The High-Performance Machining of Advanced Materials

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 10:30 AM

The High-Performance Machining of Advanced Materials

J. C. Rozzi, J. K. Sanders, Creare Incorporated, Hanover, NH

Aerospace components are notoriously expensive and difficult to machine. The high strength of advanced materials causes a significant temperature rise at the cutting edge, resulting in premature cutting tool failure and poor surface quality. For advanced materials, reducing the temperature at the cutting edge is the key element to increasing tool life and processing speed, with the concomitant decrease in processing cost. Current methods to reduce the temperature of the cutting edge have only been moderately successful. At Creare, we have developed a novel Indirect Cooling System that enables prolonged tool life and increased the processing speed for various conventional and advanced materials, when compared to conventional flood cooling. We have demonstrated the feasibility of our system for turning and milling on numerous aerospace materials. In addition, we are also focused on integrating our ICS into the real-world manufacturing environment. Our presentation will describe our system, its potential integration with conventional machining operations, and the results of machining experiments for various materials.

Summary: At Creare, we have developed, tested, and demonstrated a unique tool cooling approach for the machining of advanced aerospace materials that enables longer tool life and increased processing speeds, when compared to conventional cooling approaches. During this presentation, we will describe our system, its integration with conventional machining operations, and the results of machining experiments for various materials.