The different electroplastic effects of cutting directions during the turning process of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy

Electroplastic assisted process is a new machining technology, which can reduce the tensile strength and spring back of materials and increase the formability and quality of the workpiece. Currently, this technology has been successfully applied in electroplastic-assisted rolling, drawing, and turning. However, most research in electroplastic-assisted turning is focused on reducing the cutting force and energy consumption and improving surface quality. The differences in cutting forces reduce caused by electroplastic in different directions have not been reported. In this paper, we compare the decrement of cutting forces in different directions during the electroplastic-assisted turning of titanium alloy (TC4). It is found that there is no obvious force reduction in the tangential direction compared to that in the feed direction. The possible explanation is that the electroplastic effect does not work in reducing compressive stress. This was validated by electroplastic-assisted cut-off turning and electroplastic-assisted compressing experiments. This work provides a deep insight into understanding the electroplastic mechanism and offers a guide for the application of electroplastic-assisted forming.