Chapter 11

Numerical and Experimental Study

on Orthogonal Cutting of GH4169
Superalloy by Micro-Pit Textured Cutter

Qian-Qian Cai, Jin-Kai Xu, Zhan-Jiang Yu, Zhong-Xu Lian,

and Hua-Dong Yu

Abstract GH4169 superalloy has excellent properties such as high strength, high
hardness and high temperature resistance, and is widely used in aerospace, automo-
bile manufacturing, defense industry and biomedical fields. In the cutting process
of superalloy, there are some problems such as serious tool wear and poor surface
quality. The placement of micro-pit arrays on the rake face of cemented carbide tools
can effectively improve the friction and wear resistance of the tools and improve
the cutting conditions. In this article, ABAQUS software is used to simulate the
micro-pit array tool orthogonal micro-cutting GH4169 superalloy. The cutting simu-
lation of GH4169 superalloy was carried out by using micro-pit diameters of 35 µm,
30 µm, 25 µm, 20 µm and non-texture, respectively. The cutting-chip contact state,
cutting force, cutting temperature and chip shape during the cutting process were
analyzed. The study found that the placement of micro-pit texture can effectively
reduce the cutting force during cutting and improve chip breaking. The micro-pit
texture can intercept debris and hard particles on the bottom surface of the chip,
reducing scratches on the rake face of the tool and the furrow effect of the hard
particles, effectively improving the wear resistance of the tool.

Keywords GH4169 superalloy · Tool wear · Micro-pit array · ABAQUS · Cutting

simulation

11.1 Introduction

With the rapid development of aviation manufacturing industry, the application of

superalloys is more and more extensive [1–3], which is mainly due to its good wear
resistance and excellent structure [4–6]. Under the condition of high temperature
and high pressure, the superalloy can still maintain high tensile strength and yield
strength, and has low creep and high corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance

Q.-Q. Cai · J.-K. Xu (B) · Z.-J. Yu · Z.-X. Lian · H.-D. Yu

Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Cross-Scale Micro and Nano Manufacturing,
Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China
e-mail: xujinkai2000@163.com

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 133
J. Xu and K. M. Pandey (eds.), Mechanical Engineering and Materials,
Mechanisms and Machine Science 100,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68303-0_11
134 Q.-Q. Cai et al.

[7, 8]. During the cutting process, the microstructure of the superalloy material has
high hardness, high shear stress, and low thermal conductivity, which is easy to cause
problems such as high cutting force and high cutting temperature. It also has difficul-
ties in chip breaking and serious wear and tear of the tool [9, 10]. Therefore, it is easy
to affect the quality of the processed surface of the workpiece and reduce its service
life. Therefore, it is necessary to quickly solve the problem of poor performance
during the cutting process of superalloys [11, 12].
Based on the bionic tribology theory, texture processing on the tool surface can
effectively improve the wear resistance of the tool [13, 14]. Research in the past few
decades has confirmed that the placement of micro-texture on the tool surface has
a positive effect on improving the friction contact state of the tool-chip interface,
anti-adhesion, wear resistance and drag reduction, and storage of chips [15–17].
In this paper, the ABAQUS6.14–1 software is used to carry out the micro-array
array orthogonal micro-cutting superalloy simulation test research [18–20]. The solid
modeling of the tool and the workpiece were carried out respectively, the micro-pit
arrays with different diameters were prepared on the surface of the micro turning
tool, and the tool-chip contact state, chip stress distribution, cutting force, cutting
temperature and chip shape were analyzed during the cutting process [21–23].

11.2 Creation of Finite Element Model

Solid modeling of the tool and the workpiece respectively, tool side length s =
6.35 mm, tool thickness d = 2.38 mm, tool rake angle γ = 0°, back angle α = 7°,
blade inclination angle λ = 0°, the tip angle θ = 80°, the blade radius r = 0.002 mm,
the tip radius is R = 0.1 mm; Work piece length L = 10 mm, width k = 10 mm. In
order to be able to accurately carry out simulation experiments, local optimization of
the model: tool side length L = 0.280 mm, width d = 0.150 mm, micro-pit diameter
is 0.035 mm, 0.030 mm, 0.025 mm, 0.020 mm, depth is 0.01 mm, 6 × 10 micro-pit
array, pit center distance is 0.06 mm; workpiece length L f = 0.600 mm, width k f =
0.080 mm, cutting depth ap = 0.01 mm, cutting speed v = 400 mm/s, as shown in
Fig. 11.1.
The cutting tool material is cemented carbide (92 wt. % WC, 8 wt. % Co).
The detailed parameters of physical and mechanical properties are shown in Table
11.1. The workpiece material is superalloy GH4169. The chemical composition and
physical mechanical properties of the superalloy are shown in Tables 11.2 and 11.3.

