Numerical investigation of the performance of micro-textured cutting tools in cutting of Ti-6Al-4V alloys

FEM is used to model and simulate the cutting of Ti-6Al-4V alloys using micro-textured cutting tools as well as the non-textured cutting tool. The dry cutting tests are also carried out to validate the FEM simulations. The simulated results show that the micro-textured cutting tools can reduce the cutting temperatures, the main cutting forces, the cutting resisting forces as well as the actual tool-chip contact lengths by 5~25%, 2~10%, 5~20%, and 10% as so, respectively. Meanwhile, the micro-textured cutting tools make the chips to be more easy to break. In addition, the fluctuations of the cutting resisting force of the micro-textured cutting tools are more obvious than that of the non-textured one. The secondary cutting of chips by the edge of textured groove is a common phenomenon in dry cutting with micro-textured cutting tools; however, the V-shaped cross-section grooves can reduce the severity of the secondary cutting compared to the rectangular cross-section grooves. The dry cutting tests show a good agreement with the FEM simulations. In future, more researches would be focused on the structural design of surface textures to avoid the secondary cutting in machining of different materials, and the micro-textured cutting tools would have important prospect of application in machining operations.