Mechanistic Force Modeling of Micro Ball End Milling Processes

Micro ball end milling processes show promise in producing complex, sculpted, miniaturized components with high relative accuracy for a wide range of engineering materials. This paper investigates the mechanistic modeling of micro ball end milling forces with consideration of the effects of ploughing and elastic recovery for micro ball end milling operations. Micro ball end milling is unique because the uncut chip thickness is less than the minimum chip thickness when the axial depth of cut is small. A ploughing force model that takes into account the effect of elastic recovery and ploughing is developed based on the interference volume between the tool and the workpiece. The elastic recovery is identified from experimental scratch tests using a conical scratching tool. The model is validated through micro ball end milling experiments. Published in the Transactions of NAMRI/SME, Vol. 37, 2009, pp. 67-74.