In pursuit of sustainability in machining thin walled α-titanium tubes: An industry supported study

Abstract

Cryogenic machining has emerged as a major sustainable machining techniques especially for difficult-to-cut alloys, including titanium, Inconel alloys in terms of its impact on cost savings for high-value manufacturing projects reduced energy consumption, enhanced worker safety, and eliminating the infrastructure and disposal needed for flood coolants. However, further study is needed to quantify the sustainable elements of machining processes to have a clearer vision for industries to transition from traditional techniques to such advanced techniques. In the currently known literature, the topic of high-speed machining of titanium tubes with thin walls is yet to be explored under advanced cooling technique. The studies on the machinability indicators including tool wear, power consumption etc. are the backbone to the assessment of sustainability aspect of machining. The quantification of sustainability indicators in terms of machining costs and carbon emissions will provide better insights to the industries to maximise their profits and have least negative impacts on the environment. Thus, this study focuses on analyzing sustainability of the machining processes in terms of economic and environmental factors while turning thin walled a-titanium tubes under different cutting environments which include dry, wet and cryogenic machining under two different high cutting speeds of 150 m/min and 200 m/min. The economical aspect comprises the assessment of the different machining costs occurring during the machining. The environmental aspect includes the assessment of carbon emissions occurring during the machining operation. The backbone of the sustainability analysis is the machinability analysis which involves the investigation of power consumption and cutting tool-wear. A comprehensive study of tool wear and total power consumption has been presented to get a better perspective in the machinability of thin walled a-titanium tubes while working in the cryogenic environment in comparison with dry and wet environments. The total machining cost is relatively less (approximately 27%) under cryogenic environment in comparison with a wet environment making it a more economical process. The total emissions of carbon are also found to be lowered (up to 9%) while machining under cryogenic environment in comparison with a wet environment making it a more environmentally friendly process. The cutting tool wear is found to be relatively low (up to 38.68% and 72.24%) under cryogenic environment in comparison with wet and dry environments respectively. Power consumption was compared for the three different environments to have detailed analysis in terms of productivity and sustainability. A significant reduction in total power consumption (up to 19.25%) was observed under cryogenic environment in comparison with wet environment.