An investigation of cutting forces in horizontal-mode peripheral milling of curved surfaces

This paper investigates the cutting forces in peripheral milling of curved surfaces on the horizontal milling machine. An analytical model of cutting forces is presented. The effect of the workpiece curvature is taken into account in the model construction. Based on the relationship of differential cutting forces and chip load, the total cutting forces are formulated by integration of the differential cutting forces along the cutting flutes in the feed, cross-feed and axial directions. This formulation leads to an explicit expression for the force waveforms as algebraic functions of cutter variables, process parameters, machining configuration and workpiece geometry. Experiments are performed over a wide range of conditions on the horizontal milling machine to verify the model and meanwhile the effects of the process parameters on the cutting forces are revealed. The presented model facilitates force estimation and provides a basis for the analysis, prediction and improvement of surface accuracy in the horizontal-mode peripheral milling of curved surfaces.