In the present study, the titanium alloy 'Ti-6Al-4V' is orthogonally machined without cutting fluid. During experiments, the cemented carbide tools were rigidly mounted on the tool holder with rake angles of 0°, 15° and 30°. Three cutting speeds of 15, 30 and 60 m/min and three feeds of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mm were selected. The experimental results show that the tool catastrophic failure occurs just after the first pass of cutting for all cutting parameters when using the tool with a rake angle of 30°. The analysis of the tribological parameters (friction, temperature, contact pressure) shows the effect of the machining parameters and the tool geometry on the damage modes during dry machining. To cite this article: M. Nouari et al., C. R. Mecanique 336 (2008).