Preparation and Application of Nanocomposite Thin-Film Temperature Sensor during the Milling Process

During the titanium alloy milling process, high temperatures in the tool-chip contact area will affect the tool life and precision of titanium alloy machining. Therefore, it is essential to measure the temperature of the tool-chip contact area continuously. In this paper, a finite element simulation model of the milling process was established using ABAQUS2020 to obtain the highest temperature location in the tool-chip contact area when milling titanium alloy. The integration of the wire with the alumina ceramic substrate formed an integrated wire substrate. Furthermore, NiCr, NiSi, and SiO₂ films were deposited on the substrate sequentially using the DC pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. Finally, its microscopic morphology and static and dynamic performance were tested. The results show that the developed thin-film thermocouple temperature sensor has a Seebeck coefficient of 40.72 μV/°C and a dynamic response time of 0.703 ms. The application of the sensor to our titanium alloy milling experiments showed that the sensor can monitor the transient temperature in the tool-chip contact area, and its temperature measurement performance showed no detrimental effect from wearing. The effect of each milling parameter on the milling temperature was analyzed using ANOVA, and a regression model with an R-sq of 96.76% was obtained for the milling temperature.