Eco-efficient process based on conventional machining as an alternative technology to chemical milling of aeronautical metal skin panels

El fresado químico es un proceso diseñado para la reducción de peso de pieles metálicas que, a pesar de los problemas medioambientales asociados, se utiliza en la industria aeronáutica desde los años 50. Entre sus ventajas figuran el cumplimiento de las estrictas tolerancias de diseño de piezas aeroespaciales y que pese a ser un proceso de mecanizado, no induce tensiones residuales. Sin embargo, el fresado químico es una tecnología contaminante y costosa que tiende a ser sustituida. Gracias a los avances realizados en el mecanizado, la tecnología de fresado convencional permite alcanzar las tolerancias requeridas siempre y cuando se consigan evitar las vibraciones y la flexión de la pieza, ambas relacionadas con los parámetros del proceso y con los sistemas de utillaje empleados. Esta tesis analiza las causas de la inestabilidad del corte y la deformación de las piezas a través de una revisión bibliográfica que cubre los modelos analíticos, las técnicas computacionales y las soluciones industriales en estudio actualmente. En ella, se aprecia cómo los modelos analíticos y las soluciones computacionales y de simulación se centran principalmente en la predicción off-line de vibraciones y de posibles flexiones de la pieza. Sin embargo, un enfoque más industrial ha llevado al diseño de sistemas de fijación, utillajes, amortiguadores basados en actuadores, sistemas de rigidez y controles adaptativos apoyados en simulaciones o en la selección estadística de parámetros. Además se han desarrollado distintas soluciones CAM basadas en la aplicación de gemelos virtuales. En la revisión bibliográfica se han encontrado pocos documentos relativos a pieles y suelos delgados por lo que se ha estudiado experimentalmente el efecto de los parámetros de corte en su mecanizado. Este conjunto de experimentos ha demostrado que, pese a usar un sistema que aseguraba la rigidez de la pieza, las pieles se comportaban de forma diferente a un sólido rígido en términos de fuerzas de mecanizado cuando se utilizaban velocidades de corte cercanas a la alta velocidad. También se ha verificado que todas las muestras mecanizadas entraban dentro de tolerancia en cuanto a la rugosidad de la pieza. Paralelamente, se ha comprobado que la correcta selección de parámetros de mecanizado puede reducir las fuerzas de corte y las tolerancias del proceso hasta un 20% y un 40%, respectivamente. Estos datos pueden tener aplicación industrial en la simplificación de los sistemas de amarre o en el incremento de la eficiencia del proceso. Este proceso también puede mejorarse incrementando la vida de la herramienta al utilizar fluidos de corte. Una correcta lubricación puede reducir la temperatura del proceso y las tensiones residuales inducidas a la pieza. Con este objetivo, se han desarrollado diferentes lubricantes, basados en el uso de líquidos iónicos (IL) y se han comparado con el comportamiento tribológico del par de contacto en seco y con una taladrina comercial. Los resultados obtenidos utilizando 1 wt% de los líquidos iónicos en un tribómetro tipo pin-on-disk demuestran que el IL no halogenado reduce significativamente el desgaste y la fricción entre el aluminio, material a mecanizar, y el carburo de tungsteno, material de la herramienta, eliminando casi toda la adhesión del aluminio sobre el pin, lo que puede incrementar considerablemente la vida de la herramienta.Chemical milling is a process designed to reduce the weight of metals skin panels. This process has been used since 1950s in the aerospace industry despite its environmental concern. Among its advantages, chemical milling does not induce residual stress and parts meet the required tolerances. However, this process is a pollutant and costly technology. Thanks to the last advances in conventional milling, machining processes can achieve similar quality results meanwhile vibration and part deflection are avoided. Both problems are usually related to the cutting parameters and the workholding. This thesis analyses the causes of the cutting instability and part deformation through a literature review that covers analytical models, computational techniques and industrial solutions. Analytics and computational solutions are mainly focused on chatter and deflection prediction and industrial approaches are focused on the design of workholdings, fixtures, damping actuators, stiffening devices, adaptive control systems based on simulations and the statistical parameters selection, and CAM solutions combined with the use of virtual twins applications. In this literature review, few research works about thin-plates and thin-floors is found so the effect of the cutting parameters is also studied experimentally. These experiments confirm that even using rigid workholdings, the behavior of the part is different to a rigid body at high speed machining. On the one hand, roughness values meet the required tolerances under every set of the tested parameters. On the other hand, a proper parameter selection reduces the cutting forces and process tolerances by up to 20% and 40%, respectively. This fact can be industrially used to simplify workholding and increase the machine efficiency. Another way to improve the process efficiency is to increase tool life by using cutting fluids. Their use can also decrease the temperature of the process and the induced stresses. For this purpose, different water-based lubricants containing three types of Ionic Liquids (IL) are compared to dry and commercial cutting fluid conditions by studying their tribological behavior. Pin on disk tests prove that just 1wt% of one of the halogen-free ILs significantly reduces wear and friction between both materials, aluminum and tungsten carbide. In fact, no wear scar is noticed on the ball when one of the ILs is used, which, therefore, could considerably increase tool life

Effects of Machining Parameters on the Quality in Machining of Aluminium Alloys Thin Plates

