Johan Berglund

After finish milling in die and mould manufacturing, the method used for quality control is usually visual and tactile inspection of the surface finish by the operator. The purpose of the inspection is to link the manufacturing conditions to the appearance of the surface. The perceived quality of a surface is related to how light is reflected by that surface which in turn depends on geometrical features, such as distribution of heights (i.e. surface roughness) as well as slopes and curvatures. Prior work relating perceived quality to surface properties has almost exclusively focused on roughness. The present study re-examines data from a previous study with the objective to investigate how the geometric topography characterisations multiscale curvature and slope analysis could be useful for relating surface texture both to how finish milled metallic surfaces were processed as well as how the appearance was perceived. It was found that large variation in surface curvatures and slopes, as well as sharp curvatures and steep slopes, generate lower perceived quality, and that this effect was most prominent in a certain range of scales. Here, it was suggested to use the slope parameter Total variation as a link between manufacture and function since it has good discriminatory power regarding tool and workpiece material used as well as discriminatory power and very good statistical correlation (Spearman rank coefficient ρ = -1) regarding perceived appearance when calculated at a scale around 20 μm.

To address the essential problem in surface metrology of establishing functional correlations spatial, frequencies in topographic measurements are progressively decomposed into a large number of narrow bands. Bandpass filters and commercially available software are used. These bands can be analyzed with conventional surface texture parameters, like average roughness, Sa, or other parameters, for detailed, multiscale topographic characterizations. Earlier kinds of multiscale characterization, like relative area, required specialized software performing multiple triangular tiling exercises. Multiscale regression analyses can test strengths of functional correlations over a range of scales. Here, friction coefficients are regressed against standard surface texture parameters over the range of scales available in a measurement. Correlation strengths trend with the scales of the bandpass filters. Using bandpass frequency, i.e., wavelength or scale, decompositions, the R² at 25 μm, exceeds 0.9 for Sa compared with an R² of only 0.2 using the broader band of conventional roughness filtering. These improved, scale-specific functional correlations can facilitate scientific understandings and specifications of topographies in product and process design and in designs of quality assurance systems.

In order to improve efficiency when manufacturing gas turbine components, alternative machining techniques need to be explored. In this work, abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining by milling has been investigated as an alternative to traditional milling. Various test campaigns have been conducted to show different aspects of using AWJ milling for the machining of superalloys, such as alloy 718. The test campaigns span from studies of individual AWJ-milled tracks, multi-pass tracks, and the machining of larger components and features with complex geometry. In regard to material removal rates, these studies show that AWJ milling is able to compete with traditional semi/finish milling but may not reach as high an MRR as rough milling when machining in alloy 718. However, AWJ milling requires post-processing which decreases the total MRR. It has been shown that a strong advantage with AWJ milling is to manufacture difficult geometries such as narrow radii, holes, or sharp transitions with kept material removal rates and low impact on the surface integrity of the cut surface. Additionally, abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) offers a range of machining possibilities as it can alter between cutting through and milling. The surface integrity of the AWJM surface is also advantageous as it introduces compressive residual stress but may require post-processing to meet similar surface roughness levels as traditional milling and to remove unwanted AWJM particles from the machined surface.

The planned material volume to be removed from a blank to create the final shape of a part is commonly referred to as allowance. Determination of machining allowance is essential and has a great impact on productivity. The objective of the present work is to use a case study to investigate how a prior rough milling operation affects the finish machined surface and, after that, to use this knowledge to design a methodology for how to assess the machining allowance for subsequent milling operations based on residual stresses. Subsequent milling operations were performed to study the final surface integrity across a milled slot. This was done by rough ceramic milling followed by finish milling in seven subsequent steps. The results show that the up-, centre and down-milling induce different stresses and impact depths. Employing the developed methodology, the depth where the directional influence of the milling process diminishes has been shown to be a suitable minimum limit for the allowance. At this depth, the plastic flow causing severe deformation is not present anymore. It was shown that the centre of the milled slot has the deepest impact depth of 500 µm, up-milling caused an intermediate impact depth of 400 µm followed by down milling with an impact depth of 300 µm. With merged envelope profiles, it was shown that the effects from rough ceramic milling are gone after 3 finish milling passes, with a total depth of cut of 150 µm.