Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404

Investigations on belt polishing of heat-resistant titanium alloys

D.A. Axinte∗ , M. Kritmanorot, M. Axinte, N.N.Z. Gindy
School of Mechanical, Materials, Manufacturing and Engineering, The University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

Received 18 February 2004; received in revised form 26 August 2004; accepted 26 August 2004

Abstract

The majority of aero-engine components are designed and manufactured with high surface quality/integrity in mind. Repeatable and
productive finishing processes are needed to support this. There is little information available in the literature related to finishing processes
of aero-engine components. Up to now limited research has been reported in the use of belt polishing for finishing aero-engine components
made of thermally sensitive alloys.
The paper aims to investigate the possibility of using belt polishing as a final finishing operation for components made of Ti-6-4 heat-
resistant alloy. The challenge of this attempt resides in achieving a required workpiece surface quality/integrity that ensures high fatigue
performances of the polished components. The capability to remove the machining marks and to establish a required workpiece surface
quality was optimised on three different milled surface textures by changing cutting parameters (cutting speed, depth of cut, feed rate, and
belt stepover) as well as the finishing strategy (e.g. succession of polishing stages/type of belts). For the ‘optimised’ cutting conditions, the
belt lives were evaluated relative to the following output measures: surface roughness, belt material removal, and machining time. Additional
polishing trials, directed to reduce the thermal effect on the polished surfaces, were carried out using chilled air (−10 ◦ C) supplied close
to the machining zone. Workpiece surface integrity inspections (e.g. microhardness measurements, optical analysis) revealed that no major
microstructural changes occurred on or under the polished surfaces.
Taking into account the capacity to remove machining marks and the satisfactory results of the workpiece surface analysis, it could be
concluded that belt polishing might be considered as a viable process for finishing aero-engine components.
© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Belt polishing; Workpiece surface finish/integrity; Heat-resistant titanium alloys

1. Introduction to achieve the required fatigue life of some critical aero-

With the increasing demands on process productivity and
geometrical accuracy of machined components, the tendency
to integrate many manufacturing operations on the same CNC
machine tool has became a popular approach to lower man-
ufacturing costs and time. Nowadays, five-axis milling is
largely employed in the manufacture of aero-engine com-
ponents with complex geometries. Despite new tooling de-
signs/materials, it is still difficult to achieve the tight surface
quality requirements of some aero-engine components by
only using milling operation. In order to fulfil the require-
ments of the workpiece surface quality and consequently
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 11 595 14116; fax: +44 11 595 14140.
E-mail address: dragos.axinte@nottingham.ac.uk (D.A. Axinte).
engine components, time consuming (e.g. vibro/manual pol-
ishing) or environmentally hazardous (e.g. electro-chemical-
machining) operations are usually employed after milling op-
eration.
Recently, an attempt to use flexible abrasive rotating tools
for finishing curved profiles on a three-axis CNC machine
centre has been reported by Cho et al. [1]. Similar in shape to
a ball nose-milling cutter, the flexible tool has the active part
made of rubber on which the abrasive particles are bound.
Although the surface finish is very fine (Ra < 0.2 ␮m), the
flexible tools might have some limitations in relation to con-
trolling the pressure and the contact area between the tool and
the workpiece especially when complex 3D components are
finished. Moreover, decreasing the tool dimensions to fit tight
3D profiles, tool life is expected to decrease significantly.

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.08.030
 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404 399

Nomenclature

ae tool stepover as a percentage of the belt width

(%)
ap depth of cut (mm)
f feed rate (mm/min)
Ra arithmetic mean of roughness profile (␮m)
Rt height of maximum peak to valley height of the
profile (␮m)
Sp polished surface until the end of belt life (mm2 )
v cutting speed (m/min)

