Dry Deep Drilling of Titanium Aluminide

Abstract

Intermetallic titanium aluminides are recognized as the possibly alloys for high performance aerospace and automobile application. There is an increasing interest of this material due to their extraordinary material properties. The understanding of the machinability of titanium aluminides during various metal cutting processes is very much essential for its wide acceptance over various fields of application. Drilling, with high aspect ratio is a key machining area to be explored because of its complex nature. In the present work, holes were drilled on a titanium aluminide intermetallic alloy with an aspect ratio of 9.37, focusing on the machinability under dry environment using coated and uncoated twist drill. Machinability investigations were evaluated based on the, thrust force, torque, surface integrity, chip morphology, burr formation and performance of the tool. From the results of thrust force and torque, it is revealed that the coated tool doesn’t show any significant advantages over the uncoated tool. The variation of chip shapes was observed as the depth progresses. Small ring shape, uniform and non-uniform roll back burr were observed as the cutting parameters are varied. The adherence of workpiece material on to the tool and various surface defects were observed under all cutting conditions.