Milling of Ti-6AL-4V with a solid carbide end mill

Titanium alloys are frequently used in aerospace applications. For an OEM aerospace customer looking to mill a titanium alloy under lubricated conditions with a ball nose end mill, we are looking for a coating that helps reduce the difficulty machining titanium.

The intended machining process has a cutting speed of 135 m per minute, an axial depth of 0.4 mm and a radial depth of 0.2 mm.

Problems encountered:

Recommendation is a coating with:

  • Low thermal conductivity of the material
    (heat is transferred to the tool and not through the chips)
  • High temperature resistance
  • Generally high cutting forces
  • No interaction with titanium
  • Possible chemical reaction which leads to cutting edge breakage
  • The ability to maintain sharp cutting edges

Our recommondation

Optimizer™ Plus is the latest Premium coating of the Ionbond Plus family. Its structure has been designed to deliver performance over a broad range of wet and dry machining conditions.

Optimizer™ Plus