High-quality machining of CFRP with high helix end mill

Side milling tests of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics) without coolant are carried out by DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon)-coated carbide end mills. Four types of DLC-coated end mills are chosen: UBMS (UnBalanced Magnetron Sputtered) and AIP (Arc Ion Plated) coatings having different helix angles, respectively. The surface integrity is evaluated in terms of 3D profiles of the machined surface, generation of fluffing, delamination and pull-out of the carbon fiber. The cutting force and tool wear with respect to the fiber orientation are also examined. The inclination milling with high helix angle end mill is proposed in which the end mill is tilted in such a way that the resultant cutting force acts parallel to the work surface. This unique approach enables to reduce tool wear and to improve surface integrity of machined surface of CFRP.     

新型双刃可转位球头立铣刀设计及其加工仿真研究

球头立铣刀是数控机床上加工复杂曲面的高性能结构化刀具,为了提高球头立铣刀的性能,设计了一款新型双刃可转位球头立铣刀,并在CAD/CAM软件Pro/E中建立其三维实体模型;导入金属切削工艺有限元软件AdvantEdge中进行铣削加工模拟仿真,得到加工过程中切削性能参数随时间的变化关系,并与某标准整体式球头立铣刀的铣削加工进行对比分析。结果表明:该铣刀的性能均较优,验证了文中设计的可行性,分析结果为球头立铣刀的设计优化与加工应用提供了参考。     

The estimation of cutting forces and specific force coefficients during finishing ball end milling of inclined surfaces

The majority of cutting force models applied for the ball end milling process includes only the influence of cutting parameters (e.g. feedrate, depth of cut, cutting speed) and estimates forces on the basis of coefficients calibrated during slot milling. Furthermore, the radial run out phenomenon is predominantly not considered in these models. However this approach can induce excessive force estimation errors, especially during finishing ball end milling of sculptured surfaces. In addition, most of cutting force models is formulated for the ball end milling process with axial depths of cut exceeding 0.5 mm and thus, they are not oriented directly to the finishing processes. Therefore, this paper proposes an accurate cutting force model applied for the finishing ball end milling, which includes also the influence of surface inclination and cutter's run out. As part of this work the new method of specific force coefficients calibration has been also developed. This approach is based on the calibration during ball end milling with various surface inclinations and the application of instantaneous force signals as an input data. Furthermore, the analysis of specific force coefficients in function of feed per tooth, cutting speed and surface inclination angle was also presented. In order to determine geometrical elements of cut precisely, the radial run out was considered in equations applied for the calculation of sectional area of cut and active length of cutting edge. Research revealed that cutter's run out and surface inclination angle have significant influence on the cutting forces, both in the quantitative and qualitative aspect. The formulated model enables cutting force estimation in the wide range of cutting parameters, assuring relative error's values below 16%. Furthermore, the consideration of cutter's radial run out phenomenon in the developed model enables the reduction of model's relative error by the 7% in relation to the model excluding radial run out.     

Cutting process of glass with inclined ball end mill

Cutting processes with ball end mills are discussed for machining microgrooves on glasses. A surface is finished in undeformed chip thickness less than 1 μm at the beginning and at the end of the cut during the cutter rotation. The milling process is applied to glass machining. A crack-free surface can be finished in a large axial depth of cut more than 10 μm. Because glass undergoes almost no elastic deformation, roughness on a cutting edge in glass machining has a larger influence on surface finish than that of metal machining. The rotational axis of the tool is inclined to improve the surface finish. The cutting processes are modeled to show the effect of the tool inclination on the machined surface with considering the edge roughness. The tool inclination compensates for deterioration of the surface finish induced by the edge roughness in the presented model. The improvement of the surface finish is verified in the cutting experiments with the tool inclination. The orthogonal grooves 15–20 μm deep and 150–175 μm wide, then, are machined with the crack-free surfaces to prove efficiency and surface quality in the milling process.     

Predictive cutting force model in complex-shaped end milling based on minimum cutting energy

A force model is presented to predict the cutting forces and the chip flow directions in cuttings with complex-shaped end mills such as ball end mills and roughing end mills. Three-dimensional chip flow in milling is interpreted as a piling up of the orthogonal cuttings in the planes containing the cutting velocities and the chip flow velocities. Because the cutting thickness changes with the rotation angle of the edge in the milling process, the surface profile machined by the previous edge inclines with respect to the cutting direction. The chip flow model is made using the orthogonal cutting data with taking into account the inclination of the pre-machined surface. The chip flow direction is determined so as to minimize the cutting energy, which is the sum of the shear energy on the shear plane and the friction energy on the rake face. Then, the cutting force is predicted for the chip flow model at the minimum cutting energy. The predicted chip flow direction changes not only with the local edge inclination but also with the cutting energy consumed in the shear plane cutting model. The cutting processes with a ball end mill and a roughing end mill are simulated to verify the predicted cutting forces in comparison with the measured cutting forces.     

