Machinability

Abstract: Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used in biomedical devices and components, especially as hard tissue replacements as well as in cardiac and cardiovascular applications, because of their desirable properties, such as relatively low modulus, good fatigue strength, formability, machinability, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. However, titanium and its alloys cannot meet all of the clinical requirements. Therefore, in order to improve the biological, chemical, and mechanical properties, surface modification is often performed. This article reviews the various surface modification technologies pertaining to titanium and titanium alloys including mechanical treatment, thermal spraying, sol–gel, chemical and electrochemical treatment, and ion implantation from the perspective of biomedical engineering. Recent work has shown that the wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and biological properties of titanium and titanium alloys can be improved selectively using the appropriate surface treatment techniques while the desirable bulk attributes of the materials are retained. The proper surface treatment expands the use of titanium and titanium alloys in the biomedical fields. Some of the recent applications are also discussed in this paper.

Abstract: Although there have been great advances in the development of cutting tool materials which have significantly improved the machinability of a large number of metallic materials, including cast irons, steels and some high temperature alloys such as nickel-based alloys, no equivalent development has been made for cutting titanium alloys due primarily to their peculiar characteristics. This paper reviews the main problems associated with the machining of titanium as well as tool wear and the mechanisms responsible for tool failure. It was found that the straight tungsten carbide (WC/Co) cutting tools continue to maintain their superiority in almost all machining processes of titanium alloys, whilst CVD coated carbides and ceramics have not replaced cemented carbides due to their reactivity with titanium and their relatively low fracture toughness as well as the poor thermal conductivity of most ceramics. This paper also discusses special machining methods, such as rotary cutting and the use of ledge tools, which have shown some success in the machining of titanium alloys.

Abstract: Ceramic nanocomposites can be divided into three categories: intergranular nanocomposite, intergranular nanocomposite and nano/nano composite. The intra- and intergranular nanocomposites were found to show the two to five times higher toughness and strength at room temperature than those of monolithic materials. The hardness, toughness, strength and fracture resistance for creep and fatigue at high temperatures as well as the thermal shock fracture resistance were also strongly improved for these composites. On the other hand, the new function such as machinability and superplasticity was observed for the nano/nano composites. The fabrication processes of these nanocomposites by sintering methods, micro and nanostructure observations, improvements of mechanical properties were reviewed and the roles of the nano-size dispersoids were discussed. Finally the new approach on structural materials design will be given.

Abstract: Advanced materials such as aeroengine alloys, structural ceramics and hardened steel provide a serious challenge for cutting tool materials during machining due to their unique combinations of properties such as high temperature strength, hardness and chemical wear resistance. Although these properties are desirable design requirements, they pose a greater challenge to manufacturing engineers due to the high temperatures and stresses generated during machining. The poor thermal conductivity of these alloys result in concentration of high temperatures at the tool–workpiece interface. This is worsened at higher cutting conditions because of the significant reduction in the strength and hardness of the cutting tool. This weakens the bonding strength of the tool substrate, thereby accelerating tool wear by mechanical (abrasion and attrition) and thermally related (diffusion and plastic deformation) mechanisms. Therefore, cutting tools used for machining aerospace materials must be able to maintain their hardness and other mechanical properties at higher cutting temperatures encountered in high speed machining. Tool materials with improved hardness like cemented carbides (including coated carbides), ceramics and cubic boron nitride (CBN) are the most frequently used for machining aeroengine alloys. Despite the superior hardness and cutting performance of CBN tools, ceramic tools are generally preferred for high speed continuous machining because of their much lower cost. Improvements in machining productivity can also be achieved with the latest machining techniques such as ramping or taper turning and rotary machining. These techniques often minimise or completely eliminate the predominant notching of the cutting tools, consequently resulting in catastrophic fracture of the entire cutting edge when machining aeroengine alloys.