Experimental Study of Machining of Shape Memory Alloys Using Dry Micro Electrical Discharge Machining Process

Shape Memory Alloys are smart materials that tend to remember and return to its original shape when subjected to deformation. These materials find numerous applications in robotics, automotive and biomedical industries. Micromachining of SMAs is often a considerable challenge using conventional machining processes. Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining is a combination of thermal and electrical processes, which can machine any electrically conductive material at micron scale independent of its hardness. It employs dielectric medium such as hydrocarbon oils, deionized water, and kerosene. Using liquid dielectrics has adverse effects on the machined surface causing cracking, white layer deposition, and irregular surface finish. These limitations can be minimized by using a dry dielectric medium such as air or nitrogen gas. This research involves the experimental study of micromachining of Shape Memory Alloys using dry Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining process. The study considers the effect of critical process parameters including discharge voltage and discharge current on the material removal rate and the tool wear rate. A comparison study is performed between the Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining process with using the liquid as well as air as the dielectric medium. In this study, microcavities are successfully machined on shape memory alloys using dry Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining process. The study found that the dry Micro-Electrical Discharge Machining produces a comparatively better surface finish, has lower tool wear and lesser material removal rate compared to the process using the liquid as the dielectric medium. The results of this research could extend the industrial applications of Micro Electrical Discharge Machining processes.

Investigation on the Tool Wear Model and Equivalent Tool Life in End Milling Titanium Alloy Ti6Al4V

Titanium alloys are widely utilized in aerospace thanks to their excellent combination of high-specific strength, fracture, corrosion resistance characteristics, etc. However, titanium alloys are difficult-to-machine materials. Tool wear is thus of great importance to understand and quantitatively predict tool life. In this study, the wear of coated carbide tool in milling Ti-6Al-4V alloy was assessed by characterization of the worn tool cutting edge. Furthermore, a tool wear model for end milling cutter is established with considering the joint effect of cutting speed and feed rate for characterizing tool wear process and predicting tool wear. Based on the proposed tool wear model equivalent tool life is put forward to evaluate cutting tool life under different cutting conditions. The modelling process of tool wear is given and discussed according to the specific conditions. Experimental work and validation are performed for coated carbide tool milling Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

A Universal Postprocessor of General Table-Tilting Type of Five-Axis Machine Tools Without Rotational Tool Center Point Function for Actual NC Code Generation

The postprocessor is essential for machining with five-axis machine tools. This paper develops one universal postprocessor for table-tilting type of five-axis machine tools without rotational tool center point (RTCP) function. Firstly, positions of two rotary axes and the workpiece in the machine coordinate system (MCS) are introduced into the kinematic chain of the five-axis machine tools. The uniform product of exponential (POE) formula of the tool relative to the workpiece is established to obtain the universal forward kinematics. On this basis, the postprocessor of table-tilting type of five-axis machine tools is developed. The calculation of rotation angles of rotation axes is proposed in details, including the calculation of double solutions, the determination of rotation angles of C-axis and the selection principle of the shortest path of rotation angles. Movements of linear axes are calculated with rotation angles of rotary axes. The generated movements of all axes are actual positions of all axes relative to their zero positions, which can be used for machining directly. The postprocessor does not rely on RTCP function with positions of rotary axes and the workpiece in MCS. Finally, cutting test in VERICUT and real cutting experiments on SmartCNC500_DRTD five-axis machine tool are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed postprocessor.

Dieless Water Jet Incremental Micro-Forming

Compared to the conventional single-point incremental forming (SPIF) processes, water jet incremental micro-forming (WJIMF) utilizes a high-speed and high-pressure water jet as a tool instead of a rigid round-tipped tool to fabricate thin shell micro objects. Thin foils were incrementally formed with micro-scale water jets on a specially designed testbed. In this paper, the effects on the water jet incremental micro-forming process with respect to several key process parameters, including water jet pressure, relative water jet diameter, sheet thickness, and feed rate, were experimentally studied using stainless steel foils. Experimental results indicate that feature geometry, especially depth, can be controlled by adjusting the processes parameters. The presented results and conclusions provide a foundation for future modeling work and the selection of process parameters to achieve high quality thin shell micro products.

An Automated System for Design for Manufacturability Analysis for Die-Casting

Design for manufacturing (DFM) is an important concept that helps to incorporate manufacturability considerations at early design stage. Development of automated DFM tools has become important especially when design and manufacturing are being done by different teams often distantly located. An automated system for design for manufacturability analysis for die-cast parts has been presented in this paper. The paper discusses: (i) knowledgebase of DFM guidelines (ii) die casting feature extraction from part CAD model, and (iii) automated system for DFM analysis and model updation of the die-cast part CAD model. The capabilities of the system are demonstrated by applying it on die cast part CAD models. The results have been validated with the industrial experts. The present system works with CAD models having features such as boss, rib, hole and draft, created using feature based modeling.

