Abstract
Ball end milling is available to process the complicated shape products. The tool life is affected by many factors. Then estimations of the tool wear are difficult. In this paper, the effects of the tool posture and the cutting conditions on the tool wear in ball end milling are examined. From the experimental results, it is found that the tool wear is affected by the cutting time per rotation in each flute and the chip thickness, which are changed by the tool posture and the cutting conditions. It is suggested that the tool life in ball end milling may be improved by choosing the cutting conditions with longer cutting time per rotation.
