Influence of cutting edge radius on surface integrity and burr formation in milling titanium

The influence of the cutting edge micro geometry on cutting process and on tool performance is subject to several research projects. Recently, published papers mainly focus on the cutting edge rounding and its influence on tool life and cutting forces. For applications even more important, however, is the influence of the cutting edge radius on the integrity of the machined part. Especially for titanium, which is used in environments requiring high mechanical integrity, the information about the dependency of surface integrity on cutting edge geometry is important. This paper therefore studies the influence of the cutting edge radius on surface integrity in terms of residual stress, micro hardness, surface roughness and optical characterisation of the surface and near surface area in up and down milling of the titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V. Moreover, the influence of the cutting edge radius on burr formation is analysed. The experiments show that residual stresses increase with the cutting edge radius especially in up milling, whereas the influence in down milling is less pronounced. The influence of the cutting edge radius on surface roughness is non-uniform. The formation of burr increases with increasing cutting edge radius, and is thus in agreement with the residual stress tests.