Evaluation of Thin Wall Milling Ability Using Disc Cutters

In some cases, industrial practice requires the production of walls or parts with a thickness of less than one millimeter from a metal workpiece. Such parts or walls can be made by milling using disc cutters. This machining method can lead to the generation of residual stresses that determine the appearance of a form deviation characterized by bending the part or the thin wall. To evaluate the suitability of a metallic material for the manufacturing of thin walls by milling with disc cutters, different factors capable of exerting influence on the deviation generated by the residual deformation of the walls were taken into account. A test sample and an experimental research program were designed for the purpose of obtaining an empirical mathematical model. The empirical mathematical model highlights the magnitude of the influence exerted by different input factors on the disc cutter milling process regarding the size of the deviation from the form, and the correct position of the wall or thin part, in the case of a test sample workpiece made of an aluminum alloy. Input factors considered were cutting speed, feed rate, cutter thickness, wall or part thickness, thin wall length, and height. To rank the input factors whose increase leads to an increase in shape deviation, the values of the exponents attached to the factors in question in the empirical mathematical model of the power-type function were taken into account. It was found that the values of the exponents are in the order 0.782 > 0.319 > 0.169 for wall height, feed rate, and wall width, respectively. It was thus established that the strongest influence on the residual deformation of the thin wall is exerted by its height.