Development of cutting force measurement on X-Y plane in milling operation with micro end mill

Milling is one of the most important metal cutting processes. If the cutting force could be measured, we can make cutting process optimum, prevent tool breakage, and improve efficiency of process. Especially in the case of using a micro end mill, it is very difficult to identify whether cutting process is good or not. In this paper, a cutting force measurement technique by using image processing was proposed. In the technique, we captured images of end mill by a small CCD camera and mirrors during cutting process from x and y direction to determine deflection of the tool and then estimated cutting force in x-y plane. Finally small cutting force was estimated accurately.