Machinability of Waspaloy under different cutting and lubri-cooling conditions

Nickel-based super alloys are widely employed in critical applications, mainly in aerospace, marine, and chemical industries, concerning the production of high-performance artifacts. These alloys are considered as hard-to-cut materials, because of their modest machinability, so it is very difficult to implement in an industrial context high-speed machining processes that can lead to higher quality products, with improved mechanical characteristics and higher dimensional accuracy, and increase productivity. Among these alloys stands out Waspaloy, thanks to its very high mechanical properties, such as stiffness and strength to weight ratio. In order to implement effective machining processes, it is important to analyze the behavior of the material during machining in terms of variables of industrial interest (forces, tool wear, etc.). The aim of this paper is to disclose the results of an experimental investigation aimed to determine the effects of different cutting parameters on cutting forces, chip morphology, tool wear, and temperature at tool-chip interface, during orthogonal machining of Waspaloy (45 HRC). Experiments were performed in different lubri-cooling conditions (dry, wet, and cryogenic) and at varying cutting conditions (cutting speed and feed rate).