Nose radius and cutting speed effects during milling of AISI 304 material

Abstract

Not only milling parameters, but also cutting tool properties affect the machining performance. Therefore, in the current work, the effect of nose radius and cutting speed on the wear, force, surface roughness and chip morphology in down and up milling of AISI 304 stainless steel was investigated. Machining experiments were conducted with cutting tools with radii of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2mm at various cutting speeds in both down and up milling. Experimental results showed that the main tool failure mechanisms and modes were adhesion, abrasion, chipping and fracture during milling with various nose radii. Cutting forces dropped with the increment in nose radius regardless of the cutting speed and milling direction, except for up milling at 100m/min. From the experimental results, it was found that roughness diminished with increase in both nose radius and speed. Surface roughness and the resultant forces during up milling were found to be lower than that during down milling. It was observed that the increment in nose radius increased the edge serration in chip morphology.