The industrial working group “Titanium” at the PTW of TU Darmstadt focuses on increasing productivity in the metal cutting of heavy-machinable materials for the aerospace industry.

Optimisation of process technology, process modelling and the development and analysis of new tool concepts are the goals of the working group.

Objective

The materials used in the aerospace industry are characterised by high specific strength and excellent reproducibility of mechanical properties. The most important materials here are titanium and nickel-based alloys. However, the excellent mechanical properties of new aircraft materials make machining considerably more difficult. The machining of titanium and nickel-based alloys therefore requires an optimal utilisation of the tool concepts.With the aim of increasing productivity and process reliability in the metal cutting of materials that are difficult to machine, the “Titanium” working group was formed under the leadership of the PTW of the TU Darmstadt, together with numerous partners from industry. In order to optimise the economic machining of titanium and nickel-based alloys, performance-enhancing approaches to various process actuating variables, such as the process parameters, the process boundary conditions and the tools, are being investigated.