Modelling and Simulation of Surface Roughness during the Turning Operation of Titanium Alloy (Ti6Al4V)

Titanium alloy is increasingly used for industrial applications where high strength-to-weight ratio is a necessary condition. In this study, an Abaqus based computer aided modelling and simulation was employed to investigate the stress, temperature and plastic strain distributions during the turning operation of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) using the dynamic explicit code. The tool was assembled to cut radially and axially to a constant depth of 2 mm from the leading edge of the workpiece, at translational feed rates of 0.25 mm/rev and 0.5 mm/rev while the cutting speed ranges from 20 m/min to 100 m/min. The mean surface roughness which is the measure of the mean deformation per unit area of the surface was computed. The results obtained indicated that the magnitude of the stress and the surface roughness induced in the workpiece increases with an increase in the magnitude of the cutting speed and feed rates. The findings of this work may assist machinist to establish the range of process parameters for effective turning of Ti6Al4V with minimal mean surface roughness.