11.3 Analysis and Processing of Simulation Results

After the simulation model is constructed, the calculation is submitted, and the calcu-
lation results are post-processed in the ABAQUS6.14–1 Visualization module to
output related graphic data.
11 Numerical and Experimental Study on Orthogonal … 135

Fig. 11.1 ABAQUS

two-dimensional cutting
model

Table 11.1 Physical and mechanical properties of cemented carbide tool materials
Physical and mechanical properties
Density Thermal Hardness Bending Elastic Young’s Linear Specific
(g/cm3 ) conductivity (HRA) strength modulus modulus expansivity heat
(W/mK) (GPa) (GPa) (GPa) (m/m°C)
14.5 75.36 89 1.5 600 580 4.5 × 10–6 220

Table 11.2 Basic physical properties of GH4169 superalloy

Density (Kg·m−3 ) Elastic modulus (GPa) Poisson’s ratio Melting point (°C)
8240/8250 220 0.3 1260–1320

Table 11.3 J-C constitutive model and damage model parameters of GH4169 Superalloy
•
A (MPa) B (MPa) n c m Tr (K) Tm (K) ε0
450 1700 0.65 0.017 0.71 293.15 1593.15 1

11.3.1 Derivative Cutting Effect

In the Visualization module, the tool-chip contact state during the simulation cutting
process is observed. It can be seen from Figs. 11.2 and 11.3 that from the first 1.6 ×
10–4 s, the chip and the micro-pit texture start to contact, and the chip stress around
the micro-pit becomes larger. Figure 11.2b, e can be seen that when the chips flow
into or out of the micro-pit, the edge of the micro-pit produces “derivative cutting”
of the flowing chip, causing part of the chip on the bottom surface of the chip to
fall off and be stored in the micro-pit. As the cutting continues, the micro-pit array
performs “derivative cutting” of the chips passing through, and chips are continuously
136 Q.-Q. Cai et al.

Fig. 11.2 Simulation process of “derivative cutting” with a tool with a diameter of 35 µm

Fig. 11.3 Simulation cutting process of non-textured cutter

generated, and the “derivative cutting force” applied increases the strain of the chips.
When the strain reaches a certain limit, the chip breaks (Fig. 11.2k) and “C” type
chips are generated. Since this process is a finite element simulation, the stored debris
cannot be kept in the pit all the time, and the debris will fall out. It can be seen from
Fig. 11.3 that there is no “derivative cutting” phenomenon in non-textured tools.
11 Numerical and Experimental Study on Orthogonal … 137

It can be seen from the finite element simulation that the surface quality of the
chip bottom surface after “derivative cutting” is relatively good. The micro-pit array
can intercept debris and hard particles on the bottom surface of the chip, reduce the
scratching and furrowing effect of the chip bottom on the rake face, and improve
the surface quality of the chip bottom surface. It can be seen that the micro-pit
texture is conducive to chip breaking, reduces the formation of spiral chips, improves
the surface quality of the workpiece and the life of the cutting edge, the micro-pit
intercepts a small amount of debris and hard particles on the bottom of the chip, and
reduces the bottom face of the chip. The scratching of the surface and the furrow
effect of hard particles improve the friction and wear resistance of the tool.

11.3.2 Comparative Analysis of Cutting Force

In the micro-cutting process, the cutting thickness ap is small, and the role of the
cutting edge radius must be considered to analyze the force of the tool, as shown in
Fig. 11.4. F x , F y and µ are defined in Eqs. (11.1), (11.2) and (11.3) respectively.
 
