Research on surface integrity and its influencing factors in the high-speed cutting of typical aluminum/titanium/nickel alloys: a review

This article mainly discusses high-speed milling of aluminum/titanium/nickel alloys (common materials in the aerospace field, such as 7075-T6 aluminum, Ti6Al4V, Inconel 718). The workpiece’s surface integrity significantly impacts the part’s fatigue life, material properties (wear resistance, corrosion resistance, etc.), and tool life. Improving the surface integrity of the workpiece effectively has always been a challenging problem in the manufacturing field. This article comprehensively reviews the factors that influence surface integrity in machining, including tool geometry parameters, workpiece material (elements, microstructure)/shape, cutting environment, cutting vibration, and tool wear. The article also summarizes various methods for improving surface integrity, such as cutting path planning, cutting vibration suppression, and tool wear monitoring. The article analyzes the characteristics of surface integrity in machining related to workpiece material, including surface morphology (surface roughness, waviness, scallop height, surface defects), microstructure modification (such as plastic deformation, grain size, and white layer), and mechanical properties (microhardness, residual stress). Current research progress shows that the study of the influence of cutting parameters on surface integrity in machining is mainly based on experimental data, which deeply analyzes the correlation between the two. However, there is a lack of systematic modeling methods for the relationship between cutting parameters, physical parameters during cutting (mechanical load, thermal load), and surface integrity characteristics. Due to the importance of establishing a mapping relationship between cutting parameters, surface integrity, and component fatigue life, when studying the influence of cutting parameters on surface integrity characteristics, it is necessary to consider the final component’s fatigue life.