Improving Cycle Time in Sculptured Surface Machining Through Force Modeling

In this paper, an enhanced mathematical model is presented for the prediction of cutting force system in ball end milling of sculptured surfaces. This force model is also used as the basis for off-line feed rate scheduling along the tool path in order to decrease the cycle time in sculptured surface machining. As an alternative for setting a constant feed rate all along the tool path in rough machining of sculptured surfaces, resultant cutting forces are aimed to be kept under a pre-set threshold value along the tool path by off-line scheduled piecewise variable feed rates. In this paper, it is shown that machining time, depending on complexity of sculptured surfaces, can be decreased significantly by scheduling feed rate along the tool path. The model is tested under various cutting conditions and some of the results are also presented and discussed in the paper.     

球头铣刀铣削斜面的三维有限元仿真研究

在能源动力、汽车、航空航天、模具制造等关键零部件的加工过程中,球头铣刀因其特有的刀具几何结构,常作为零件加工的最终成型刀具。考虑到在球头铣刀立铣加工中不同的刀具与工件相对姿态会对切削过程产生不同的影响,本文研究切屑形成和不同走刀方式下切削过程中各物理量(切削力、切削温度等)的变化情况,结合有限元仿真技术在切削加工中的应用,建立硬质合金球头铣刀铣削斜面的有限元模型,模拟相同切削参数下,八种不同走刀方式的球头铣削过程,分析刀具切入切出工件时切屑的形成过程,探究切削力和切削温度的变化规律。仿真结果表明:不同的走刀方式,平均切削合力各不相同,同时切屑和工件的最大切削温度也出现较大差异,而斜坡上坡逆铣的走刀方式所对应的平均切削合力和最大切削温度均最优。     

Cutting force prediction in ball end milling of sculptured surface with Z-level contouring tool path

This paper presents an approach to predict cutting force in 3-axis ball end milling of sculptured surface with Z-level contouring tool path. The variable feed turning angle is proposed to denote the angular position of feed direction within tool axis perpendicular plane. In order to precisely describe the variation of feed turning angle and cutter engagement, the whole process of sculptured surface milling is discretized at intervals of feed per tooth along tool path. Each segmented process is considered as a small steady-state cutting. For each segmented cutting, the feed turning angle is determined according to the position of its start/end points, and the cutter engagement is obtained using a new efficient Z-map method. Both the chip thickness model and cutting force model for steady-state machining are improved for involving the effect of varying feed turning angle and cutter engagement in sculptured surface machining. In validation experiment, a practical 3-axis ball end milling of sculptured surface with Z-level contouring tool path is operated. Comparisons of the predicted cutting forces and the measurements show the reliability of the proposed approach.     

Mechanics and dynamics of general milling cutters.: Part I: helical end mills

A variety of helical end mill geometry is used in the industry. Helical cylindrical, helical ball, taper helical ball, bull nosed and special purpose end mills are widely used in aerospace, automotive and die machining industry. While the geometry of each cutter may be different, the mechanics and dynamics of the milling process at each cutting edge point are common. This paper presents a generalized mathematical model of most helical end mills used in the industry. The end mill geometry is modeled by helical flutes wrapped around a parametric envelope. The coordinates of a cutting edge point along the parametric helical flute are mathematically expressed. The chip thickness at each cutting point is evaluated by using the true kinematics of milling including the structural vibrations of both cutter and workpiece. By integrating the process along each cutting edge, which is in contact with the workpiece, the cutting forces, vibrations, dimensional surface finish and chatter stability lobes for an arbitrary end mill can be predicted. The predicted and measured cutting forces, surface roughness and stability lobes for ball, helical tapered ball, and bull nosed end mills are provided to illustrate the viability of the proposed generalized end mill analysis.     

Effect of tilt angle on cutting regime transition in glass micromilling

Recent development in mechanical micromachining technology has increased the realization of micromachining as a feasible manufacturing process of micro-scale components including glass-based devices. It has been found that glass can be machined in a ductile regime under certain controlled cutting configurations. However, favorable ductile regime machining instead of brittle regime machining in micromilling of brittle glass is still not fully understood as a function of cutting configuration. In this study, the effect of tilt angle along the feed direction on cutting regime transition has been studied in micromilling crown glass with a micro-ball end mill. Straight glass grooves were machined in water bath by varying the tool tilt angle and the feed rate, and the resulting surface was characterized using the scanning electron microscope and the profilometer to investigate the glass cutting regime transition. In characterizing the cutting regimes in glass micromilling, rubbing, ductile machining, and brittle machining regimes are hypothesized according to the undeformed chip thickness. It is found that a crack-free glass surface can be better machined in the ductile mode using a 45° tilt angle and feed rates up to 0.32 mm/min. During each milling pass, surface roughness was found to decrease from the entry zone to the groove bottom and then increase to the exit zone regardless of the cutting regime.     

