3D FEM simulation of helical milling hole process for titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

As an emerging hole-machining methodology, helical milling process has become increasingly popular in aeromaterials manufacturing research, especially in areas of aircraft structural parts, dies, and molds manufacturing. Helical milling process is highly demanding due to its complex tool geometry and the progressive material failure on the workpiece. This paper outlines the development of a 3D finite element model for helical milling hole of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V using commercial FE code ABAQUS/Explicit. The proposed model simulates the helical milling hole process by taking into account the damage initiation and evolution in the workpiece material. A contact model at the interface between end-mill bit and workpiece has been established and the process parameters specified. Furthermore, a simulation procedure is proposed to simulate different cutting processes with the same failure parameters. With this finite element model, a series of FEAs for machined titanium alloy have been carried out and results compared with laboratory experimental data. The effects of machining parameters on helical milling have been elucidated and the capability and advantage of FE simulation on helical milling process have been well presented.

Hole-making processes and their impacts on the microstructure and fatigue response of aircraft alloys

“…Our FEM model on flat helical milling tool and its associated experimental validation suggested that for helical milling of Ti-6Al-4V, the cutting force required was smaller than that of other traditional drilling processes. This infers a lower stress experienced by the machined surface, less severe tool wear and hence a better surface quality of the borehole and smaller deformation around the borehole [17].…”

“…Fig. 1 Schematic of the helical milling process [17] Surface roughness (R a ) values of holes produced by different machining processes are shown in Fig. 3.…”

“…The rougher surfaces and presence of notches, particularly in drilled specimens, meant greater stress concentrations which provide fatigue crack initiation sites, and a subsequent reduction in fatigue life [22]. Recently, several researchers deployed the 3D finite element method (FEM) to model the helical milling process of Ti-6Al-4V, and different tool geometries have been considered [17,23]. Our FEM model on flat helical milling tool and its associated experimental validation suggested that for helical milling of Ti-6Al-4V, the cutting force required was smaller than that of other traditional drilling processes.…”

Establish Using FEM Method of Constitutive Model for Chip Formation in the Cutting Process of Gray Cast Iron

“…In recent years, the finite element method (FEM) has played a very important role in the investigation of the cutting process for metal materials. Many researchers have established finite element models to study the cutting process and these models include 2D and 3D models [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Xie et al [9] used the finite element method to study the shear localization phenomena and chip formation in metal cutting process.…”

“…Maurel-Pantel et al [13] developed the 3D cutting model to perform the shoulder milling simulation of AISI 304L stainless steel by the software LS-Dynacopy. Ji et al [14] simulated the helical milling hole process of Ti6Al4V alloy by a 3D finite element model with the damage initiation and evolution criterion. Mir et al [15] presented a feasibility study of the potential application of the surface defect machining (SDM) method in the fabrication of silicon and similarly hard and brittle materials using a smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation approach.…”