High-speed milling of Inconel 625 alloy using carbide ball end mills

Inconel 625 alloy has advantageous properties, such as heat resistance and corrosion resistance, which make it a suitable material in aerospace, energy, and marine industries. However, it is also difficult-to-machine because of factors such as work hardening, low thermal conductivity, and high tool affinity. Therefore, the problems of tool wear, chipping, and adhesion often occur in milling of Inconel 625 alloy using end mills. We conducted experiments on the cutting of Inconel 625 alloy by high-speed milling using carbide ball end mills to investigate the tool wear, chipping, and adhesion under three spindle revolution speeds and two feed rates, and determine the optimal cutting conditions. The effects of spindle revolution speed on the tool and workpiece were clarified, and the optimal speed was established to achieve long tool life.