Thermo-mechanical modeling of cutting forces in micro endmilling operations

Developments in micro and nano technology applications led to a considerable increase in research efforts for manufacturing of these parts as well. Micro endmilling is one of the most frequently used operations for manufacturing of various components. As the tool radii are very small and the tools are weaker than the ones in conventional milling, the forces acting on the cutting tools become an important consideration in these operations. Therefore, modeling and predicting cutting forces before the process takes place is crucial in micro end milling operations. As the cutting occurs in a very small area, material properties of the workpiece and the heat generated during the process have direct effects on the cutting forces. In this work, cutting forces in micro end milling are modeled with a thermo-mechanical approach using Johnson – Cook material model. In addition to the shear and rake contact forces, the third deformation zone forces, which are very significant in micro milling processes, are included in the analytical model as well. Furthermore, forces due to the contact between the newly formed surface and the bottom edge of the cutting tool are also added to the analytical model. Due to the use of material model based approach, very few cutting tests are needed for simulation of various micro milling operations using the same material-tool pair. Model predictions are validated with experimental results in which good agreement is observed.