2τs b h D − r + r sin(β − γ0 ) cos(β − γ0 )
Fx = F R 1 = (11.1)
sin ϕ cos(ϕ + β − γ0 )
 
2τs b h D − r + r sin(β − γ0 ) sin(β − γ0 )
Fy = F R2 = (11.2)
sin ϕ cos(ϕ + β − γ0 )
Ff
μ = tan β = (11.3)
Fn

Fig. 11.4 Schematic diagram of micro-cutting cutting force

138 Q.-Q. Cai et al.

In above equations, τ s is the shear stress on the shear plane, b is the cutting width,
r is the cutting edge radius, γ 0 is the tool rake angle, β is the friction angle, andϕ
is the shear angle; F n is the positive pressure on the rake face, and F f is the friction
force on the rake face. When γ 0 = 0, you can obtain Eq. (11.4):

Ff Fy F R2
μ = tan β = = = (11.4)
Fn Fx F R1

After the simulation results are post-processed, the cutting force components FR1
and FR2 acting on the tool are measured. The change of the cutting force is shown
in Fig. 11.5. It can be seen that the changes of the main cutting force F x and the
feed force F y of the micro-pit array tool and the non-textured tool during the micro-
cutting simulation process are different. The main cutting force F x is always greater
than the feed force F y . In the initial stage of cutting, the cutting force continued
to increase and reached a certain value, and then decreased. This is because the
initial tool continuously squeezed the cutting layer and the cutting force increased.
When the equivalent plastic strain value at a certain point in the chip layer is greater
than or equal to the fracture strain value of the workpiece material, the mesh fails,
shear damage occurs, the chip separates from the workpiece, and the cutting force
decreases. With the continuous advancement of cutting, the change of cutting force
of non-textured tools tends to be stable, fluctuating around a certain value, which may
be caused by the drastic change of the material’s thermoplasticity or stress field in the

Fig. 11.5 Chip force distribution

11 Numerical and Experimental Study on Orthogonal … 139

micro-cutting test. During the cutting process of the micro-pit array tool, the cutting
force changes greatly, and the cutting force waveform changes more violently in a
sawtooth shape, which is caused by the increase in cutting force caused by “derivative
cutting”. When the chip flows through the surface of the micro-pit, the edge of the
micro-pit exerts a certain force on the chip passing through to perform “derivative
cutting” of the chip so that the cutting force increases.
Taking the average of the main cutting forces tending to be stable to obtain the
main cutting force of the non-textured tool F x = 60.7 N, the minimum cutting force
of the micro-pit tool of 35 µm is F x = 51.8 N, the cutting force of micro-pit array
cutters is less than that of non-textured cutters. Taking the average of the main cutting
forces tending to be stable to obtain the main cutting force of the non-textured tool F x
= 60.7 N, the minimum cutting force of the micro-pit tool of 35 µm is F x = 51.8 N.
The cutting force of micro-pit array cutters is less than that of non-textured cutters.
The cutting force fluctuations of the pit cutters of 30, 25 and 20 µm are large. This
is due to the increase in the strain of the chips when the “derivative cutting” of the
flowing chips is performed at the edge of the micro-pits. When the strain is greater
than the fracture limit of the chip, the chip fracture generates “C” type chips and
the cutting force decreases. The chipping force of 35 µm micro-pit tool is relatively
stable, and the cutting force is reduced by 14.7%. The fluctuation of the workpiece
and tool caused by “derivative cutting” is small, which reduces the machining error
and tool wear caused by the fluctuation of the workpiece or tool. It can be seen that
the effect of the change in the diameter of the micro-pits on the cutting force is also
different, and the size parameters of the micro-pits need to be properly designed
when the tool micro-pit array is placed. Under the premise of ensuring the storage
of chips and chip breaking in “derivative cutting”, it is also necessary to reasonably
control the size and change of cutting force to reduce cutting fluctuations.

11.3.3 Comparative Analysis of Cutting Temperature

Figure 11.6 shows the change in tool temperature during the cutting process. The
average cutting temperature of the non-textured tool is T 1 = 159.7 °C. The cutting
temperature of 35 µm micro-pit tool is T 2 = 159.9 °C. The cutting temperature of
30 µm micro-pit tool is T 3 = 162.2 °C. The cutting temperature of 25 µm micro-pit
cutter is T 4 = 160.9 °C. The cutting temperature of 20 µm micro-pit cutter is T 5
= 161.5 °C. Tool temperature change is not obvious. This is due to the “derivative
cutting” effect of the micro-pit texture tool during the cutting process. The interaction
of the chip and the bottom surface increases the friction force, so that the cutting
temperature is not significantly reduced. It can be seen that, when placing the tool
micro-pits, it is necessary to design the size parameters of the micro-pits reasonably
to reduce the cutting temperature changes caused by “derivative cutting”.
140 Q.-Q. Cai et al.

