Study of micro-ultrasonic machining on Ti 6AL-4V

Abstract

The Ti 6AL-4V (Ti 6-4) is a well-known and commonly used alloy, with around 50% usage of all titanium alloys. Due to its superior characteristics, Ti 6-4 is mostly used in aerospace, biomedical and automotive industries. Despite its excellent properties, the world production of Ti 6-4 is very little as compared to steel because Ti 6-4 is well branded as difficult-to-machine material.To produce Ti 6-4 effectively and economically, non-traditional machining is employed. Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) is first used to machine Ti 6-4 and found that the material removal rate was satisfactory and production was still economical. However, the surface finish was poor. Ultrasonic Machining (USM) was then deployed to machine Ti 6-4. USM is a good alternative to machine Ti 6-4 as it does not have tool and work piece contact, however, it was noted that the material removal was very less despite its good surface finishing. In this project, Ti 6-4 will be machining under micro-ultrasonic machining (micro-USM) under various parameters. The purpose of using micro-USM is to improve the dimension accuracies and its surface finish. Surface roughness will be measured to provide solid evidence to the effects of varied parameters. Microscopic images will be taken for visual observations of the surface roughness of Ti 6-4.