Study on evaluation for cutting performance of ball end milling with straight-line path method for inclined surface using 3D-CAD (Influence of feed direction on cutting mechanism)

Abstract

In this paper, the cutting mechanism and cutting performance of a ball end mill on an inclined surface using the straight-line path method are investigated. Ball end mills are used to make a variety of products such as molds and dies. However, due to the complexity of the edge shape, the cutting process is not clear, so it becomes difficult to select the tool and an effective method to achieve good cutting performance. Therefore, in this study, the purpose is proposal of high efficient and accurate cutting method using a 5-axis control machine tool. First, a cutting model assembled by a ball end mill and a workpiece with and inclined surface is carried out using 3D-CAD (SolidWorks). Next, the cross-sectional cutting area is calculated by the interference of the rake surface of the tool and the uncut chip volume which can be removed by one cutting operation. Then, the evaluation value corresponding to a cutting torque is defined and calculated. After that, the cutting experiments are done in order to measure the cutting force and machined surface roughness. In addition, the cutting torques are calculated based on these results. Finally, high efficient and accurate cutting method are discussed using the analytical and experimental results, and then the cutting conditions which are expected good cutting performance are shown.