Phase width analysis of cutting forces considering bottom edge cutting and cutter runout calibration in flat end milling of titanium alloy

This paper is concerned with the combined cutting effects of both flank and bottom edges based on a systematic study of the cutting force in flat end milling of the titanium alloy. Besides the flank edge, the bottom edge of the cutter is also found to be an important factor influencing the cutting force distributions and can lead to uniform phase widths for non-zero cutting forces even under considerable cutter runout. One such phenomenon of uniform phase width induced by the bottom edge for the cutting force is deeply revealed. To do this, the models for characterizing the cutting force coefficients related to both edges are established based on the measured instantaneous cutting forces, and cutter runout is considered in the computation of process geometry parameters such as cutter/workpiece engagements and instantaneous uncut chip geometry parameters. Novel algorithms for identifying the cutter runout parameters and the bottom uncut chip width are also developed. Results definitely show that the flank cutting force coefficients can be treated as constants and that size effect obviously exists in the bottom cutting force coefficients that can be characterized by a power function of the bottom uncut chip width. The proposed model is validated through a comparative study with the existing model and experiments. From the outcomes of the current work, it is clearly seen that the prediction of cutting forces for titanium alloy can resort to the proposed model instead of traditional ones. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.