Effect of high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting on the microstructure, surface integrity, and wear behavior of titanium alloy

Titanium alloys are widely used in aviation, marine, automotive, offshore, and medical fields. However, their poor wear resistance reduces the safety and reliability of components during service. Few study has been previously conducted on the wear resistance enhancement of titanium alloys (including Ti–6Al–4V alloy) processed by mechanical cutting. High-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting (HUVC) is an effective approach for improving the machinability of titanium alloys. In this study, we attempted to utilize HUVC improving the wear resistance of titanium alloys. After conducting high-speed turning (cutting speed within the range of 200–300 m/min), the surface integrities (surface roughness, microstructure, in-depth micro-hardness, and residual stress) of conventional cutting (CC)- and HUVC-machined samples were characterized. Experimental results demonstrated that, compared with CC, HUVC achieved a thicker plastic deformation layer (greater than 46.93 μm), lower surface roughness, higher surface micro-hardness (greater than 433 HV0.05), and higher compressive residual stress (up to −840 MPa). Moreover, surface nanocrystallization and gradient nanostructured layer were observed in HUVC-machined Ti–6Al–4V samples. In addition, compared with CC, HUVC effectively further reduced the friction coefficient and worn volume loss (decreased by 20.98%–25.59%) and ultimately improved the wear resistance. The hardness has a higher influence on the wear resistance of the machined Ti–6Al–4V alloy than the other surface integrity factors. Therefore, the proposed mechanical cutting operation was confirmed to improve the wear resistance of titanium alloys.