Analysis of Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube cooling performance in respect of cutting temperature, resultant cutting force and chip morphology in turning of BeCu alloy

Recently, it has been seen that environmentally friendly cutting media are widely used to contribute to sustainability in the processing of engineered materials. In this context, a study has been focused on both contributing to the mentioned purpose and turning a beryllium-copper (BeCu) alloy on which much research has not been done on its machinability despite being used in a wide industrial area. For this purpose, a comprehensive study was performed to determine the effects on the cutting temperature, resultant cutting force and chip morphology of the cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut in the machining of C17500 alloy under dry and Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) cutting environments. Turning experiments were carried out with Al2O3 + TiCN-coated carbide tools, and the changes on the cutting tool were investigated by SEM and EDX analyses. The cutting temperature values revealed in the RHVT application were measured 62.6% lower on average compared to the dry cutting environment. The Fr values obtained for the RHVT cutting environment were on average 11.6% higher than those in the dry condition. The chip thickness ratio was obtained larger in the experiments performed in the RHVT application, and the most important secondary parameter affecting it is the depth of cut. In addition, more than 99% compatibility was found between the mathematical model predictions developed for the cutting temperature, the resultant cutting force and the actual test results.