Pro-efficient Inconel 718 Machining

What is Inconel 718?

Inconel 718 is a precipitation-hardening nickel-chromium-iron alloy containing niobium and molybdenum. It is the most widely used heat-resistant superalloy with high strength and good comprehensive properties in a wide temperature range. Inconel 718 has unique properties such as high strength at elevated temperature, high hardness and excellent wear and corrosion resistance, superior fatigue, radiation, oxidation, performance, and good processability, weldability and long-term tissue stability. It can manufacture various parts with complex shapes. Due to the excellent mechanical, chemical and physical properties of Inconel 718, the demand for high temperature superalloys such as Inconel 718 is rapidly increasing in many fields. For example, it has a wide range of applications in power generation, gas turbines, tubing hangers, safety valve systems, aerospace, nuclear engineering and many other industries.

Inconel 718 Machining

What chemicals does Inconel 718 contain?

Inconel 718 is mainly composed of nickel (50%~55%), chromium (17.0%~21.0%), iron (balance), carbon (0.08%), manganese (0.35%), silicon (0.35%), molybdenum (2.8%) ~3.30%), copper (0.30%), phosphorus (0.015%), sulfur (0.015%).

Inconel 718 machining:

Nickel-based superalloy is a typical difficult-to-machine material, and its main processing difficulties are large plastic deformation, large cutting force, high cutting temperature, serious hardening, and serious tool wear, which makes it difficult to guarantee product surface quality and accuracy. Therefore, most carbide and high-speed steel tools are almost unable to machine nickel-based superalloys. In addition, machining needs to be carried out after solution treatment, taking into account the work hardenability of the material. In response to these machining difficulties, Kesu Hardware generally adopts new high-performance tool materials, selects appropriate cutting fluids, adopts appropriate heat treatment process, improves the machinability of materials, tools and cutting parameters to optimize the cutting amount to achieve high-speed machining of Inconel 718. Purpose. In general, Inconel 718 tools should have the following machining characteristics:

1) High thermal shock resistance.

2) High thermal hardness, high strength and high toughness.

3) Good abrasion resistance.

4) Good temperature stability.

5) It is not easy to have an affinity reaction with the workpiece material.

Inconel 718 Machining

The advantages and disadvantages of Inconel 78 machining:

Advantages：

(1) Easy to process. Inconel 718 alloy has good plasticity and can even be processed into various complex parts.

(2) High tensile strength, fatigue strength, creep strength and rupture strength at 700°C

(3) High oxidation resistance at 1000°C.

(4) It has stable chemical properties at low temperature.

(5) Good welding performance. Inconel 718 can effectively inhibit the phenomenon of welding cracks, and the effect is obvious.

Disavantages：

(1) Inconel 718 has poor thermal conductivity, high toughness, and strong tendency to work hardening, which is not conducive to cutting.

(2) Low thermal conductivity leads to high cutting force and huge cutting temperature.

(3) The tool wear is serious.

(4) The plastic deformation of the finished product is large.

(5) The surface quality and precision of the product are difficult to guarantee.

The applications of Inconel 718 machining:

Since Inconel 718 has high temperature strength at 700℃, excellent corrosion resistance and easy processability, it can be widely used in various high-demanding occasions. For example, it is used in steam turbines, liquid fuel rockets, low temperature engineering, acidic environment, nuclear reaction engineering, extrusion dies, etc. At present, Inconel 718 alloy has a wide range of applications in power generation, gas turbines, tubing hangers, safety valve systems, aerospace, nuclear engineering and many other industries.