Investigations into the influence of the geometry of face milling cutters on the quality formation

Abstract

The machining of solid wood is a challenging task, because the inhomogeneity of wood requires a special adaptation of the cutting conditions. Critical cutting directions have been up to now preferably avoided. The aim of these investigations is optimizing the tool geometry, which has to generate good cutting surface independent of the boundary conditions (critical cutting directions). The experiments are carried out in three basic steps: defining critical cutting direction and type of wood; finding the best cutting conditions and variation of the face cutting edge parameters. The results discussed here are obtained from a research project funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The influence of the cutting parameters and wood properties on the surface quality was discussed at first. Further, the experimental and analytical investigations for determining optimal tool geometry on the face cutting edge were reported. Afterwards, recommendations for designing of milling tools with face cutting edges were suggested. Finally, selected results of interesting problems were presented. It was possible to show that the optimized cutting edge angles produce a surface quality with an average roughness (Rz=45 µm) by pure chip removal with a face cutting edge in critical direction of primary motion.

Keywords:

• Face milling
• tool geometry
• surface structure