Fig. 11.6 Cutting temperature distribution

11.4 Conclusions

The finite element simulation test of orthogonal cutting of GH4169 superalloy with
cemented carbide tools is carried out is this study. The experiment creates the compo-
nents, materials and other modules, and calculates and analyzes the results to obtain
the required data. The contact area, cutting force and cutting temperature of tool chip
are compared and analyzed:
The micro-pit texture is conducive to chip breaking, reducing the formation of
swarf accumulation chips affecting the surface quality of the workpiece and the life
of the cutting edge, reducing the generation of spiral chips. The micro-pits intercept a
small amount of debris and hard particles on the lower surface of the chip, reducing the
scratching of the rake face and the furrow effect of the hard particles, and improving
the wear resistance of the tool.
During the cutting process of GH4169 superalloy, the chip force of the tool with
a pit diameter of 35µm is reduced by 14.7%, the stress concentration at the tool tip
is reduced, and the generation of crescents at the tool tip during cutting is effectively
reduced, improve the wear resistance and durability of the tool. The influence of
different micro-pit diameter on cutting force is also different. In the process of tool
micro-pit placement, the size parameters of micro-pit array need to be designed
reasonably. On the premise that “derivative cutting” can store chip and chip breaking,
the size and change of cutting force should be reasonably controlled to reduce cutting
fluctuation.
The effect of the placement of micro-pits on the cutting temperature during the
cutting process is not obvious. Therefore, it is necessary to properly design the size
11 Numerical and Experimental Study on Orthogonal … 141

parameters of the micro-pits when placing the micro-pits in the tool to reduce the
impact of “derivative cutting” on the cutting temperature.
The placement of the micro-pit array has a certain influence on the contact area of
the tool-chip, the stress distribution of the chip, the generation of chip accumulation,
the surface quality of the workpiece, the cutting force and the cutting temperature. By
rationally designing the shape and size parameters of the micro-pit array, it is possible
to achieve reasonable control of the stress level of the chip contact surface and reduce
the stress concentration phenomenon, improve the chip breaking rate, reduce the
formation of chip accumulation, improve the surface quality of the workpiece, and
reduce cutting force.

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (No. U19A20103), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019M661184), and
the Jilin Province Scientific and Technological Development Program (No. Z20190101005JH)(No.
20190302076GX).

References

1. Wu, L.H., Jiang, C.H.: Effect of shot peening on residual stress and microstructure in the
deformed layer of Inconel 625. Mater. Trans. 58, 164–166 (2017)
2. Wu, L.H., Jiang, C.H.: Effect of thermal relaxation on residual stress and microstructure in the
near surface layers of dual shot peened Inconel 625. Adv. Mech. Eng. 10, 1–6 (2018)
3. Kong, T., Kang, B., Ryu, H.J., Hong, S.H.: Microstructures and enhanced mechanical properties
of an oxide dispersion-strengthened Ni-rich high entropy superalloy fabricated by a powder
metallurgical process. J. Alloy. Compd. 839, 155724 (2020)
4. Song, X., Lei, J., Gu, Z., Zhou, S.: Boosting wear properties of Inconel 718 superalloy by
uniform dispersing graphene nanoplatelets through laser melting deposition. J. Alloy. Compd.
834, 155086 (2020)
5. Zhao, L., Tan, Y., Shi, S., You, X., Li, P., Cui, C.: Microsegregation behavior of inconel 718
superalloy prepared by electron beam smelting layered solidification technology. J. Alloy.
Compd. 833, 155019 (2020)
6. Hu, Z., Qin, C., Chen, X., Tang, A., Fang, T., Yang, Z., Luo, S., Mao, M.: Chemical-mechanical
polishing of cemented carbide insert surface for extended tool life in turning of GH4169
nickel-based superalloy. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Man. 21, 1421–1435 (2020)
7. Shi, P.Y., Wan, S.H., Yi, G.W., Sun, H.W., Yu, Y., Xie, E.Q., Wang, Q.H., Shen, S.Z., Alam, N.:
TiO2 –ZnO/Ni–5wt.%Al composite coatings on GH4169 superalloys by atmospheric plasma
spray techniques and theirs elevated-temperature tribological behavior. Ceram. Int. 46(9),
13527–13538 (2020).
8. Yin, Y., He, W., Xie, H., Wu, L.: High-temperature fatigue crack propagation study of superalloy
GH4169 by single-lens 3D digital image correlation. Sci. China Technol. Sc. 63, 693–704
(2020)
9. Yang, J., Liu, D., Zhang, X., Liu, M., Zhao, W., Liu, C.: The effect of ultrasonic surface rolling
process on the fretting fatigue property of GH4169 superalloy. Int. J. Fatigue 133, 105373
(2020)
10. Miao, Q., Ding, W., Kuang, W., Yang, C.: Comparison on grindability and surface integrity in
creep feed grinding of GH4169, K403, DZ408 and DD6 nickel-based superalloys. J. Manuf.
Process. 49, 175–186 (2020)
142 Q.-Q. Cai et al.

