tool wear

P. Li (a), P. Aristimuno (b), P. Arrazola (b), A.M. Hoogstrate (c), J.A.J. Oosterling (c), H.H. Langen (a), R.H. Munnig Schmidt (a)

(a) Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
(b) Manufacturing Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mondragon University, Spain
(c) APPE Precision Manufacturing, TNO Science and Industry, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Abstract

Proper setting of cutting conditions is critical for the performance of micro endmills in micro milling of hardened tool steels. In this paper, the influence of the cutting parameters on the wear behaviour of micro square endmills is presented. The selected parameters are cutting speed, depth of cut, and feed per tooth; Central Composite experimental Design (CCD) was used for a statistical analysis of the influence of these parameters. A quadratic model was fitted to describe the performance of the tool wear; the ANOVA analysis shows that the quadratic model gives a good prediction of the experimental results. On considering the magnitudes of the coefficients it is seen that the feed per tooth has a greater influence on the tool wear than cutting speed and depth of cut within the tested process window. By applying this method, the micromilling process can be planned to achieve an optimum tool wear performance for a tool-workpiece combination.