Cutter path orientations when high-speed finish milling inclined hardened steel

The use of high-speed milling (HSM) for the production of moulds and dies is becoming more widespread. Critical aspects of the technology include cutting tools, machinability data, cutter path generation and technology. Much published information exists on cutting tools and related data (cutting speeds, feed rates, depths of cut, etc.). However, relatively little information has been published on the evaluation of cutter paths for this application. Most of the research focuses on cutter path generation with the main aim on reducing production time. Work concerning cutter path evaluation and optimisation on tool wear, tool life and relevant workpiece machinability characteristics are scant. This paper investigates and evaluates the different cutter path orientations when high-speed finish milling inclined hardened steel, at a workpiece inclination angle of 75°. The results demonstrate that employing a vertical downward orientation achieved the longest life. However, in terms of workpiece surface roughness, vertical upward orientation is generally preferred.     

THE SURFACE INTEGRITY IN MACHINING HARDENED STEEL SKD11 FOR DIE AND MOLD

Milling cutters were evaluated by tool wear, cutting force and vibration. Surface integrity of grinding and milling were investigated by comparing residual stress distributions, metallurgical structure, hardened layer depth and surface roughness. And influence of cutting tool wear on surface integrity was investigated. Experimentations revealed that the preferable surface integrity would be obtained if the proper milling cutter as well as a small wear criterion were adopted to avoid the advent of tempered martensite. The research results pointed out the feasibility of taking milling as the finish machining process instead of grinding in machining hardened steel with high efficiency.     

THE SURFACE INTEGRITY IN MACHINING HARDENED STEEL SKD11 FOR DIE AND MOLD

Milling cutters were evaluated by tool wear, cutting force and vibration. Surface integrity of grinding and milling were investigated by comparing residual stress distributions, metallurgical structure, hardened layer depth and surface roughness. And influence of cutting tool wear on surface integrity was investigated. Experimentations revealed that the preferable surface integrity would be obtained if the proper milling cutter as well as a small wear criterion were adopted to avoid the advent of tempered martensite. The research results pointed out the feasibility of taking milling as the finish machining process instead of grinding in machining hardened steel with high efficiency.     

曲面铣削过程加工路径对切削力和磨损的影响研究

针对不同走刀路径下的复杂曲面加工过程进行球头铣刀铣削Cr12MoV加工复杂曲面研究,分析不同走刀路径下铣削力和刀具磨损的变化趋势。试验结果表明:通过对比分析直线铣削和曲面铣削过程中的最大未变形切屑厚度,可以得出单周期内曲面铣削的力大于直线铣削过程的力,铣削相同铣削层时环形走刀测得的切削力普遍大于往复走刀测得的切削力;以最小刀具磨损为优化目标,运用方差分析法分析得出不同走刀路径的影响刀具磨损的主次因素,同时利用残差分析方法建立球头铣刀加工复杂曲面刀具磨损预测模型,并通过试验进行验证。     

Ultraprecision turning of electroless nickel: effects of crystal orientation and origin of diamond tools

This paper deals with (i) the performance of natural and artificial diamond tools and (ii) the effects of crystal orientations at rake face of diamond tool for long distance (>200 km) ultraprecision machining of electroless nickel. The criteria for cutting performance of the diamond tool include flank wear, crater wear, workpiece surface finish, and cutting forces. Experimental results show that the natural diamond tool has superior performance compared to the artificial one as it experienced lower cutting forces and lower flank and crater wears. It was also found that the cutting tool with {110} crystal orientation at rake face performs better than the tool with {100} crystal orientation in terms of amount of wear, surface finish, and cutting forces.     

