In situ triboreduction of organo-copper compound in titanium alloys tapping

In this paper, an organo-copper phosphate compound was synthesized and applied as a water-based lubricating additive in a tapping test of Ti–6Al–4V alloys. The results show that the Cu-containing compound plays an effective role in the metalworking. The machined surfaces were examined by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. After Ar+ etching, abundant metallic Cu was detected in the subsurface. This indicated that Cu(II) was reduced to Cu(0) via in situ triboreduction in the frictional process.