Some attempts to implement belt grinding as a finishing

process for the refurbished aero-space components have been
reported [2,3]. Huang et al. [2] reported on the use of a six-axis
robot to finish turbine vanes within a manufacturing cell. The
path of the belt grinder, installed on the six-axis robot, was
controlled and optimised to match the required profile of the
turbine vane to compensate the wear of the belt and to control
the pressure between the contact wheel and the workpiece
surface. Comprehensive experimental dependencies between
material removal and belt speed, feed rate, and contact load,
were reported; however, the surface finish achieved might
not be smooth enough to consider belt grinding/polishing as
a final machining operation for high demanding quality parts
of aero-engines. Bremer [3] generally reported on a strategy
to repair blades and blisks where 3D scanning and adaptive
belt grinding represent key steps into the manufacturing route
implemented on a five-axis machining centre.
Despite the importance on fatigue life performance of the
critical aero-engine components, no information has been re-
ported on the properties (e.g. thermally affected layer, micro-
hardness) of the workpiece surface obtained after belt grind-
ing/polishing. These properties are of paramount importance
for the acceptance of belt polishing as a final finishing process
by the aero-engine manufacturers.
1.1. Scope of the investigation
The work aims to investigate the possibility of using belt
grinding to remove machining (e.g. milling) marks and to
finish aero-engine components made of Ti heat-resistant al-
loys. The experiments were focused on identifying the ‘op-
timum’ cutting conditions (e.g. type of belt, cutting speed,
feed rate/direction, depth of cut, stepover, coolant media)
that would allow an economically acceptable belt life and
a specified workpiece surface quality.
2. Equipment and methodology
Coupons (150 mm × 75 mm × 10 mm), made of Ti heat-
resistant alloy, were pre-machined with three different values
Fig. 1. Surface textures of the milled coupons.
of tool stepover using a 7 mm ball nose end mill. This resulted
in three different surface textures: Rt = 5 ␮m; 70 ␮m; 250 ␮m
to be belt finished. The surface textures of the milled coupons,
measured across the tool feed direction using a Mitutoyo Edi-
son ESI 2D contracer profile scanner, are shown in Fig. 1.
These surface textures were considered to be representative
for the milled surfaces of some critical aero-engine compo-
nents. The reasons for using such extreme surface textures of
the milled surfaces to be belt polished were:
– the roughest surface texture requires the shortest milling
time and if belt polishing is successful, the overall man-
ufacturing time (e.g. milling and belt polishing) could be
significantly reduced;
– the finest surface texture requires the longest milling time,
but it is likely to be more efficiently belt polished;
– the intermediate surface texture is achievable by an eco-
nomically ‘acceptable’ milling time.
Mounted on the spindle head of a four-axis CNC
milling machine (Denford-Zerocentre), an air powered belt
grinder/polisher (Dynafile), with the feed direction across the
machining marks, was used to remove the machining marks
and to establish the required surface quality (Ra < 0.4 ␮m).
Initial investigations [4] proved that the use of the foam pad
rather than the contact wheel of the belt grinder/polisher re-
sulted in better surface roughness but lower ability to remove
the machining marks. Therefore, in the present investigations,
only the contact wheel was employed to achieve the capabil-
ity to remove machining marks and to establish the required
workpiece surface quality.
Coated belts (Cubitron 907E) and rayon backing belts
(Trizact 307EA), made of coated aluminium oxide replicated
into pyramids, were used to remove the machining marks and
400 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404

Fig. 2. New Cubitron 907E (a) and Trizact 307EA (b) belts.

