Mechanistic modeling considering bottom edge cutting effect and material anisotropy during end milling of aluminum honeycomb core

Abstract

In the end milling of aluminum honeycomb core, the bottom edge of the cutter and the feed direction of the cutter will have a significant impact on the surface machining quality. If the above two factors are neglected in mechanistic modeling, the surface machining quality will be difficult to improve. In this paper, a mechanistic model considering the bottom edge cutting effect and the anisotropic characteristics of the material is firstly proposed to accurately predict cutting forces. Based on the contact relationship between the bottom edge and the honeycomb wall, a cutting force model of the bottom edge is developed, which includes the geometric characteristics of the bottom edge and the thin-walled edge cutting angle. For anisotropic characteristics of the material, a dynamic variation model of the entry and exit angles in any cutting direction is established on the basis of the structural model of the honeycomb core and cutting edge trajectory. The proposed mechanistic model was validated through a series of milling experiments. The results indicate that this model can be used to predict the cutting force of various parts of the cutter (including bottom and flank edges) and any feed direction.