Investigation on surface integrity in laser-assisted machining of Inconel 718 based on in-situ observation

Inconel 718, a nickel-based superalloy, is widely used in the key parts of aero-engine owing to its high performance at elevated temperatures. Meanwhile, Inconel 718 is a typical difficult-to-cut material which is hard to obtain ideal surface integrity by conventional machining (CM). Laser-assisted machining (LAM) has a good potential to improve the machinability. In order to study the processing mechanism in the LAM of Inconel 718, the in-situ and ex-situ studies were presented in this paper. In the in-situ analysis, LAM and CM experiments were carried out based on in-situ observation and digital image correlation (DIC) technology. The Von Mises strain and equivalent plastic strain rate in the primary shear zone (PSZ) and cutting force were measured. According to the DIC results, under the experimental conditions of this paper, the average Von Mises strain and average equivalent plastic strain rate of PSZ in LAM increase by about 10% and 20% respectively due to the softening of Inconel 718 by laser heating, compared with CM. In-situ analysis shows that Inconel 718 in LAM is more prone to plastic flow, resulting in lower cutting forces. As for the ex-situ characterization, the surface roughness, residual stress and tool wear were measured. The measured results show that LAM can significantly reduce surface roughness and tool wear, and cause compressive residual stress on the machined surface.