Study on the Effects of Different Cutting Angles on the End-Milling of Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing Inconel 718 Workpieces

This research presents an analysis of the effects of different cutting angles on the side milling of Inconel 718 products manufactured with the Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technique. Considering that this manufacturing technology can build near-net shape products, its surface quality is deemed unqualified as a final product, requiring a post-processing step. In this paper, three different angles—0°, 35°, and 90—are compared, looking for possible differences regarding its machinability. As the alloy in question is a material known for being difficult to machine, and the samples were produced with the additive manufacturing technique that created peculiar characteristics, it was deemed necessary to analyze different aspects of the machining process: the surface quality, tool wear, and cutting forces for all three cases, and to rank the angles regarding these results. With analog experiments with the same alloy but cold-rolled, it was possible to infer that not only is the 0-degree angle is the best option for milling, but the anisotropy of the WAAM samples could be the major source of the differences in the milling results.