Water-Jet Assisted Laser Surface Hardening of Medium Carbon Steel Using Fiber Laser

Laser surface hardening of most of the industrial components require depth of surface modification in the range of 100–150 micron. Conventional laser surface hardening uses laser as a heat source to modify a particular area of the surface without melting in an inert gas environment. However, the hardened profile in this case shows peak hardness value at a certain depth from the top surface. Also, hardening the top surface to get relatively much higher hardness near the top surface in case of thin sheets becomes difficult due to accumulation of heat below the surface of the specimen which in turn lowers the cooling rate. Hence, self-quenching becomes inadequate. In the present study, an in-house fabricated laser processing head with coaxial water nozzle has been used to flow a laminar water-jet during the laser surface hardening process to induce forced convection at the top surface. Thus, heat gets carried away by the water-jet from the top surface and by the water from the bottom surface as well. Results show that with judicious selection of process parameters, it is possible to get higher hardness (800 HV) to that of conventional laser surface hardening (500 HV) at the top surface using this process. Present process can be used for those cases where high hardness values are required near the top surface specially for thin sheets and thermally sensitive materials.

Performance Evaluation of Minimum Quantity Lubrication With Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelets in Turning Titanium Alloy

This paper evaluates the performances of dry, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) and MQL with nanofluid in turning the most common titanium (Ti) alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, in a solution treated and aged (STA) microstructure. In particular, the nanofluid evaluated here is vegetable oil (rapeseed) mixed with small concentrations of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP). The focus of this paper is on turning process because it poses a challenging condition to apply oil droplets directly onto the tribological surfaces of a cutting tool due to the continuous engagement of tool and work material. A series of turning experiments was conducted with uncoated carbide inserts while measuring the cutting forces with the dynamometer under various conditions to determine its effectiveness and optimal MQL condition in turning. The worn inserts are retrieved to measure flank and crater wear using confocal microscopy. This preliminary experimental result shows that the use of MQL and nanofluid is effective in improving the machinability of Ti alloys in turning processes.

Audio-Based Condition Monitoring in Milling of the Workpiece Material With the Hardness Variation Using Support Vector Machines and Convolutional Neural Networks

Machining industry has been evolving towards implementation of automation into the process for higher productivity and efficiency. Although many studies have been conducted in the past to develop intelligent monitoring systems in various application scenarios of machining processes, most of them just focused on cutting tools without considering the influence due to the non-uniform hardness of workpiece material. This study develops a compact, reliable, and cost-effective intelligent Tool Condition Monitoring (TCM) model to detect the cutting tool wear in machining of the workpiece material with hardness variation. The generated audible sound signals during the machining process will be analyzed by state of the art artificial intelligent techniques, Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), to predict the tool condition and the hardness variation of the workpiece. A four-level classification model is developed for the system to detect the tool wear condition based on the width of the flank wear land and hardness variation of the workpiece. The study also involves comparative analysis between two employed artificial intelligent techniques to evaluate the performance of models in predicting the tool wear level condition and workpiece hardness variation. The proposed intelligent models have shown a significant prediction accuracy in detecting the tool wear and from the audible sound into the proposed multi-classification wear class in the end-milling process of non-uniform hardened workpiece.

Efficient CNC Tool Path Planning Using Point Cloud

This paper reports the development of an efficient iso-scallop tool path planning strategy for machining of freeform surfaces on a three axis CNC milling center using the point cloud as the input. Boundary of the point cloud is chosen as the Master Cutter Path, using which the scallop points are computed. Adjacent side tool paths are computed using these scallop points and the path planning process is completed till the entire surface is covered. The system generates post-processed NC program in ISO format which was extensively tested for various case studies. The results were compared with the iso-planar tool path strategy from commercial software. Our system was found to generate efficient tool path in terms of part quality, productivity and storage memory.

Evaluation of CFRP Hole Quality in Low Frequency Vibration-Assisted Dry Drilling of CFRP/Ti Stacks

Low frequency vibration assisted drilling (LFVAD) is regarded as one of the most promising process in CFRP/Ti stacks drilling. This work carries the investigation of the difference between conventional drilling and LFVAD based on kinematic model. The experiments are conducted under varied vibration amplitude to a specific feed rate, also under varying spindle speeds, feed rates when the ratio of amplitude to feed rate is fixed. Then the hole quality of CFRP is evaluated based on the analysis of drilling force, chip morphology, chip extraction. The results show that there is rarely no difference between conventional drilling and LFVAD in drilling mechanism when the drilling diameter is over 1 mm. Because the impact effect caused by drill vibration is already weak. It is found that the severe mechanical damage of the CFRP holes surface could be significantly reduced due to the fragmented chips obtained in vibration drilling. The maximum instantaneous feed rate combined with feed rate and amplitude plays a significant role in CFRP hole quality. Lower maximum instantaneous feed rate results in better hole wall quality and less entry delamination. Spindle speed has no visible influence on entry delamination, while higher spindle speed improves the hole surface quality due to the resin coating phenomenon.