INDUCTION-HEATED TOOL MACHINING OF ELASTOMERS—PART 2: CHIP MORPHOLOGY, CUTTING FORCES, AND MACHINED SURFACES

The induction-heated tool and cryogenically cooled workpiece are investigated for end milling of elastomers to generate desirable shape and surface roughness. Elastomer end milling experiments are conducted to study effects of the cutting speed, tool heating, and workpiece cooling on the chip formation, cutting forces, groove width, and surface roughness. At high cutting speed, smoke is generated and becomes an environmental hazard. At low cutting speeds, induction heated tool, if properly utilized, has demonstrated to be beneficial for the precision machining of elastomer with better surface roughness and dimensional control. Frequency analysis of cutting forces shows that the soft elastomer workpiece has low frequency vibration, which can be correlated to the surface machining marks. The width of end-milled grooves is only 68 to 78% of the tool diameter. The correlation between the machined groove width and cutting force reveals the importance of the workpiece compliance to precision machining of elastomer. This study also explores the use of both contact profilometer and non-contact confocal microscope to measure the roughness of machined elastomer surfaces. The comparison of measurement results shows the advantages and limitations of both measurement methods.