Experimental investigations on effects of tool flank wear on surface integrity during orthogonal dry cutting of Ti-6Al-4V

Machining titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V is a challenging task since tool flank wear adversely affects surface integrity. Quantitative effects of predetermined tool flank wear values (VB) on the surface integrity were investigated through the orthogonal dry cutting of Ti-6Al-4V. Experimental results indicated that three-dimensional (3D) average surface roughness increased with the VB ranging from 0 to 0.2 mm but decreased at VB = 0.3 mm. Given the effects of rubbing and ironing enhanced, surface material burning and plastic flows emerged on the machined surface at VB = 0.3 mm. Not only the plastic deformation layer became deeper but also the grains were greatly distorted with the increase of tool flank wear. When machined by using the tool at VB = 0.3 mm, the β phase of Ti-6Al-4V decreased near the machined surface layer than that of using the fresh tool. Besides, the depth of work-harden layer increased from 20 to 60 μm with the VB increasing from 0 to 0.3 mm. The softened layer was generated near the machined surface by using the tool at VB = 0.3 mm. In addition, the residual compressive stresses of the machined surface had the trend of decreasing. Experimental results indicated that the VB less than 0.2 mm was the most suitable condition for better surface integrity during orthogonal dry cutting of Ti-6Al-4V. This study aims at providing experimental data for optimizing the processing parameters and improving the surface integrity of Ti-6Al-4V.     

Experimental investigations while hard machining of DIEVAR tool steel (50 HRC)

This paper describes hard machining which offers many potential benefits over traditional manufacturing techniques. In this work, investigations were carried out on end milling of hardened tool steel DIEVAR (hardness 50 HRC), a newly developed tool steel material used by tool- and die-making industries. The objective of the present investigation was to study the performance characteristics of machining parameters such as cutting speed, feed, depth of cut and width of cut with due consideration to multiple responses, i.e. volume of material removed, tool wear, tool life and surface finish. Performance evaluation of physical vapour deposition-coated carbide inserts, ball end mill cutter and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride inserts (PCBN) was done for rough and finish machining on the basis of flank wear, tool life, volume of material removed, surface roughness and chip formation. It has been observed from investigations that chipping, diffusion and adhesion were active tool wear mechanisms and saw-toothed chips were formed whilst machining DIEVAR hard steel. PCBN inserts give an excellent performance in terms of tool life and surface finish in comparison with carbide-coated inserts. End milling technique using PCBN inserts could be a viable alternative to grinding in comparison to ball end mill cutter in terms of surface finish and tool life.     

Cutting performance of coated carbide tools in high-speed face milling of AISI H13 hardened steel

In the present study, high-speed face milling of AISI H13 hardened steel was conducted to investigate the cutting performance of coated carbide tools. The characteristics of chip morphology, tool life, tool wear mechanisms, and surface roughness were analyzed and compared for different cutting conditions. It was found that as the cutting speed increased, the chip morphology evolved in different ways under different milling conditions (up, down, and symmetric milling). Individual saw-tooth segments and sphere-like chip formed at the cutting speed of 2,500 m/min. Owing to the relatively low mechanical load, longest tool life can be obtained in up milling when the cutting speed was no more than 1,000 m/min. As the cutting speed increased over 1,500 m/min, highest tool life existed in symmetric milling. When the cutting speed was 500 m/min, owing to the higher mechanical load, the flaked region on the tool rake face in symmetric milling was much larger than that in up and down milling. There was no obvious wear on the tool rake face at the cutting speed of 2,500 m/min due to the short tool-chip contact length. In symmetric milling, the delamination of tool material, which did not occur in up and down milling, was caused by the relatively large cutting force. Abrasion had great effect on the tool flank wear in symmetric milling. With the increment of cutting speed, surface roughness decreased first and then increased rapidly. Lowest surface roughness can be obtained at the cutting speed of about 1,500 m/min.     

Performance of graded nano-composite ceramic tools in ultra-high-speed milling of Inconel 718

The cutting performance, failure types, and mechanisms of the graded nano-composite ceramic tools were investigated during dry face milling of Inconel 718. In these tests, round ceramic inserts were used at cutting speeds ranging from 500 to 1,100 m/min. The structures of the chips, cutting forces, and surface roughness were also examined. Failure surfaces of the tools were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the graded tool possessed a self-sharpening characteristic and exhibited higher cutting performance compared with the homogeneous ones, as a result of its enhanced mechanical properties, higher abrasive wear, and fracture resistance. The failure mechanisms of the tools involved chipping, flaking, notch wear, abrasive wear, and adhesive wear. The mechanisms responsible for the higher cutting performance of the graded tools were inferred to be the formation of compressive residual stress in the surface layer induced by the graded compositional structure.     

