An investigation on machinability assessment of difficult-to-cut materials based on radar charts

Abstract

A scientific understanding of all the factors affecting machinability and machining is essential for tool selection and process planning, particularly in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining of difficult-to-cut materials. This article proposed a radar chart–based method to assess material machinability by taking into account of multiple process variables quantitatively and to reveal comparison indexes visually. Key steps of this method included the reference material and indexes selection, normalization process and machinability assessment. Finally, a case study on using this method was given to assess three different types of titanium alloys. The order of machinability from good to poor is TC4, TC11 and TC17 supported with quantitative analysis.