to achieve the required surface finishing, respectively. Pho- At equal machining time intervals, the belts were exam-
tographs of the new Cubitron 907E and Trizact 307EA belts ined with a workshop microscope to evaluate the wear of the
are presented in Fig. 2. belt. The belt life was assessed as a combination of the fol-
In accordance with the milled surface textures and the lowing criteria: the density of the abrasive grains remaining
targeted surface finish (Ra < 0.4 ␮m), the type of the belts on the belt surface; the capability of the belt to remove the
were chosen as follows: milling marks (for roughing belts) or to produce the required
surface finish (for finishing belts).
• The coupons with Rt = 5 ␮m were polished in one step Using a Mitutoyo Edison ESI 2D contracer profile scan-
operation with a finishing belt (307EA grade A30). ner and a Taylor Hobson Surtronic 3P surface roughness
• The coupons with Rt = 70 ␮m were polished using two tester, the workpiece surface texture was evaluated before
steps operation: one pass with a roughing belt (907E grade and after belt polishing, respectively. Samples from the
P120) followed by one pass with a finishing belt (307EA coupons were afterwards cut up across the belt polishing
grade A30). feed direction using wire elecro-discharge machining, pol-
• The coupons with Rt = 250 ␮m were also polished using ished, and etched to be investigated in terms of workpiece
two steps operation: one pass with a roughing belt (907E surface integrity using optical microscopy and microhard-
grade P120) followed by one pass with a finishing belt ness variation under the polished surface. Microhardness
(307EA grade A45). measurements were carried out using a Knoop indenter
(HK0.200) with three measurements taken at 25 ␮m interval
Based on the efficiency of removing the milling marks between successive readings up to 200 ␮m below machined
(for the roughing belts), the capability to achieve the work- surface.
piece surface quality (for the finishing belts) and taking
into account belt lives and their material removal rates,
the process optimisation was performed through a prelim-
inary test program varying the cutting parameters as follows:
f = 200–1000 mm/min; ae = 30–45%; ap = 0.015–0.130 mm;
v = 10–15 m/s.
The movements of the CNC milling machine, with the
belt grinder mounted on its spindle head (Fig. 3), ensured
the adjustment of f, ae , ap parameters while v parameter was
controlled by adjusting the air pressure supplied to the belt
grinder.
To reduce the fire hazard, caused by flammable powder
occurring from polishing, and also to minimise the thermal
effect on the workpiece surface integrity, a reduced number
of tests were carried out using a Vortex tube (Exair 3825 ad-
justable spot cooler) that delivered chilled air (−30 ◦ C below
room temperature at 6 bar) close to the cutting zone (3 mm
ahead the contact wheel of the belt grinder). Fig. 3. Experimental setup.
 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404
Fig. 4. Backwards (a) and forward (b) feed directions.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Selection of cutting parameters and belt life tests
As the capability to access complex 3D features of the
aero-engine components represent a key point to implement
belt polishing method, the axis of the belt grinder has to be
tilted with an angle Φ (Fig. 4); of course, to accommodate
the dimensions of the belt grinder with the need to access the
complex 3D features of the components, the angle Φ might
change during the finishing process. For simplicity reasons,
at this stage of the investigations, a constant angle Φ = 30◦
was employed.
The preliminary trials were conducted in order to identify
the cutting conditions that give the desired output measures,
namely: surface finish (Ra values, ripple-free surface), rea-
sonable belt life and machining time. Using the specified belts
in dry conditions, the cutting parameters were varied within
the following intervals: f = 200–1000 mm/min; ae = 30–45%;
ap = 0.015–0.130 mm; v = 10–15 m/s.
As the arm of the belt grinder showed reduced stiffness,
significant differences in the values of the depth of cut were
noted when changing the feed direction (Fig. 4). This is
because of the direction of the resultant cutting force that
pushes away (Fig. 4a—backward feed direction), or pulls
into (Fig. 4b—forward feed direction) the contact wheel rel-
atively to the workpiece. From the initial investigations it was
Table 1
Parameters and strategies of belt polishing dependent on the surface textures of the milled surfaces
Parameters Rt = 5 ␮m Rt = 70 ␮m
307EA A30 × 1a 907E
Surface textures of the milled coupons
ap (mm) 0.015 0.085
ae (%) 45 30
f (mm/min) 1000 500
v (m/s) 15 15
Output measures of the belt life tests
Sp (mm2 ) 84240 71200
Number of coupons 6 5
Ra (␮m) 0.28 0.38
a Type of abrasive belt × number of passes on the same path.
401
found that constant pressures of 70 N (for roughing belts) and
30 N (for finishing belts) ensure good repeatability of the ra-
