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对加工高价值钛部件的看法-例如，在车床上车削航空发动机轴。我们将开发一种技术，可以真实的实时监控零件的“微观结构”，以确定我们用切削工具施加了多大的压力，而不是应用关于我们可以去除多少金属和我们可以旋转零件的速度的全局规则。金属中的微观结构类似于木材的不同部分-心材，边材，节，颗粒如何运行-但规模要小得多（通常是毫米的分数）。一个熟练的木匠将通过视觉和触觉看到和感觉到木材的这些特征，并本能地用他们的工具以最大的强度和/或视觉吸引力的方式加工木材，同时使用最少的努力。这种精细在金属加工中是不可能的，因为直到现在，还没有一种技术可以“看到”微观结构。一种称为空间分辨声学光谱（简称SRAS）的技术使用激光来产生和检测在金属部件表面传播的非常高频的超声波。这些波与微观结构相互作用，这使我们能够“看到”它。通过将这些信息与金属加工如何影响其性能的知识（这是工作的另一部分）相关联，为智能地制作切割过程提供了可能性。这不仅可以加快加工过程并减少损坏，还意味着可以获得最终零件的微观结构图-这对于确认质量非常重要。

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.