Sustainability assessment of dry turning Ti-6Al-4V employing uncoated cemented carbide tools as clean manufacturing process.

Abstract Cutting fluid in machining process brings negative impacts on environment and operator health. Excessive cutting fluid is required and consumed in machining difficult-to-machine materials with high-pressure coolant supplies (HPCS). Dry cutting as clean manufacturing technology can eliminate the cutting fluid hazards. This work investigated the tool usage assessment, machining process variables, and surface topography under dry and HPCS conditions employing uncoated WC/6%Co fine tools. The Product Sustainability Index (PSI) approach was applied to establish the sustainability assessment involving machining process and surface quality. Tool life of dry cutting (v = 75 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev) achieved 75.8% of corresponding HPCS. Normal wear stage proportion in dry cutting was relatively larger. Higher cutting parameters exacerbated tool wear rate resulting in rapid edge damage, especially in dry cutting. The cutting forces, friction coefficient and specific cutting energy were associated with Ti-6Al-4V softened and specific tribological behaviors accompanied with different cutting parameters. The decisive factor of Sa depended on feed rates. Feed marks in dry cutting were eliminated due to heat softening and lateral pressure, resulting in Sa decreasing. The noticeable difference existed in Sdr for dry cutting while HPCS had a slight fluctuation for the whole cutting parameters. Under dry cutting (v = 75 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev), the highest sustainability index was obtained 70.0. The results indicated that dry cutting provided environmental friendliness, cleaner productions and helped to enhance sustainability. Graphical abstract Image 104 Highlights • Cooling methods with dry v. s. HPCS in turning Ti-6Al-4V were investigated. • Tool usage, process variables, and 3D surface topography were analyzed. • Product Sustainability Index (PSI) approach was applied to establish the sustainability assessment. • Under dry cutting (v = 75 m/min, f = 0.1 mm/rev), the highest PSI was 70.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]