Surface integrity in rotary broaching of Ti6Al4V: analyzing the effects of cutting parameters
摘要
The rotary broaching is critical for manufacturing dental and orthopedic implants from Ti6Al4V. Although titanium machining has been widely studied, the rotary broaching of Ti6Al4V is still relatively unexplored, especially in terms of surface integrity. This study investigates the effects of rotary broaching parameters—feed rate, rotational speed, and pilot hole diameter—on surface roughness, microhardness, and texture of Ti6Al4V. Hexagonal holes were machined in ϕ10 × 20 mm rods utilizing Response surface methodology for the design of experiments. Results indicated that feed rate and rotational speed are the primary factors affecting surface roughness, contributing 51% and 24.5% respectively, with roughness ranging from 0.258 to 0.701 μm. higher feed rates created larger scallops induced from discrete wobbling pattern. An increase in cutting speed also led to higher tangential velocity along the spiral trajectory of the broaching tool and higher frequency of edge engagement, adversely affecting surface texture and roughness. Additionally, microhardness of the broached samples increased from 341 Hv to a maximum of 386 Hv due to localized work hardening, primarily driven by feed rate and its effect on strain hardening of Ti6Al4V. Surface texture analysis revealed defects such as smears and grooves, caused by the wobbling engagement of the cutting edges, ploughing effect, and poor chip disposal, which could be mitigated by chamfering the pilot hole entrance. In general, lower cutting speeds and feed rates resulted in reduced surface roughness and microhardness, along with improved surface texture. These results contribute to understanding rotary broaching for medical applications, where surface integrity is critical.