Production of superalloy gas turbine parts involves time consuming milling operations typically performed in a sequence from rough to finish milling. Rough milling using ceramic inserts allows high removal rates but causes severe sub-surface impact. A relatively large allowance is therefore left for subsequent cemented carbide milling. With increased knowledge of the affected depth it will be possible to reduce the machining allowance and increase efficiency of the manufacturing process. Milling Inconel 718 using typical production parameters has been investigated using new and worn ceramic and cemented carbide inserts. Residual stresses in a milled slot were measured by x-ray diffraction. Stresses were measured laterally across the slot and below the surface, to study the depth affected by milling. The most important result from this work is the development of a framework concerning how to evaluate the affected depth for a milling operation. The evaluation of a single milled slot shows great potential for determining the optimum allowance for machining. Our results show that the residual stresses are greatly affected by the ceramic and cemented carbide milling; both regarding depth as well as distribution across the milled slot. It has been shown that it is important to consider that the stresses across a milled slot are the highest in the center of the slot and gradually decrease toward the edges. Different inserts, ceramic and cemented carbide, and tool wear, alter how the stresses are distributed across the slot and the affected depth. © 2020 The Authors

High speed milling with ceramic indexable inserts is a current practice for manufacturing of gas turbine components in superalloys since it allows for high material removal rates. Ceramic milling is used for rough milling, which is followed by cemented carbide semi- and finish milling. The tool motion play an important role on the resulting surface integrity. The machining strategy of up or down milling will induce different degree of residual stresses and deformations. Increased knowledge of selecting the machining strategy with lowest impact will promote improved productivity by using ceramic milling to a greater extent based on the affected depth. The main objective in this work has been to correlate the residual stresses and deformations to promote a greater utilization of ceramic milling while still producing surfaces with acceptable properties. Prior investigations have shown that ceramic milling induce very high tensile stresses in the surface, exceeding the material’s nominal yield strength. A second objective has been to explain these stress levels by thorough investigations of the deformation after milling. In this study, milling tests with new and worn ceramic and cemented carbide inserts have been performed in Alloy 718. The topography, residual stresses, deformation and hardness have been investigated for up, centre and down milling. Residual stress measurements were performed using X-ray diffraction, followed by evaluation of hardness and deformation, using hardness testing, light optical microscopy as well as electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD). These results have been used to determine an appropriate milling strategy based on lowest possible impact in respect to residual stresses and deformation. The results show a high degree of deformation after milling that differs for the up, centre and down milling. Based on these results, it is shown that up milling is preferable for new inserts but as the inserts wear out, down milling becomes more suitable since a lower degree of deformation and residual stress impact was observed. EBSD and hardness testing showed that the milling, especially ceramic milling, caused severe deformation of the surfaces resulting in grain refinement to a nano-crystalline level. This is most likely the explanation for the prevalence of the high tensile stresses without distorting or causing failure. © 2020 The Authors

Alloy 718 is a high-strength, corrosion-resistant nickel chromium-based superalloy frequently used for applications, such as aerospace, marine, nuclear reactor and chemical industries, due to its outstanding inherent properties such as high strength and corrosion resistance at high temperatures together with good creep behaviour. Although, the use of conventional manufacturing processes is prevalent for their use on Alloy 718, alternative manufacturing technologies are gaining importance. This work compares the effects of alternative manufacturing processes, such as Abrasive water jet (AWJ), Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) and ultrasound vibration assisted milling (UVAM) with conventional milling during the manufacture of Alloy 718 parts. Surface integrity, hardness, residual stress and fatigue strength obtained from these machining processes have been examined for cutting alloy 718. Results show that both residual stresses and surface roughness are correlated with fatigue strength. UVAM results shown an improvement on the surface integrity of the final workpiece. AWJ and WEDM show poorer results, further work on post-process technologies or process condition selection must be carry out to establish them as an alternative in Alloy 718 cutting operations.

Development of future aero engine components based on new design strategies utilising topological optimisation and additive manufacturing has in the past years become a reality. This allows for designs that involve geometries of "free form" surfaces and material combinations that could be difficult to machine using conventional milling. Hence, alternative manufacturing routes using non-conventional high energy methods are interesting to explore. In this investigation, the three high energy machining methods abrasive water jet machining (AWJM), electrical discharge machining (EDM) and laser beam machining (LBM) have been compared in terms of surface integrity to the reference, a ball nosed end milled surface. The results showed great influence on the surface integrity from the different machining methods. It was concluded that AWJM resulted in the highest quality regarding surface integrity properties with compressive residual stresses in the surface region and a low surface roughness with texture from the abrasive erosion. Further, it was shown that EDM resulted in shallow tensile residual stresses in the surface and an isotropic surface texture with higher surface roughness. However, even though both methods could be considered as possible alternatives to conventional milling they require post processing. The reason is that the surfaces need to be cleaned from either abrasive medium from AWJM or recast layer from EDM. It was further concluded that LBM should not be considered as an alternative in this case due to the deep detrimental impact from the machining process.Keywords

The heat generated during EDM melts the work material and thereby allows large amounts to be removed,but an unfavorable surface of a recast layer (RCL) will also be created. This layer has entirely different properties compared to the bulk. Hence, it is of great interest to efficiently remove this layer and to verify that it has been removed. The main objective of this work has been to study the efficiency of grit blasting forremoval of RCL on an EDM aero space shaft. Additionally, x-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been evaluated asa nondestructive measurement to determine RCL presence. The results show that the grit-blasting processing parameters have strong influence on the ability to remove RCL and at the same time introduce beneficial compressive stresses even after short exposure time. Longer exposure will remove the RCL fromthe surface but also increase the risk that a larger amount of the blasting medium will get stuck into the surface. This investigation shows that a short exposure time in combination with a short grit-blasting nozzle distance is the most preferable process setting. It was further found that handheld XRF equipment can be used as a nondestructive measurement in order to evaluate the amount of RCL present on an EDM surface.This was realized by analyzing the residual elements from the EDM wire.

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is considered as an efficient alternative to conventional material removal concepts that allows for much higher material removal rates. However, EDM generates unwanted features such as re-cast layer (RCL), tensile residual stresses and a rough surface. In order to recover the surface integrity, different post processes has been compared: high-pressure water jet (HPWJ), grit blasting (GB) and shot peening (SP). Surface integrity has been evaluated regarding microstructure, residual stresses, chemical content and surface roughness. The results showed that a combination of two post processes is required in order to restore an EDM processed surface of discontinuous islands of RCL. HPWJ was superior for removing RCL closely followed by grit blasting. However, grit blasting showed embedded grit blasting abrasive into the surface. Regarding surface roughness, it was shown that both grit blasting and HPWJ caused a roughening of the surface topography while shot peening generates a comparably smoother surface. All three post processes showed compressive residual stresses in the surface where shot peening generated the highest amplitude and penetration depths. However, the microstructure close to the surface revealed that shot peening had generated cracks parallel to the surface. The results strongly state how important it is to evaluate the surface at each of the different subsequent process steps in order to avoid initiation of cracks.