Investigation of Tool Core Temperature and Mechanical Tool Load in Milling of Ti6Al4V

The special properties of titanium and titanium alloys, such as their high strength-to-weight ratio, their corrosion resistance, and their biocompatibility are of high importance for aerospace, medical and other industrial applications. However, components made of these difficult-to-cut materials entail major challenges for machining processes. High thermo-mechanical tool load results in rapid tool wear, and the already significant machining costs are further increased by premature tool exchange to avoid tool breakage, damaging the valuable workpieces. Both, tool wear progress and risk of tool breakage can be reduced by gaining extensive knowledge about the thermo-mechanical tool load over the tool life time. In this paper, the influence of different machining parameters on the end milling tools’ core temperature and the resulting active force affecting the tool are investigated over tool life time. To measure thermal and mechanical tool loads, an adapted sensory tool holder was used. The results show a strong interdependence between tool load, tool core temperature, machining parameters and tool wear.