Modeling and analysis of surface topography of Ti6Al4V alloy machining by elliptical vibration cutting

The finished surface topography of workpiece is a significant characteristic to evaluate the performance of a processing method. Elliptical vibration cutting (EVC) technique as one of the processing method for sculpturing ultra-precision surfaces has been widely applied in many fields due to the advantages such as reduced cutting forces, better surface roughness, longer tool life, and the machinability of difficult-to-cut materials. For EVC, the machined surface topography is determined by the various cutting parameters. In order to study the influences of different cutting parameters on 3D surface topography of EVC, this paper has established a 3D micro-surface geometrical topography model and carried out series of experiments on Ti6Al4V to verify the effects of relevant cutting parameters on the surface topography. Results show that the surface topography deteriorates with the increment of the feed rate of x- and y-directions, respectively. Furthermore, the wear of tool edge has a significant impact on surface topography.