Extracting cutting constants via harmonic force components for a general helical end mill

Abstract

Mechanistic cutting constants serve well in predicting milling forces, monitoring the milling process as well as in helping to understand the mechanistic phenomena of a machining process for a unique pair of workpiece and cutter materials under various types of cutting edge geometry. This paper presents a unified approach in identifying the six shearing and ploughing cutting constants for a general helical end mill from the dynamic components of the measured milling forces in a single cutting test. The identification model is first presented assuming the milling force is measured with a known phase angle of the cutter spindle. When the phase angle of the cutter rotation is not available, as is the case for most milling machines, it is shown that the true phase angle can be identified through the theoretical phase relationship between the different harmonic components of the milling forces measured with an arbitrary phase angle. The numerical simulation and the experimental results for ball and cylindrical end mills are presented to demonstrate and validate the identification methods.