Mechanism for material removal in ultrasonic vibration helical milling of Ti 6Al 4V alloy

High quality hole-making technology in the aviation industry is urgently needed due to the application of difficult-to-cut materials, such as titanium alloy, composite materials and the stacks in aircraft fuselage skins. To improve the hole-making quality, an ultrasonic vibration helical milling (UVHM) technology was developed for machining of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, meanwhile, comparison experiments were conducted between UVHM and conventional helical milling (HM) processes. Material removal mechanism of UVHM was investigated by modeling of cutting trajectories and the analysis of tool-workpiece contact behavior for bottom and peripheral cutting edges. The actual vibration frequency in UVHM was also determined by a theoretical-experimental combined method. Due to the vibration in UVHM, the bottom cutting edges generate discontinuous contact with workpiece. Unit forces considering material removal were modeled and applied to analyze the axial force reduction. The axial cutting forces of UVHM were reduced by 38–64% compared with HM at different cutting speeds. The cutting speed of peripheral cutting edge changes periodically. The cutting edges can separate with chips due to axial vibration, which will contribute to reducing the cutting forces and improving heat dissipation. Meanwhile, a friction effect was generated by the peripheral cutting edge which can improve the micro-scale surface roughness. Due to the effects of periodical friction and compression by ultrasonic vibration, UVHM increases the surface compressive stresses by 85% and 99% at the hole surface for axial and circumferential directions, respectively.