Experimental study on micro-milling of Ti6Al4V with minimum quantity lubrication

The micro-milling of titanium alloy is a challenging task. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is an eco-friendly coolant and low cost method for manufacturing compared with traditional coolant method. This paper studied the micro-milling mechanism of titanium alloy by analysing the tool wear, tool life, cutting vibration, surface finish and burr formation under MQL and dry cutting conditions. Experimental results show that MQL method in micro-milling will significantly improve tool life and reduce material adhesion. In order to study the influence of air fluid on micro-milling process, cutting vibration signal and surface morphology under different air fluid parameters were measured and analysed. Analysis results indicate that the air fluid direction of 180° and 0° aggravate tool vibration and lead to poor surface quality compared with the direction of 270° and 90°. Air pressure also has great influence on tool vibration and burr formation. The burr size under 0.45 MPa is bigger than other air pressures.