A New Approach of Modelling Bottom Edge Cutting in 4-Axis Rough Milling of Complex Parts and Its Application on Feed Rate Optimization

Complex mechanical parts such as a blisk of aero-engines are commonly used in aerospace industry. These parts are complex in shape and their rough machining are conducted in 4-axis machine tools with end mills. The end mills are fully engaged into the workpiece material to be removed. Because of the complex cutter motion in 4-axis milling, the bottom edges of the end mills are involved in cutting with high possibility, resulting in an undesirable increase of cutting forces, tool deflection, and quick tool wear. To address this technical challenge, an analytical method is proposed to identify and evaluate the bottom edge cutting in 4-axis milling in this work. The motion of the cutter’s tool tip with respect to the workpiece is analyzed and the equations are formulated based on a basic interpolation algorithm. An approach to identifying and evaluating the bottom edge cutting is proposed. The increment of the cutting forces caused by the bottom edge cutting is taken into consideration to precisely evaluate the overall cutting forces. A feed rate optimization model is then established to control the cutting forces. The simulation and the experiment of rough milling of a blisk verify that the bottom edge cutting can be identified and the cutting force can be controlled by optimizing the feed rates without losing much machining efficiency.