High-Quality Machining of Edges of Thin-Walled Plates by Tilt Side Milling Based on an Analytical Force-Based Model

The milling of thin-walled workpieces is a common process in many industries. However, the machining defects are easy to occur due to the vibration and/or deformation induced by the poor stiffness of the thin structures, particularly when side milling the edges of plates. To this problem, an attempt by inclining the tool to a proper tilt angle in milling the edges of plates was proposed in this paper, in order to decrease the cutting force component along the direction of the lowest stiffness of the plates, and therefore to mitigate the machining vibration and improve the machined surface quality effectively. First, the milling force model in consideration of the undeformed chip thickness and the tool-workpiece engagement (TWE) was introduced in detail. Then, a new analytical assessment model based on the precisely established cutting force model was developed so as to obtain the optimum tool tilt angle for the minimum force-induced defects after the operation. Finally, the reliability and correctness of the theoretical force model and the proposed assessment model were validated by experiments. The methodology in this paper could provide practical guidance for achieving high-quality machined surface in the milling operation of thin-walled workpieces.