Investigating the energy efficiency and surface integrity when machining titanium alloys

CITATION: Tayisepi, N., Laubscher, R. F. & Oosthuizen, G. A. 2016. Investigating the energy efficiency and surface integrity when machining titanium alloys. In Competitive Manufacturing, International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing (COMA '16), 27-29 January 2016, Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.The original publication is available at http://conferences.sun.ac.za/index.php/doie/coma16Sustainable manufacturing strategies will need to address the resource efficiency and surface quality challenges in cutting processes. This paper aims to provide a systematic methodology for modelling the input and outputs of a turning process to find the best balance between production rate and input cost, while improving or adhering to the quality standards. Ti6Al4V were cut under flood cooling using carbide cutting tools and a Taguchi design of experiments was used with ANOVA. Surface integrity and energy use were measured and analysed for selected cutting parameters. The experimental results highlighted the importance of selecting optimum cutting parameters and machining strategy. More energy was consumed at lower cutting parameters, whilst higher feed rates resulted in less energy consumption, but lower surface finish quality. These results will also assist to define the boundary conditions for various input parameters.Publisher's versio