硬质合金立铣刀螺旋角对切削性能的影响

利用单因素试验法,在高温合金(GH4169)的铣削加工中,分析了硬质合金立铣刀螺旋角对切削力、已加工表面粗糙度、刀具寿命和失效形式的影响。掌握了立铣刀螺旋角对切削性能的影响,优选出在高温合金精铣加工中较为合理的刀具螺旋角。     

Effect of cutting speed on cutting forces and wear mechanisms in high-speed face milling of Inconel 718 with Sialon ceramic tools

In this paper, a series of milling tests were carried out in order to identify the effects of cutting speed on cutting forces and tool wear when high-speed face milling Inconel 718 with Sialon ceramic tools. Both down-milling and up-milling operations were conducted. The cutting forces, tool wear morphologies, and the tool failure mechanisms in a wide range of cutting speeds (600–3,000 m/min) were discussed. Results showed that the resultant cutting forces firstly decrease and then increase with the increase of cutting speed. Under relatively lower cutting speeds (600 and 1,000 m/min), the dominant wear patterns is notching. Further increasing the speed to more than 1,400 m/min, the notching decreases a lot and flank wear becomes the dominant wear pattern. In general, at the same cutting speed, flaking on the rake face and notching on the flank face are more serious in down-milling operation than that in up-milling operation with the same metal removal volume. However, the surface roughness values for down-milling are lower than that for up-milling.     

Surface topography analysis in high speed finish milling inclined hardened steel

The surface texture of a milled surface is an inherently important process response in finish milling. It is one of the most commonly used criteria to determine the machinability of a particular workpiece material. However, literature survey on the study of the surface topography analysis relating to the cutter path orientations when high speed finish inclined milling is scant. Previous works were either involved in conventional milling of easy-to-cut workpiece materials or machining at different workpiece inclination angles. Furthermore, none of the previous work has detailed the true surface topography of the machined surface with regards to the cutter condition. Instead, the works provided quantitative values in terms of the Ra value. This article is concerned with evaluating cutter path orientations on an inclined workpiece angle of 75° to simulate finish milling of free form moulds and dies. Surface topography effects are assessed with regards to different cutter path orientations on its surface. The aims of this study are to provide an in-depth understanding on the surface texture produced by various cutter path orientations when high speed finish inclined milling hardened steel at a workpiece inclination angle of 75° using surface topography analysis and determine the best cutter path orientation with respect to the best surface texture achieved. 3D topography maps together with 2D surface profiles are used to assess the experimental results. The conclusion is that milling in a single direction vertical upward orientation gave the best workpiece surface texture.     

Investigation of cutting forces,surface integrity,and tool wear when high-speed milling of high-volume fraction SiC<Subscript>p</Subscript>/Al6063 composites in PCD tooling

This paper focused on high-speed milling of Al6063 matrix composites reinforced with high-volume fraction of small-sized SiC particulates and provided systematic experimental study about cutting forces, thin-walled part deformation, surface integrity, and tool wear during high-speed end milling of 65% volume fraction SiC_p/Al6063 (Al6063/SiC_p/65p) composites in polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tooling. The machined surface morphologies reveal that the cutting mechanism of SiC particulates plays an important role in defect formation mechanisms on the machined surface. In high-speed end milling of Al6063/SiC_p/65p composites, the cutting forces are influenced most considerably by axial depth of cut, and thus the axial depth of cut plays a dominant role in the thin-walled parts deformation. Increased milling speed within a certain range contributes to reducing surface roughness. The surface and sub-surface machined using high-speed milling suffered from less damage compared to low-speed milling. The milling speed influence on surface residual stress is associated with milling-induced heat and deformation. Micro-chipping, abrasive wear, graphitization, grain breaking off, and built-up edge are the dominated wear mechanism of PCD tools. Finally, a series of comparative experiments were performed to study the influence of tool nose radius, average diamond grain size, and machining parameters on PCD tool life.     