Marble cutting with single point cutting tool and diamond segments

An investigation has been undertaken into the frame sawing with diamond blades. The kinematic behaviour of the frame sawing process is discussed. Under different cutting conditions, cutting and indenting-cutting tests are carried out by single point cutting tools and single diamond segments. The results indicate that the depth of cut per diamond grit increases as the blades move forward. Only a few grits per segment can remove the material in the cutting process. When the direction of the stroke changes, the cutting forces do not decrease to zero because of the residual plastic deformation beneath the diamond grits. The plastic deformation and fracture chipping of material are the dominant removal processes, which can be explained by the fracture theory of brittle material indentation.     

Analytical model to determine the critical feed per edge for ductile-brittle transition in milling process of brittle materials

Brittle materials like glass are considered difficult-to-machine because of their high tendency towards brittle fracture during machining. The technological challenge in machining such brittle materials is to achieve material removal by plastic deformation rather than characteristic brittle fracture. In ductile mode machining, the material is removed predominantly by plastic deformation and any cracks produced due to possible fracture in the cutting zone are prevented from extending into the machined surface. This is achieved by selecting an appropriate cutting tool and suitable machining parameters. In ductile machining by milling process, fracture induced cracks are diverted away from final machined surface by selecting a suitable feed per edge less than a critical threshold value. Hence determination of critical feed per edge is of paramount importance to achieve ductile mode machining by milling process. This paper presents an analytical model based on fracture mechanics principles to predict the critical feed per edge in milling process of glass. The size and orientation of cracks originating from brittle fracture during machining have been quantified by using indentation test results and the critical value of feed per edge has been determined analytically as a function of intrinsic materials properties governing brittle fracture and plastic deformation. Furthermore, an equivalent tool included angle has been suggested for machining operation as against the indenter included angle to correlate the indentation and machining test results with improved degree of accuracy. Experimental results validated the proposed model fairly accurately. It has been established that if the longest cracks oriented in radial direction to the cutting edge trajectory are prevented from reaching the final machined surface by selecting a feed per edge less than or equal to a critical value, a crack-free machined surface can be achieved.     

Time domain model of plunge milling operation

Plunge milling operations are used to remove excess material rapidly in roughing operations. The cutter is fed in the direction of spindle axis which has the highest structural rigidity. This paper presents time domain modeling of mechanics and dynamics of plunge milling process. The cutter is assumed to be flexible in lateral, axial, and torsional directions. The rigid body feed motion of the cutter and structural vibrations of the tool are combined to evaluate time varying dynamic chip load distribution along the cutting edge. The cutting forces in lateral and axial directions and torque are predicted by considering the feed, radial engagement, tool geometry, spindle speed, and the regeneration of the chip load due to vibrations. The mathematical model is experimentally validated by comparing simulated forces and vibrations against measurements collected from plunge milling tests. The study shows that the lateral forces and vibrations exist only if the inserts are not symmetric, and the primary source of chatter is the torsional–axial vibrations of the plunge mill. The chatter vibrations can be reduced by increasing the torsional stiffness with strengthened flute cavities.     

Modelling the cutting edge radius size effect for force prediction in micro milling

This paper presents a theoretical model for cutting force prediction in micro milling, taking into account the cutting edge radius size effect, the tool run out and the deviation of the chip flow angle from the inclination angle. A parameterization according to the uncut chip thickness to cutting edge radius ratio is used for the parameters involved in the force calculation. The model was verified by means of cutting force measurements in micro milling. The results show good agreement between predicted and measured forces. It is also demonstrated that the use of the Stabler's rule is a reasonable approximation and that micro end mill run out is effectively compensated by the deflections induced by the cutting forces.     

Prediction of cutting forces in milling of circular corner profiles

This paper proposes an approach to predict the cutting forces in peripheral milling of circular corner profiles in which varying radial depth of cut is encountered. The geometric relationship between an end mill and the corner profile is investigated and a mathematical model is presented to describe the different phases of the cutter/workpiece contact. The milling process for circular corner is discretized into a series of steady-state cutting processes, each with different radial depth of cut determined by the instantaneous position of the end mill relative to the workpiece. A time domain analytical model of cutting forces for the steady-state machining conditions is introduced to each segmented process for the cutting force prediction. The predicted cutting forces can be calculated in terms of tool/workpiece geometry, cutting parameters and workpirece material property, as well as the relative position of the tool to workpiece. Experiments are conducted and the measured forces are compared to the predictions for the verification of the proposed method.     

