Experimental and theoretical investigation on cutting forces in off-centre micro ball end milling

Free-form surfaces and micro features are finish machined by a micro ball end mill by removing steps left behind by flat end mill in the previous operation. For effective machining, off-centre ball end milling is employed in such a way that rubbing zone near ball tip is avoided. After confirming the limits of angular immersion from full-slot experimental results, both down and up off-centre milling experiments are conducted on edges of steps created on a test piece. The micro milling forces in off-centre mode are also investigated theoretically using a mechanistic model that considers the geometry of micro ball end mill and basic mechanics of cutting. The amplitudes of predicted forces match well with experimental values and the deviations in the experimental values arise out of micro level unevenness in the step edge. The up milling with lower transverse force is found to be more suitable for machining of thin features. (C) 2018 CIRP.