MILLING TOOL DEFORMATION CAUSED BY HEATING DURING THE CUTTING PROCESS

Abstract

The presented paper describes an experiment dealing with the deformation of a milling tool caused by heating during the cutting process. Based on the literature review an experimental procedure is designed to simulate heating of the milling tool during machining. The experimental heating of the milling tool is realized using a laser beam. The frequency of laser radiation and the length of each pulse are selected in order to simulate the real cutting process. The output power of the laser radiation is 10W or 20W. During the experiment deformation and temperature of the tool are measured. In the second part of the presented article an experiment is carried out investigating the heating and deformation of the milling tool during real machining of an aluminium alloy. The experiment consists of several test cycles, when a different amount of material is removed. Deformations of the tool and also of the machine tool are measured immediately after milling, and during cooling to ambient temperature. The results clearly show that there is a significant temperature rise of the milling tool during the cutting process, which mainly causes milling tool extension in the axial direction. The conclusion of the experiment is that the thermal deformation of the milling tool during machining cannot be neglected, as it can also be a source of certain errors.