Advanced Machining of Aerospace Materials

The machining of aerospace materials such as Titanium (Ti) and Nickel (Ni) alloys are a costly and timely task in the production of any aircraft for the US Air Force and can be an inhibitor of advancing next generation aircraft designs. The recent development and production availability of cryogenic systems has provided a technology for suppliers of aerospace components to decrease both costs and turnaround time required for these exotic Ti and Ni alloy machined components; however, the current commercial availability of internally-cooled cryogenic-specific cutting tools (ICCT) as well as the current performance capability of ICCT have limited the wide adoption of cryogenic systems into the US Air Force supply network. With the development of new ICCT designs, materials, and coatings along with the advancements in cryogenic modeling software, the manufacturing readiness level (MRL) of ICCT will be increased to a MRL maturity level 8 by the completion of Phase-III of this multi-phase project. Along with the increase in MRL maturity, the advancements in ICCT tool designs, materials, and coatings will allow for an increase in the machining capabilities by further elevating the material removal rates (MRR) and tool life beyond even that currently possible with cryogenic machining.