Original Article

Experimental investigation of tool feed rate and machining strategy on surface roughness in flat end milling of Nickel-Iron alloy Supra50

¹ Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering of Monastir (LGM-LAB-MA-05), National School of Engineers of Monastir (ENIM), Avenue Ibn Jazzar, 5019, University of Monastir, Tunisia
² Unit of Mechanical Production Engineering and Materials (UGPMM), University of Sfax, National Engineering School of Sfax, UR17ES43, B.P.1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia
³ Nexteam Machining Sousse, Tunisia

^* e-mail: ezzeddine.ftoutou@gmail.com

Received: 30 August 2023
Accepted: 11 December 2023

Abstract

The Nickel-Iron alloy Supra50 is one of the commonly used materials for manufacturing aeronautical parts and is resistant to excessive thermal stress. Due to its low coefficient of expansion, this material can guarantee dimensional stability at high temperatures while also offering mechanical characteristics like those of stainless steel. However, several works in the literature demonstrate that the Nickel-Iron alloy Supra50 has low machinability due to low thermal conductivity and work hardening. These main qualities, with its magnetic characteristics, qualified it for the manufacture of components for solenoid valves in aircraft. Despite its performance, obtaining Supra50 parts by machining presents difficulties. Indeed, faced with tight dimensional and geometric tolerances, manufacturers must invest in means and methods that converge to an agreement between cost and quality that ensures the efficiency of the machining process. This research work aims to analyze the effect of machining strategies and the tool feed rate on surface roughness by using an experimental approach in a Fe-Ni-based alloy-Supra50 surfacing operation with a flat end-mill tool. This study addresses a gap in the literature, focusing on the unique challenges posed by Supra 50 machining. It was demonstrated that the feed rate strongly affects surface roughness. In other hand, it was demonstrated that the machining strategy sweep gives the minimum of arithmetic mean height of the surface (Sa), compared to other analyzed machining strategies, such as mono-directional sweep and spiral sweep. All experimental results were demonstrated in sequence with other literature works on Fe-Ni-based alloy machining.