Inconel 718 is a superalloy, considered one of the least machinable materials. Tools must withstand a high level of temperatures and pressures in a very localized area, the abrasiveness of the hard carbides contained in the Inconel 718 microstructure and the adhesion tendency during its machining. Mechanical properties along with the low thermal conductivity become an important issue for the tool wear. The finishing operations for Inconel 718 are usually performed after solution heat treatment and age hardening of the material to give the superalloy a higher level of hardness. Carbide tools, cutting fluid (at normal or high pressures) and low cutting speed are the main recommendations for finish turning of Inconel 718. However, dry machining is preferable to the use of cutting fluids, because of its lower environmental impact and cost. Previous research has concluded that the elimination of cutting fluid in these processes is feasible when using hard carbide tools. Recent development of new PCBN (Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride) grades for cutting tools with higher tenacity has allowed the application of these tool grades in the finishing operations of Inconel 718. This work studies the performance of commercial PCBN tools from four different tool manufacturers as well as an additional grade with equivalent performance during finish turning of Inconel 718 under dry conditions. Wear tests were carried out with different cutting conditions, determining the evolution of machining forces, surface roughness and tool wear. It is concluded that it is not industrially viable the high-speed finishing of Inconel 718 in a dry environment.

Many discrepancies are found in the literature regarding the damage and constitutive models for head tissues as well as the values of the constants involved in the constitutive equations. Their proper definition is required for consistent numerical model performance when predicting human head behaviour, and hence skull fracture and brain damage. The objective of this research is to perform a critical review of constitutive models and damage indicators describing human head tissue response under impact loading. A 3D finite element human head model has been generated by using computed tomography images, which has been validated through the comparison to experimental data in the literature. The threshold values of the skull and the scalp that lead to fracture have been analysed. We conclude that (1) compact bone properties are critical in skull fracture, (2) the elastic constants of the cerebrospinal fluid affect the intracranial pressure distribution, and (3) the consideration of brain tissue as a nearly incompressible solid with a high (but not complete) water content offers pressure responses consistent with the experimental data.

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This work analyses the viability of the theory of critical distances (TCD) using mesh control for fretting fatigue lifetime assessment. More than seven hundred sets of simulations were performed by taking seventy different experimental tests reported previously in the literature. The outcome of the present study suggests that the TCD mesh control method can be extended to fretting fatigue problems by the reasonable assumption of setting the right element size proportional to critical distance. In this study, a significant computational time reduction of up to 97% was obtained. Thus, this study provides a simple method to design complex 3D industrial components subjected to fretting fatigue phenomena using finite element analysis efficiently without requiring complex remeshing techniques.

In this work, the role of the contact stiffness in the measurement of principal variables in fretting wear tests is assessed. Several fretting wear tribometers found in the literature, including one developed by the authors, are analysed and modelled using numerical methods. The results show the importance of the tribosystem stiffness and tangential contact stiffness in the displacement sensor calibration and in the correct numerical modelling of fretting wear tests, especially for flat-to-flat contact configuration. The study highlights that, in most cases, direct comparisons between fretting results with severe wear obtained with different tribometers cannot be performed if the contact stiffness is not properly considered during the development of the experiments.