INVESTIGATION OF THE TOOL WEAR AND SURFACE FINISH IN LOW-SPEED MILLING OF STAINLESS STEEL UNDER FLOOD AND MIST LUBRICATION

This paper examines the performance of AlN/TiN coated carbide tool during milling of STAVAX® (modified AISI 420 stainless steel) at a low speed of 50 m/min under conventional flood and mist lubrication. Abrasion, chipping, fracture resulting in the formation of crater and catastrophic failure are the wear mechanisms encountered during machining under flood lubrication. The flank wear, and the likeliness of the cutting tool to fracture, chip and fail prematurely increased with an increase in the hardness of the workpiece and a reduction in the helix angle of the tool. Small quantity of mineral oil sprayed in mist form was effective in reducing the flank wear and severity of abrasion wear, and preventing the formation of crater and the occurrence of catastrophic failure. In milling 35 and 55 HRC-STAVAX® using a feed rate of 0.4 mm/tooth and a depth of cut of 0.2 mm under mist lubrication, the cutting edge of the 25° and 40° helix angle tools only suffered small-scale edge chipping and abrasive wear throughout the entire duration of testing. The influence of the ductility of the workpiece on the surface finish and the effectiveness of mist lubricant in improving the surface finish are also discussed.     

球头铣刀高速铣削斜面的三维数值模拟研究

用球头铣刀高速铣削斜面是在三轴加工中心上加工模具时的一种走刀方式。根据球头铣刀高速铣削斜面的特点,建立了在垂直向上和向下、水平向上和向下四种走刀方式下高速铣削45°斜面,以及在垂直向下走刀方式下高速铣削30°、60°、75°斜面的三维有限元模型,以分析不同走刀方式下铣削斜面以及铣削不同角度斜面时切削力和切削温度的变化规律。模拟结果表明,在铣削45°斜面时,采用向上走刀方式较向下走刀方式的切削力幅值小、波动大,且切削温度高;采用垂直向下走刀方式铣削大角度斜面时也出现类似情况。对切削力的实测结果验证了该模型的可靠性。     

Electron beam melting of gamma titanium aluminide and investigating the effect of EBM layer orientation on milling performance

Electron beam melting (EBM) is one of the growing processes of additive manufacturing technology (AMT) to fabricate 3D parts from various difficult-to-process materials such as titanium alloys. A major limitation of the EBM process is the poor surface finish of the produced parts which ultimately demands a subsequent subtractive method (secondary finishing operation) to improve the surface finish for shaping the part to be fit for-end use applications where high surface finish is commonly required. With respect to the EBM layer build direction, the fabricated part has different orientations with varying surface characteristics. Therefore, in order to perform secondary finishing operation (e.g., milling) there are different choices of EBM part orientation to select the direction of tool feed. In this research, 3D parts of titanium alloy (gamma titanium aluminide; γ-TiAl) are additively manufactured through EBM process. The effect of EBM layer/part orientation on the milling performance is further investigated in terms of surface finish improvement and edge chipping evaluation. It has been observed that the EBM layer/part orientation with respect to milling tool feed direction (TFD) plays a vital role in milling performance. Thus, a care must be taken to select the appropriate tool feed direction and layer/part orientation in order to achieve maximum surface finish with minimum edge chipping. The results revealed the vertical milling can be adopted as a secondary finishing operation to be performed on EBM produced parts of γ-TiAl and it allows to significantly improve the poor surface finish generated by EBM (R_a 31 μm). Furthermore, among the available part orientation choices, the part orientation in which the milling tool is fed across the EBM layer build direction is the best orientation resulting into high surface finish (R_a 0.12 μm) with relatively smooth edges (minimum chipping-off).     

Influence of cutting edge radius on surface integrity and burr formation in milling titanium

The influence of the cutting edge micro geometry on cutting process and on tool performance is subject to several research projects. Recently, published papers mainly focus on the cutting edge rounding and its influence on tool life and cutting forces. For applications even more important, however, is the influence of the cutting edge radius on the integrity of the machined part. Especially for titanium, which is used in environments requiring high mechanical integrity, the information about the dependency of surface integrity on cutting edge geometry is important. This paper therefore studies the influence of the cutting edge radius on surface integrity in terms of residual stress, micro hardness, surface roughness and optical characterisation of the surface and near surface area in up and down milling of the titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V. Moreover, the influence of the cutting edge radius on burr formation is analysed. The experiments show that residual stresses increase with the cutting edge radius especially in up milling, whereas the influence in down milling is less pronounced. The influence of the cutting edge radius on surface roughness is non-uniform. The formation of burr increases with increasing cutting edge radius, and is thus in agreement with the residual stress tests.     

