The Influence of Tool Path Strategies on Cutting Force and Surface Texture during Ball End Milling of Low Curvature Convex Surfaces

Abstract

Advancement in machining technology of curved surfaces for various engineering applications is increasing. Various methodologies and computer tools have been developed by the manufacturers to improve efficiency of freeform surface machining. Selection of the right sets of cutter path strategies and appropriate cutting conditions is extremely important in ensuring high productivity rate, meeting the better quality level, and lower cutting forces. In this paper, cutting force as a new decision criterion for the best selection of tool paths on convex surfaces is presented. Therefore, this work aims at studying and analyzing different finishing strategies to assess their influence on surface texture, cutting forces, and machining time. Design and analysis of experiments are performed by means of Taguchi technique and analysis of variance. In addition, the significant parameters affecting the cutting force in each strategy are introduced. Machining strategies employed include raster, 3D-offset, radial, and spiral. The cutting parameters were feed rate, cutting speed, and step over. The experiments were carried out on low curvature convex surfaces of stainless steel 1.4903. The conclusion is that radial strategy provokes the best surface texture and the lowest cutting forces and spiral strategy signifies the worst surface texture and the highest cutting forces.

Applying experimental micro-tool wear measurement techniques to industrial environments

“…The size effect for smaller tools means that cutting forces are inherently more volatile even when cutting paths are optimised and therefore it is harder to completely negate these with sympathetic tool paths. 42 Therefore, it is suggested here that it may be more useful to map between straight slots and curved geometries on the micro scale than it is on the macro scale since the tool wear is inherently more unstable (unpredictable) due to the size effect.…”

Forecasting of the productivity of parts machining by high-speed milling with the method of half-overlap

“…Over the last few years, new strategies for highspeed roughing have been introduced that offer significant increases in metal removal rates and provide much shorter machining times [3][4][5][6][7]. In paper [8], six different tool path strategies have been investigated on the surface finish and machining time of a rectangular cavities of ESR Stavax material.…”

Modeling of Convex Surface Topography in Milling Process

“…The results show that the bottom-up milling resulted in a lower surface roughness than the top-down milling method. Shajari et al [14] has studied the cutting force and surface topography considering the tool path when milling the convex stainless steel. The results show that the radial tool path obtains the best surface topography and the lowest cutting force, and the spiral strategy obtains the worst surface topography and the largest cutting force.…”