the uniform flank wear with cutting time for Carboloy grade 999 with the new and conventional tool geometries, showing the improvement in tool life with the new geometry. In addition, a si~ific~t decrease in flank wear with the low cobalt grade (Carboloy grade 999) compared with the medium cobalt grade (Carboloy grade 883), the grade currently used extensively, can be seen. It should be noted, however,
TABLE 1 Summary of the tool geometries used __Rake angle (deg) -5 -17 -5 Clearance angle (de& 5 17 16 Included angle (deg) 90 90 79 Remarks Conventional New tool geometry Only the clearance angle is increased, resulting in lower included angle and reduced strength of the tool tip

118 TABLE 2 Summary of the tool materials used Cemented Carboloy Carboloy Carboloy Carboloy tungsten carbide grade 820 grade 883 grade 895 grade 999

High Co Medium Medium Low Co Si-Al-&N

(10%); medium grain size Co (6%); medium grain size Co (6%); fine grain size (3%); medium grain size compound

Ceramic Kyon 2000

Carboloy is trademark of the General Electric Company ; Kyon is a trademark of Kennametal Inc.

2 Cutting Time.min _

Fig. 3. Variation in uniform flank wear with cutting time in the turning of Ti-6Al-4V (hardness, 36 HRC) (cutting speed, 300 ft min-; feed, 0.009 in rev-; depth of cut, 0.06 in; tool, SNG432 (side cutting edge angle (SCEA), 15 )): X, Carboloy grade 883 (clearance angle, 5); 0, Carboloy grade 999 (clearance angle, 5): 0, Carboloy grade 999 (clearance angle, 17). Reduced tool wear with the new tool geometry compared with the conventional tool geometry and with Carboloy grade 999 (low cobalt) compared with Carboloy grade 883 (medium cobalt) can also be seen.

that these tests employed a round titanium billet of uniform hardness for turning. Requirements can be somewhat different for complex parts and forgings with scale, as well as for interrupted cutting such as milling. The flank wear, or wear on the clearance face, is measured in an optical microscope by locating the intersection of the rake face and the clearance face (apex) and measuring the amount of wear on the clearance face from that point, using the rake face as a reference.

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I
7 5
: : ; r 5 LL 1 s

16 14 .
12. 10. 6 6 4 2

0 0

I
6

I
12 Cutting Time, min -

I
16

I
20

I
24

Fig. 4. Effect of new tool geometry on localized wear in the turning of I-6Al-4V (hardness, 36 HRC) (cutting speed, 175 ft min-; feed, 0.009 in rev-l; depth of cut, 0.06 in; tool SNG432 (SCEA, 15) with Carboloy grade 883; coolant, Cim Free 238). With the conventional tool geometry the localized wear is about 0.029 in after 12 min; with the new tool geometry the wear is 0.021 in after about 24 min.

Figure 4 shows the difference in the localized wear for Carboloy grade 883 for the conventional tool geometry (-5 rake angle and +5 clearance angle) and the new tool geometry (-17 rake angle and + 17 clearance angle) (Carboloy grade 883 is the grade commonly used to machine this material). With the standard tool geometry, the localized wear reached about 0.029 in in 12 min, while it took about 24 min to reach about 0.021 in of wear with the new geometry, thus showing the superior performance of the new geometry. While some improvement in the uniform flank wear with the new geometry can be noticed, this difference was more pronounced with the low cobalt grade and/or finer carbide grain size grades. Figure 5 shows the variation in the uniform flank wear with cutting time for Carboloy grade 999 with the following three tool geometries: (1) high clearance angle (+ 17) and high negative rake angle (-17); (2) conventional or low clearance angle (+ 5) and low negative rake angle (-5); (3) high clearance angle (+ 16) and low negative rake angle (-5). The performance improvement for the tool with the high clearance angle, high negative rake angle is again apparent. Also, for comparison, data with the conventional tool geometry on Carboloy grade 883 are included. The performance difference between Carboloy grades 883 and 999 also can be clearly seen. Figure 6 shows the variation in the uniform flank wear with cutting time for the three grades of cemented carbides used in these tests. As shown

Cutting Time, min

Fig. 5. Variation in uniform flank wear with cutting time showing the improvement in tool life with the new tool geometry (clearance angle, 17; rake angle, -17) compared with the conventional tool geometry (clearance angle, 15; rake angle, -5) in the turning of Ti-6A1-4V (hardness, 36 HRC) (cutting speed, 175 ft min-; feed, 0.009 in rev-; depth of cut, 0.06 in): X, Carboloy grade 883 (clearance angle, 5; rake angle, -5); A, Carboloy grade 999 (clearance angle, 16; rake angle, -5); 0, Carboloy grade 999 (clearance angle, 5; rake angle, -5); 0, Carboloy grade 999 (clearance angle, 17; rake angle, -17O).

::t :

16

Cutting

Time, min -

Fig. 6. Variation in uniform flank wear with cutting time for three grades of straight cemented tungsten carbide tool material in the continuous turning of Ti-6Al-4V (hardness, 36 HRC), showing improved performance of lower cobalt and/or finer carbide grain size (cutting speed, 300 ft min-; feed, 0.009 in rev-; depth of cut, 0.06 in; clearance angle, 16; rake angle, -5; SCEA, 15): 0, Carboloy grade 820; X, Carboloy grade 895; 0, Carboloy grade 999.

