Trochoidal Milling Path with Variable Feed. Application to the Machining of a Ti-6Al-4V Part

Trochoidal milling is a well-stablished machining strategy which still allows for the introduction of new approaches. This strategy can be applied to any kind of material, although it is usually associated to advanced materials, such as titanium and nickel alloys. This study is based on the adaptation of the feed speed of a milling tool with Ti-6Al-4V, so the chip width can be maintained constant without modifying the path geometry. A singularity in the experimental stage was to mill an Archimedes spiral groove instead of the conventional straight grooves. This made it possible to obtain a concave wall as well as a convex one and to optimize the amount of material used. The time efficiency compared to a constant feed, was slightly superior to 20%, reducing tool wear also. These techniques require milling machines with high mechanical and kinematic performance, as well as the absence of clearance between joints and a high acceleration capacity.

Modeling and Analysis of Micro Surface Topography from Ball-End Milling in a Trochoidal Milling Mode

The trochoidal milling mode is widely used in high-speed machining, and due to good adaptability and flexible posture adjustment, ball-end milling cutters are conducive to complex surface machining with this mode. However, the processes of material removal and formation of machined micro surfaces are very difficult to describe as the profile of cutter teeth is complex and the trajectory direction changes continuously during the trochoidal milling process. A modeling method for the generation of micro surface topography of ball-end milling in the trochoidal milling mode is put forward. In this method, the locus equation of each cutter tooth is established based on the principle of homogeneous coordinate transformation, after which a Z-MAP algorithm is designed to simulate the micro surface topography. The Z-MAP algorithm can quickly obtain the part grid nodes potentially swept by the cutter tooth within a unit time step through the establishment of servo rectangular encirclement and instantaneous sweeping quadrilateral of the element of cutter teeth; the part grid nodes actually swept are further determined through an angle summation method, and the height coordinate is calculated with the method of linear interpolation according to Taylor’s formula of multivariate functions. Experiments showed that the micro surface topography resulting from ball-end milling in the trochoidal milling mode had high consistency with the simulation, which indicates that the proposed method can predict micro surface topography in practical manufacturing. In addition, a comparison of micro surface topography between trochoidal milling and ordinary straight-linear milling was conducted, and the results showed that the former was overall superior to the latter in resulting characteristics. Based on this conclusion, the influences of cutting parameters of ball-end trochoidal milling on surface characteristics, particularly amplitude and function, were analyzed according to the simulated micro surface topography data.

Modeling of cutting forces in trochoidal milling with respect to wear-dependent topographic changes

The aerospace industry utilizes nickel-based super-alloys due to its high level of strength and corrosion resistance. To evaluate milling strategies regarding tool wear, the prediction of forces during these cutting operations is essential. This comprises the determination of the undeformed chip thickness. Due to the complex interdependencies of tool engagements, the determination of these thicknesses is challenging. A geometric physically-based simulation system was extended by a novel time-discrete envelope model to increase the precision of the calculated undeformed chip thicknesses. In order to take tool wear into account, digitized topographies of cutting inserts in different states of tool wear were modelled.

Investigation on the Surface Quality Obtained during Trochoidal Milling of 6082 Aluminum Alloy

Surface quality has always been an important goal in the manufacturing industry, as it is not only related to the achievement of appropriate geometrical tolerances but also plays an important role in the tribological behavior of the surface as well as its resistance to fatigue and corrosion. Usually, in order to achieve sufficiently high surface quality, process parameters, such as cutting speed and feed, are regulated or special types of cutting tools are used. In the present work, an alternative strategy for slot milling is adopted, namely, trochoidal milling, which employs a more complex trajectory for the cutting tool. Two series of experiments were initially conducted with traditional and trochoidal milling under various feed and cutting speed values in order to evaluate the capabilities of trochoidal milling. The findings showed a clear difference between the two milling strategies, and it was shown that the trochoidal milling strategy is able to provide superior surface quality when the appropriate process parameters are also chosen. Finally, the effect of the depth of cut, coolant and trochoidal stepover on surface roughness during trochoidal milling was also investigated, and it was found that lower depths of cut, the use of coolant and low values of trochoidal stepover can lead to a considerable decrease in surface roughness.

Wear Resistance and Titanium Adhesion of Cathodic Arc Deposited Multi-Component Coatings for Carbide End Mills at the Trochoidal Milling of Titanium Alloy

The work was devoted to the study of the effectiveness of the application of multi-component coatings, TiN–Al/TiN, TiN–AlTiN/SiN, and CrTiN–AlTiN–AlTiCrN/SiN, obtained by cathodic arc deposition to increase the wear resistance of 6WH10F carbide end mills in trochoidal milling of titanium alloy. The surface morphology of the tool with coatings was studied using scanning electron microscopy, and surface roughness texture was estimated. Microhardness and elastic modulus of the coated carbide tool surface layer were determined by nanoindentation. The process of sticking titanium to the working surface of the tool and quantitative evaluation of end mill wear with multi-component coatings at the trochoidal strategy of milling titanium alloy was studied. The CrTiN–AlTiN–AlTiCrN/SiN coating showed the maximum value of the plasticity index at the level of 0.12. The maximum effect of reducing the wear rate was achieved when using a tool with a CrTiN –AlTiN–AlTiCrN/SiN coating when the operating time to failure of end mills was increased by 4.6 times compared to samples without coating, by 1.4 times compared with TiN–Al/TiN coating and 1.15 times compared with TiN–AlTiN/SiN coating.

Analysis and Prediction of the Machining Force Depending on the Parameters of Trochoidal Milling of Hardened Steel

Current demands on quality are the engine of searching for new progressive materials which should ensure enough durability in real conditions. Due to their mechanical properties, however, they cannot be applied to conventional machining methods. In respect to productivity, one of the methods is the finding of such machining technologies which allow achieving an acceptable lifetime of cutting tools with an acceptable quality of a machined surface. One of the mentioned technologies is trochoidal milling. Based on our previous research, where the effect of changing cutting conditions (cutting speed, feed per tooth, depth of cut) on tool lifetime was analysed, next, we continued with research on the influences of trochoid parameters on total machining force (step and engagement angle) as parameters adjustable in the CAM (computer-aided machining) system. The main contribution of this research was to create a mathematical-statistical model for the prediction of cutting force. This model allows setting up the trochoid parameters to optimize force load and potentially extend the lifetime of the cutting tool.