Creation of an intelligent machining system to adapt to structural variability in safety critical titanium alloy components

这项工作将改变我们加工高价值钛部件的方式--例如，在车床上车削航空引擎轴。我们将开发一种技术，可以实时监控零件的“微观结构”，以确定我们对刀具施加的压力，而不是应用关于我们可以移除多少金属和旋转零件的速度的全球规则。金属的微观结构类似于木材的不同部分--心材、边材、节、纹理如何运行--但规模要小得多(通常是一毫米的几分之一)。木匠大师将通过视觉和触觉来看到和感觉木材的这些特征，并本能地用他们的工具以一种最大限度地增加强度和/或视觉吸引力的方式来处理木材，同时使用最少的努力。在金属加工中，这种精细技术是不可能的，因为到目前为止，还没有一种可用的技术可以“看到”微结构。一种名为空间分辨声波光谱学(SRAS)的技术使用激光来产生和检测在金属部件表面传播的超高频超声波。这些波与微结构相互作用，这让我们能够“看到”它。通过将这些信息与加工金属如何影响其性能的知识联系起来-这是工作的另一部分-打开了智能地制作切割过程的可能性。这不仅将导致更快的加工过程和更少的损害，还将意味着最终部件的微观结构图可用-这将是确认质量的无价工具。

This work will change the way we think about machining high value titanium components - for example, turning an aeroengine shaft on a lathe. Rather than apply global rules about how much metal we can remove and how fast we can rotate the part, we will develop a technique that can monitor - in real time - the "microstructure" of the part, in order to determine how much pressure we apply with the cutting tool. Microstructure in metals is analogous to the different parts of timber - heartwood, sapwood, knots, how the grain runs - but on a much smaller scale (usually fractions of a millimetre). A master carpenter will see and feel these features of the timber by sight and touch, and instinctively work the wood with their tools in such a way as to maximise strength and/or visual appeal whilst using the least amount of effort. Such finesse has not been possible in metal working as - until now - there has not been a technique available that can "see" the microstructure.A technique called spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy (SRAS for short) uses lasers to generate and detect very high frequency ultrasonic waves that travel on the surface of the metal component. These waves interact with the microstructure, and this allows us to "see" it. By relating this information to knowledge of how machining the metal affects its performance - which is another part of the work - opens up the possibility of intelligently crafting the cutting process. Not only will this lead to faster machining processes and less damage, it will also mean that a map of the microstructure of the final part is available - this will be invaluable for confirming quality.