11. Shi, L., Zhang, C.: Experimental research on turning of superalloy GH4169 under high pressure
cooling condition. Integr. Ferroelectr. 207, 75–85 (2020)
12. Pan, L., Wu, Z., Fang, L., Song, Y.: Investigation of surface damage and roughness for nickel-
based superalloy GH4169 under hard turning processing. P. I. Mech. Eng. B-J Eng. 234(4),
679–691 (2020)
13. Pang, K., Wang, D.: Study on the performances of the drilling process of nickel-based superalloy
Inconel 718 with differently micro-textured drilling tools. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 180, 105658 (2020)
14. Pratap, A., Patra, K.: Combined effects of tool surface texturing, cutting parameters and
minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) pressure on micro-grinding of BK7 glass. J. Manuf.
Process. 54, 374–392 (2020)
15. Wu, Z., Bao, H., Liu, L., Xing, Y., Huang, P., Zhao, G.: Numerical investigation of the perfor-
mance of micro-textured cutting tools in cutting of Ti-6Al-4V alloys. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Tech.
108(10), 1–2 (2020)
16. Chen, P., Tong, J., Zhao, J., Zhang, Z., Zhao, B.: A study of the surface microstructure and tool
wear of titanium alloys after ultrasonic longitudinal-torsional milling. J. Manuf. Process. 53,
1–11 (2020)
17. Pena-Paras, L., Maldonado-Cortes, D., Rodriguez-Villalobos, M., Romero-Cantu, A.G.,
Montemayor, O.E.: Enhancing tool life, and reducing power consumption and surface rough-
ness in milling processes by nanolubricants and laser surface texturing. J. Clean. Prod. 253,
119836 (2020)
18. Wu, Z., Bao, H., Liu, L., Xing, Y., Huang, P., Zhao, G.: Numerical investigation of the perfor-
mance of micro-textured cutting tools in cutting of Ti-6Al-4V alloys. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Tech.
108(10), 463–474 (2020)
19. Daniyan, I., Fameso, F., Ale, F., Bello, K., Tlhabadira, I.: Modelling, simulation and exper-
imental validation of the milling operation of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V). Int. J. Adv. Manuf.
Tech. 109, 1853–1866 (2020)
20. Liu, X., Xiong, R., Xiong, Z., Zhang, S., Zhao, L.: Simulation and experimental study on
surface residual stress of ultra-precision turned 2024 aluminum alloy. J. Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci.
42, 386 (2020)
21. Mane, S., Joshi, S.S., Karagadde, S., Kapoor, S.G.: Modeling of variable friction and heat
partition ratio at the chip-tool interface during orthogonal cutting of Ti-6Al-4V. J. Manuf.
Process. 55, 254–267 (2020)
22. Gao, M.Y., Zhang, K., Zhou, Q., Zhou, H.F., Liu, B.L., Zheng, G.J.: Numerical investigations
on the effect of ultra-high cutting speed on the cutting heat and rock-breaking performance of
a single cutter. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 190, 107120 (2020)
23. Zhang, W., Zhuang, K., Pu, D.: A novel finite element investigation of cutting force in orthog-
onal cutting considering plough mechanism with rounded edge tool. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Tech.
108, 3323–3334 (2020)