Surface Integrity of Ultrasonically-Assisted Milled Ti6Al4V Alloy Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting

The Ti6Al4V parts produced by the existing selective laser melting (SLM) are mainly confronted with poor surface finish and inevitable interior defects,which substantially deteriorates the mechanical properties and performances of the parts.In this regard,ultrasonically-assisted machining (UAM) technique is commonly introduced to improve the machining quality due to its merits in increasing tool life and reducing cutting force.However,most of the previous studies focus on the performance of UAM with ultrasonic vibrations applied in the tangential and feed directions,whereas few of them on the impact of ultrasonic vibration along the vertical direction.In this study,the effects of feed rate on surface integrity in ultrasonically-assisted vertical milling (UAVM) of the Ti6Al4V alloy manufactured by SLM were systemically investigated compared with the conventional machining (CM) method.The results revealed that the milling forces in UAVM showed a lower amplitude than that in CM due to the intermittent cutting style.The surface roughness values of the parts produced by UAVM were generally greater than that by CM owing to the extra sinusoidal vibration textures induced by the milling cutter.Moreover,the extra vertical ultrasonic vibration in UAVM was beneficial to suppressing machining chatter.As feed rate increased,surface microhardness and thickness of the plastic deformation zone in CM raised due to more intensive plastic deformation,while these two material properties in UAVM were reduced owing to the mitigated impact effect by the high-frequency vibration of the milling cutter.Therefore,the improved surface microhardness and reduced thickness of the subsurface deformation layer in UAVM were ascribed to the vertical high-frequency impact of the milling cutter in UAVM In general,the results of this study provided an in-depth understanding in UAVM of Ti6Al4V parts manufactured by SLM.     

Tool wear and hole quality investigation in dry helical milling of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

This paper focused on combined study on the evolution of tool wear and its influence on borehole quality in dry helical milling of Ti-6Al-4V. The carbide tools with TiAlN coating were used in this experimental investigation. The tool wear characteristics both at front and periphery cutting edges were investigated using an optical microscope and SEM-EDS techniques. The experimental results demonstrate that the combined effects of chipping/fracture, diffusion, and oxidation have significant bearings on front cutting edge failure, while the flank wear was predominant at the periphery cutting edges. The cutting speed was correlated with tool failure mechanizes, and the different wear rates at front and periphery cutting edge caused different variation trends of cutting force in thrust and horizontal direction during hole-making process. The quality of machined holes was evaluated in terms of geometry accuracy, burr formation, and surface roughness. The exit-burrs of machined hole were closely correlated with front cutting edge wear. However, high hole quality was observed even the near end of tool life from the point of view of diameters, roundness error, and surface finish due to the smooth wear pattern at periphery cutting edges. Severe tool wear at front cutting edges will cause excessive exit-burrs, but it has no obvious effect on geometry and surface roughness in helical milling of Ti-6Al-4V.     

Milling of MAR-M247 nickel-based superalloy with high temperature and ultrasonic aiding

This study investigates the properties of machining MAR-M247 nickel-based superalloy combined ultrasonic vibration with high-temperature aided cutting. Taguchi experimental design was adopted to identify the influence of machining parameters on the machining characteristics. The six machining parameters, namely cutting tools for different materials; depth of cut; cutting speed; feed rate; working temperature; and, ultrasonic power. The machining characteristics analyzed include surface roughness, flank wear, cutting force, and milling temperature. According to the experimental results, when the cutting speed is greater than 90 m/min, P-type tungsten-carbide cutters with or without a Ti-alloy coating were unable to endure the very high temperatures generated in milling MAR-M247 nickel-based superalloy. The tungsten-carbide cutters melted and fractured. Due to the insufficient toughness of cermet cutters, the periodic high-impact stress causes severe cutter fractures when the cutting speed is greater than 60 m/min. When the cutting speed was less than 40 m/min, the cutter temperature was not significantly increased. Thus no melting or fracture of the cutters was found. Furthermore, when the cutting speed was less than 40 m/min, and fluid containing nano-particles of 5–23 nm in size was used, the cutter-workpiece friction force was reduced and the cutter life was extended.