Nowadays, the industry looks for sustainable processes to ensure a more environmentally friendly production. For that reason, more and more aeronautical companies are replacing chemical milling in the manufacture of skin panels and thin plates components. This is a challenging operation that requires meeting tight dimensional tolerances and di ers from a rigid body machining due to the low sti ness of the part. In order to fill the gap of literature research on this field, this work proposes an experimental study of the e ect of the depth of cut, the feed rate and the cutting speed on the quality characteristics of the machined parts and on the cutting forces produced during the process. Whereas surface roughness values meet the specifications for all the machining conditions, an appropriate cutting parameters selection is likely to lead to a reduction of the final thickness deviation by up to 40% and the average cutting forces by up to a 20%, which consequently eases the clamping system and reduces machine consumption. Finally, an experimental model to control the process quality based on monitoring the machine power consumption is proposed

Texturing design of WC-Co through laser parameter selection to improve lubricant retention ability of cutting tools

Laser Surface Texturing (LST) is widely used to modify hard material surfaces improving their physic-chemical and mechanical properties. This technology is particularly relevant for tungsten carbides, a material that requires high complexity methods when other micro-machining processes are used. LST allows innovative cutting tool designs that improve the machining behavior and enlarge the cutting tool lifetime. This research analyses the influence of LST parameters on the track dimensions, roughness, microstructure, hardness, and lubricant retention ability of the modified surfaces. Twelve combinations of energy density of pulse and scanning speed created different geometrical patterns on WC-Co surfaces. LST parameters were related to specific shape and dimensions of the linear grooves. Energy density was proven as the most influential parameter for dimensional characteristics and roughness values. Specific channel morphologies increased the lubricant expansion area up to 50%, leading the lubricant to a linear track direction. Low scanning speed and high energy density also increased the surface hardness up to 20%. The surface composition was also modified. The thermal effect of the laser treatments and the non-protective atmosphere increased the oxygen on the surface and modified the WC-Co microstructure. However, the thermal affected zone is considerably low compared to other texturing processes. © 2022 The AuthorsThis work was supported by the Spanish Government ( MINECO/AEI/FEDER , Grant Project DPI2017–84935-R )

Study of the Tool Wear Process in the Dry Turning of Al–Cu Alloy

Light alloy machining is a widely implemented process that is usually used in the presence of cutting fluids to reduce wear and increase tool life. The use of coolants during machining presents negative environmental impacts, which has increased interest in reducing and even eliminating their use. In order to obtain ecofriendly machining processes, it will be necessary to suppress the use of cutting fluids, in a trend called “dry machining”. This fact forces machines to work under aggressive cutting conditions, producing adhesion wear that a ects the integrity of the parts’ surfaces. This study describes cutting tool wear mechanisms in machining of UNS A92024 samples under dry cutting conditions. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis shows the di erent compositions of the adhered layers. Roughness is also positively a ected by the change of the cutting geometry produced in the tool

Assessment the SlidingWear Behavior of Laser Microtexturing Ti6Al4V under Wet Conditions

Laser micro-texturing processes, compared to untreated surfaces, can improve the friction, wear and wettability behavior of sliding parts. This improvement is related to the micro-geometry and the dimensions of the texture which is also dependent on the processing parameters. This research studied the effect of laser textured surfaces on the tribological behavior of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The influence of processing parameters was analyzed by changing the scanning speed of the beam and the energy density of pulse. First, the characterization of dimensional and geometrical features of the texturized tracks was carried out. Later, their influence on the wetting behavior was also evaluated through contact angle measurements using water as a contact fluid. Then, the tribological performance of these surfaces was analyzed using a ball-on-flat reciprocating tribometer under wet and dry conditions. Finally, wear mechanisms were identified employing electronic and optical microscopy techniques capable to evaluate the wear tracks on Ti surfaces and WC–Co spheres. These analyses had determined a strong dependence between the wear behavior and the laser patterning parameters. Wear friction effects were reduced by up to a 70% replacing conventional untreated surfaces of Ti6Al4V alloy with laser textured surfaces

Tribological Wear Effects of Laser Texture Design on AISI 630 Stainless Steel under Lubricated Conditions

Surface texturing is used in many applications to control the friction and wear behaviour of mechanical components. The benefits of texture design on the tribological behaviour of conformal surfaces are well known. However, there is a big dependency between the geometrical features of the texture and the texture’s performance. In this paper, the effect of laser texturing parameters on textured geometrical features is studied, as well as its role in the tribological behaviour of AISI 630 steel under lubrication and high-contact pressure conditions. The results show a linear impact of the energy density on the surface quality, whereas the scanning speed influences the homogeneity of the sample. Nevertheless, the surface integrity is also affected by the laser parameters, reducing the micro-hardness on the textured area by up to 33%. Friction coefficient average values and stability presented high variations depending on the sample parameters. Finally, the wear mechanisms were analysed, detecting abrasion for the disc and adhesion for the pinThis work has received financial support from the Spanish Government (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, No. DPI2017-84935-R and EQC2019-005674-P)

Experimental Parametric Model for Adhesion Wear Measurements in the Dry Turning of an AA2024 Alloy

Adhesion wear is the main wear mechanism in the dry turning of aluminium alloys. This type of wear produces an adhesion of the machining material on the cutting tool, decreasing the final surface quality of the machining parts and making it more difficult to maintain industrial tolerances. This work studies the influence of the cutting parameters on the volume of material adhered to the cutting tool surface for dry machining of AA2024 (Al-Cu). For that purpose, a specific methodology based on the automatic image processing method that can obtain the area and the thickness of the adhered material has been designed. This methodology has been verified with the results obtained through 3D analysis techniques and compared with the adhered volume. The results provided experimental parametric models for this wear mechanism. These models are analytic approximations of experimental data. The feed rate mainly results in low cutting speed, while low depths of cut presents a different behaviour due to the low contact pressure. The unstable behaviour of aluminium adhesion on the cutting tool produces a high variability of results. This continuous change introduces variation in the process caused by the continuous change of the cutting tool geometry