tio between the depth of cut and the arm deflection of the belt
grinder. In order to control more efficiently the pressure on
the contact wheel and therefore to keep the depth of cut as
constant as possible, only the backward feed direction was
employed in the reported work.
The preliminary trials were directed to identify the most
favourable cutting parameters that achieve the required sur-
face finish in a reasonable machining time. Once the cutting
conditions were identified, three repeated tests were carried
out to evaluate the belt lives when polishing each type of
coupon in dry conditions. Table 1 presents the ‘optimised’
cutting parameters employed for each type of coupon along
with the averaged results of surface finish (Ra ), covered sur-
face (Sp ) and number of coupons polished until the end of the
belt lives.
For the roughest coupons (Rt = 250 ␮m), two repeated runs
on the same path (with ae = 0 mm) using the roughing belts
were needed in order to remove the milling marks. This al-
lowed the achievement of required surface finish but resulted
in double the machining time for the roughing stage. There-
fore it was considered uneconomical, both for tool life and
machining time reasons, to finish rough milled surface tex-
tures using belt polishing and consequently no repeated tool
life test were carried for the coarser coupons (Rt = 250 ␮m).
Another reason of not pursuing this direction is that the in-
creased depth of cut on roughing operation might leave a ther-
mally affected layer on the workpiece surface that is difficult
to be removed by the belt finishing operation. Of course, in or-
der to avoid this situation, the machining route has to include
a finer milling operation that requires increased milling time
and, probably, a less time consuming polishing operation.
From Table 1 it can be noted that the final surface finish
complied with the required value of Ra = 0.4 ␮m while, on
the other hand, the research customer considered the covered
surface and the number of coupons polished until the end
of belt life satisfactory. However, the latest can be further
improved by extending the length and/or the width of the
belts.
Rt = 250 ␮m
P120 × 1a 307EA A30 × 1a 907E P120 × 2a 307EA A45 × 1a
0.015 0.130 0.015
45 30 45
1000 500 1000
15 15 15
72300 No test No test
5 No test No test
0.21 0.48 0.34
402 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404
Fig. 5. Appearance of the workpiece surface before and after belt polishing
of coupons with different surface textures (a) Rt = 5 ␮m, (b) Rt = 70 ␮m and
(c) Rt = 250 ␮m.
A better feeling of the polishing capability of the pro-
cess could be attained by examining the pictures presented
in Fig. 5, where the external appearances of the work-
piece surfaces before and after belt polishing are presented
Fig. 6. Worn Cubitron 907E (a) and Trizact 307EA (b) belts after 40 and 60 passes, respectively, on the coupon with initial Rt = 70 ␮m.
for the three types of coupons employed in the present
investigation.
In Fig. 6 pictures of the appearances of both roughing and
finishing worn belts are presented after polishing coupons
with initial milled surface texture of Rt = 70 ␮m.
3.2. Workpiece surface integrity
The workpiece surface integrity was evaluated by inves-
tigating geometrical surface anomalies (e.g. laps, pluckings,
scores), thermally affected layers (e.g. white layers) and mi-
crohardness distribution beneath the polished surfaces.
To evaluate the effect of each step of the belt polishing
procedure on the workpiece surface integrity, samples were
cut out from the coupons (only those with Rt = 5 ␮m and
Rt = 70 ␮m initial surface texture) after roughing and finish-
ing stages when polishing without/with chilled air used as a
coolant agent.
With higher depth of cuts and rougher belts, as used in
roughing stage, it is expected that higher temperatures are
reached at the belt-workpiece contact surface; this increases
the possibility of heat affected zones, such as white layers,
on the workpiece surface especially when belt polishing is
performed in dry conditions.
Microstructural photographs were taken from samples af-
ter roughing and finishing stages with and without the chilled
air used as a coolant agent. To ease the identification of highly
heat affected zones (e.g. white layers) of the samples, two
reagents were used as follows: 2% HF/10% HNO3 (∼10 s)
followed by 0.5% HF (∼5 s) balance water in both cases.
Thin (<5 ␮m) and continuous white layers were found on
the workpiece surface after roughing stage (Fig. 7a) in dry
conditions. In other testing conditions (e.g. finishing stage
with/without chilled air and roughing stage with chilled air)
no evidence of white layers were found. Fig. 7b shows the
microstructure of a sample after finishing stage in dry condi-
tions where it could be noted that, while removing the white
layer produced during roughing stage, no new such layer was
generated.
 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404 403

