An Investigation of the Wear Mechanism for Carbide Tools in Face Milling the Ti-5Al-4.75Mo-4.75V-1Cr-1Fe Alloy

The α+2βtype Ti-5Al-4.75Mo-4.75V-1Cr-1Fe (TC18) is a very difficult machine material for its low thermal conductivity, low elastic modulus, and high chemical activity. So how to improve the machining efficiency and prolong the tool life have got more and more attentions. In this paper, wear mechanism and wear types of coated (TiN+TiAlN) carbide tool and uncoated carbide tool are presented when face milling the Ti-18 alloy under the same machining condition. The results showed that wear types of PVD coated tool are mainly adhesive, diffusion and crater wear, while the mainly failure mode of uncoated carbide tool is tipping. So it is more appropriate to select the PVD coated tool than uncoated tool in the milling TC18 alloy process.