Integrated tool path and feed rate optimization for the finishing machining of 3D plane surfaces

An integrated approach for the concurrent optimization of tool path and feed rate for the finishing machining of 3D plane surfaces using ball-end milling is presented in this paper. This work is important, as the developed optimization approach is readily applicable to the finishing machining of sculptured surfaces. The concurrently optimized tool path and feed rate correspond to the maximum machining efficiency and satisfy the scallop height and machining error requirements. The cutter feed direction is employed as the optimization variable. For each cutter feed direction, tool path is determined according to the scallop height requirement and feed rate is maximized with the tolerance requirement by using a mechanistic cutting force model for three-dimensional ball-end milling. Optimization results have indicated that the shortest total tool path length, favored by most existing optimization approaches, does not result in maximum efficiency because the corresponding feed rate is often constrained by the specified tolerance. The optimum cutter feed direction is in general not unique but falls within an optimum range in the finishing machining of 3D plane surfaces.     

1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢斜面铣削力的实验研究

阐述了1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢的切削特性,应用正交试验法进行了球头刀铣削1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢斜面铣削力实验,以铣削速度、铣削深度、进给量、行间距和斜面与水平面的夹角为试验因素,以球头刀斜面铣削力为试验指标。根据实验结果,回归得出了预测1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢斜面铣削力的模型,并分析了各试验因素对铣削力的影响规律,最后给出了球头刀铣削1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢斜面时的推荐铣削参数值,并将其应用于不锈钢搅拌桨叶片加工。     

Cutting force prediction of sculptured surface ball-end milling using Z-map

The cutting force in ball-end milling of sculptured surfaces is calculated. In sculptured surface machining, a simple method to determine the cutter contact area is necessary since cutting geometry is complicated and cutter contact area changes continuously. In this study, the cutter contact area is determined from the Z-map of the surface geometry and current cutter location. To determine cutting edge element engagement, the cutting edge elements are projected onto the cutter plane normal to the Z-axis and compared with the cutter contact area obtained from the Z-map. Cutting forces acting on the engaged cutting edge elements are calculated using an empirical method. Empirical cutting mechanism parameters are set as functions of cutting edge element position angle in order to consider the cutting action variation along the cutting edge. The relationship between undeformed chip geometry and the cutter feed inclination angle is also analyzed. The resultant cutting force is calculated by numerical integration of cutting forces acting on the engaged cutting edge elements. A series of experiments were performed to verify the proposed cutting force estimation model. It is shown that the proposed method predicts cutting force effectively for any geometry including sculptured surfaces with cusp marks and a hole.     

工艺参数对单晶硅超精密加工切削力的影响

为了了解单晶硅超精密车削过程中不同切削参数及刀具前角对切削力的影响,利用单晶金刚石车刀对单晶硅进行单因素变量超精密车削试验。试验结果表明:进给量f和切削深度a_p对X、Y、Z方向的切削力F均有增大的趋势;而在切削速度v_c增加时,各方向的F逐渐减小;切削前角减小时,切削力反而增大。通过各因素对切削力F的变化幅值可以得到,对F影响较大的参数为a_p及f。选取最佳组合参数对单晶硅进行超精密切削试验,得到极为光滑的表面。     

高速球铣路径对淬硬钢SKD11表面摩擦特性的影响

通过高速铣削试验与环-块摩擦磨损试验,借助白光干涉仪、超景深三维显微镜、显微硬度计等分析检测设备,研究了走刀路径对淬硬模具钢SKD11表面摩擦特性的影响。结果表明:球铣加工表面摩擦特性具有方向性,当走刀方向与摩擦方向垂直时,摩擦因数最小,磨痕宽度最窄,当二者夹角成45°时,摩擦因数最大,磨痕宽度最宽。球铣走刀路径影响加工表面形貌取向,表面形貌通过改变接触应力和磨屑捕捉能力来影响犁耕效应和黏着效应,进而影响摩擦特性。干摩擦工况下,主要磨损机理是磨粒磨损与氧化磨损,试验15 min后表面微沟槽形貌均已消失;而润滑工况下,表面微沟槽依然清晰,走刀路径与摩擦方向夹角成0°与45°试样表面出现磨粒磨损特征,而夹角成90°试样表面无明显划痕,表明采用该路径进行球铣加工具有较好的减磨效果。