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in Table 2, Carboloy grade 820 is a straight cemented tungsten carbide with a high cobalt content (about lo%), Carboloy grade 895 is a fine grain straight cemented tungsten carbide with a medium cobalt content (about 6%) and Carboloy grade 999 is a straight cemented tungsten carbide with medium to fine grains and a low cobalt content (about 3%). It can be noted from Fig. 6 that low cobalt grades perform significantly better than do the high cobalt grades. Although it can be expected that most current ceramic tools may not perform well when machining titanium alloys because of potential chemical interactions between the tool and the work material, the exact performance of a new ceramic tool material will not be known until it is evaluated in machining. Kyon 2000 was used to machine Ti-6Al-4V at different speeds, feeds and tool geometries. Figure 7 shows the variation in uniform flank wear with cutting time. The tools failed almost instantaneously (in less than 15 s) with high localized flank wear and cratering, which was followed by notching and catastrophic fracture at these conditions. Thus this new promising tool material for other applications is not suitable for machining titanium alloys. Figure 8 shows a comparison of the performance of this ceramic tool with that of a carbide tool with both conventional and new tool

24 -

I 0 5 10 Cutting Time. s _ 15 20

Fig. 7. Rapid crater and flank wear of an Si-AI-O-N ceramic tool material followed by notching and catastrophic fracture in the machining of Ti-6Al-4V (hardness, 36 HRC) at various cutting conditions (tool, SNG432 (SCEA, 15) with Kyon 2000). Curve A (catastrophic wear and fracture): 400 ft min-l, 0.009 in rev-r, 5 clearance angle; 400 ft min-, 0.009 in rev-r, 17 clearance angle; 300 ft min-, 0.009 in rev-l, 5 clearance angle. Curve B: 600 ft min-, 0.0025 in rev- r, 5 clearance angle. Curve C: 400 ft min-r, 0.005 in rev-, 5 clearance angle. Curve D (localized wear, 0.018 in): 600 ft min-, 0.0025 in rev- , 17 clearance angle. Curve E (localized wear, 0.042 in): 300 ft min-, 0.005 in rev- l, 5 clearance angle.

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24

_ A

20

I
X

x
D

X/
X

0 1

I
2 Cutting Time, min -

I
3

I
4

Fig. 8. Variation in uniform flank wear with cutting time for the turning of Ti-6Al-4V (hardness, 36 HRC), showing reduced tool wear with the new geometry (cutting speed, 400 ft min r; feed, 0.009 in rev-l unless otherwise indicated; depth of cut, 0.06 in; tool, SNG432 (SCEA, 15)): curve A, Kyon 2000 with clearance angles of 17 (localized wear, 0.035 in; edge fracture; crater) and 5 (localized wear, 0.052 in; fracture; crater); curve B, Kyon 2000 with a clearance angle of 5 and a feed of 0.005 in rev-; curve C, Carboloy grade 999 with a clearance angle of 5; curve D, Carboloy grade 999 with a clearance angle of 17.

geometries. The superior performance in general of the cemented tungsten carbide compared with the ceramic tool and that of new tool design compared with the conventional design is quite apparent. 7. Conclusions (1) The new tool geometry, consisting of a high clearance angle (about 15) together with a high negative rake angle (-15), was found to increase the tool life of straight cemented tungsten carbide significantly (by a factor of approximately 2) compared with the standard tool geometry. By modifying the tool holder, conventional inserts can be used in this design. It is therefore recommended that a tool geometry that consists of a high clearance angle (from 10 to 15) and a high negative rake angle (from -10 to -15) should be used for prolonging tool life when machining titanium alloys. (2) Cemented carbide grades with a low cobalt content and a fine grain size were found to perform better than grades with a higher cobalt content and/or a larger grain size with longer tool life in continuous turning. (3) The new ceramic tool material Si-Al-O-N (Kyon 2000) was found not to be suitable for the machining of titanium alloys.

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Acknowledgments The work reported here was performed under contract F33615-79-C 5119 on an Advance Machining Research Project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency and managed by the Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories (AFWAL). The authors thank Ms. R. M. Stack of AFWAL for her interest in the work. The authors also thank Drs. D. G. Flom, A. W. Urquhart and M. Aven of General Electric Corporate Research and Development for their interest and for reviewing the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Ms. S. M. Rose for the careful preparation of the manuscript.

References
1 H. J. Siekmann, How to machine titanium, Tool Eng., 34 (January 1955) 78 - 82. 2 R. Komanduri, Some clarifications on the mechanics of chip formation when machining titanium alloys, Wear, 76 (1982) 15 - 34. 3 R. Komanduri and B. F. von Turkovich, New observations on the mechanism of chip formation when machining titanium alloys, Wear, 69 (1981) 179 - 188. 4 K. J. Trigger and B. T. Chao, The mechanism of crater wear of cemented carbide tools, Trans. ASME, 78 (5) (1956) 1119 - 1126. 5 L. V. Colwell and W. C. Truckenmiller, Cutting characteristics of titanium and its alloys, Mech. Eng., 76 (June 1954) 461 - 466,480. 6 P. D. Hartung and B. M. Kramer, Tool wear in titanium machining, Ann. CIRP, 31 (1) (1982) 78.