Title: Hole quality and cutting time evaluation in the interpolated helical milling

Authors: Dalberto Dias Da Costa; Alessandro Marques; Fred Lacerda Amorim

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR, Rua Coronel Francisco dos Santos, 210, Curitiba, PR, Brazil ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR, Rua Coronel Francisco dos Santos, 210, Curitiba, PR, Brazil ' Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná – PUCPR, R. Imaculada Conceição, 1155, Prado Velho, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

Abstract: The interpolated helical milling (IHM) is considered a very flexible strategy which allows milling, instead of drilling, holes with more generic tools. However, despite of its dissemination in industry, it is currently known that few research works have been carried out about the influence of cutting condition on the quality of holes and their cutting time. In this study, the production of holes was investigated using the IHM technique for rough and finish machining conditions, and the process performance was evaluated by the cutting time, and the holes surface roughness and roundness. Fifty four holes were milled in AISI 1045 steel bars with end mill cutters in a vertical machining centre; following Taguchi (L9) experiments where the cutting speed, circular feed per tooth and axial feed per tooth were analysed for rough operations, and for the finish operations, the radial depth of cut was also investigated. From the results, it can be concluded that high quality surface can be achieved at the rough phase. In this case, the combination of lower axial feed rates (ƒ_z) and higher cutting speed (V_c) should be selected to guarantee a higher hole quality, without compromising the productivity. [Received 13 April 2015; Revised 06 August 2015; Accepted 06 September 2015]

Keywords: interpolated helical milling; IHM; hole quality; hole cutting time; surface roughness; roundness; surface quality; steel bars; end milling; vertical machining centres; Taguchi methods; cutting speed; circular feed per tooth; axial feed per tooth; radial depth of cut.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2015.074820

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2015 Vol.10 No.4, pp.313 - 327

Received: 25 Apr 2015
Accepted: 06 Sep 2015
Published online: 20 Feb 2016 *

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