Fig. 7. Microstructure of workpiece surface after belt roughing (a) and finishing (b) in dry conditions.

This proves that the finishing stage, performed even in
dry conditions, does not generate enough heat to produce
white layers on the workpiece surface. However, for achiev-
ing highly confident ‘free-white layer’ surfaces the use of
chilled air as a coolant agent throughout the entire belt pol-
ishing procedure could be the best choice.
Apart from the white layer that appeared after the roughing
stage performed in dry conditions, no other microstructural
changes were found beneath the belt polished surfaces. This
was also confirmed by microhardness measurements below
the workpiece surface that showed values laying in the inter-
val characteristic for the base material 370 ± 28 HK0.200.
4. Conclusions
The work showed that belt polishing of Titanium alloys us-
ing engineered belts combined with ‘optimised’ cutting con-
404 D.A. Axinte et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 166 (2005) 398–404
ditions, can successfully meet the process/part quality spec-
ifications of the aero-engine manufacturers as summarised
below:
• In one or two stages, the belt polishing process has
the capability to remove machining (e.g. milling) marks
within a wide range of initial workpiece surface textures
(Rt = 5–250 ␮m). Under the ‘optimised’ conditions the belt
lives reached satisfactory levels (Sp > 70,000 mm2 ).
• High surface finish was achieved after belt polishing
(Ra < 0.35 ␮m). However, the surface finish reached sat-
isfactory levels (Ra < 0.5 ␮m) even after first stage of the
belt polishing procedure, for the coupons with coarse initial
surface texture (Rt > 70 ␮m), a finishing stage was needed
to establish a smoother and more homogenous 2D surface
texture.
• No evidence of thermally affected layers was found on the
final polished workpiece surfaces. Reduced tendency of
the appearance of white layers on the workpiece surface
and diminish fire hazard during polishing of Ti-6-4 recom-
mends the use of chilled air as coolant agent throughout
the entire belt polishing process.
The work proved that belt polishing could fulfil both eco-
nomical and part quality requirements for finishing critical
aero-engine components made of heat-resistant alloys such
as Ti-6-4. As the polishing time depends greatly on the ini-
tial surface texture, it is the technologist’s ability to optimise
overall manufacturing costs and time either by one of the
following options:
– Use the belt polishing operation to remove rougher ma-
chining marks and to establish the required workpiece sur-
face quality in order to minimise the time and costs of
initial machining (e.g. milling).
– Produce an ‘optimal’ initial surface texture using the pre-
vious machining operations at whatever costs and manu-
facturing times in order to minimise the time and costs of
the belt polishing operation.
As the efficiency of the overall manufacturing route, ini-
tial machining and belt polishing, greatly depends on the
tooling costs, component features and workpiece material,
a cost model could be developed to specifically answer this
matter.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to their colleagues Mr. Kevin
Walker and Mr. Mark Daine from The University of
Nottingham for their support and suggestions during the
experimental program. Thanks also go to Miss Sarah
Quick for conducting and reporting the initial process
investigations.
References
[1] S.S. Cho, Y.K. Ryu, S.Y. Lee, Curved surface finishing with flexible
abrasive tool, Int. J. Machine Tools Manuf. 42 (2002) 229–236.
[2] H. Huang, Z.M. Gong, X.Q. Chen, L. Zhou, Robotic grinding and
polishing for turbine-vane overhaul, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 127
(2002) 140–145.
[3] C. Bremer, Adaptive strategies for manufacturing and repair of blades
and blisks, Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2000: 45th ASME
International Gas Turbine & Aeroengine Technical Congress, 2000,
pp. 1–5.
[4] S. Quick, D. Axinte, N. Gindy, Belt Finishing Development—
Preliminary Investigations, Internal Report, AMTG, University of Not-
tingham, 2002.