Decoupled chip thickness calculation model for cutting force prediction in five-axis ball-end milling

Cutting force prediction plays very critical roles for machining parameters selection in milling process. Chip thickness calculation supplies the basis for cutting force prediction. However, the chip thickness calculation in five-axis ball-end milling is difficult due to complex geometrical engagements between parts and cutters. In this paper, we present a method to calculate the chip thickness in five-axis ball-end milling. The contributions of lead and tilt angles in five-axis ball-end milling on the chip thickness are studied separately in detail. We prove that the actual chip thickness can be decoupled as the sum of the ones derived from the two individual cutting conditions, i.e., lead and tilt angles. In this model, the calculation of engagement boundaries of tool–workpiece engagement is easy; thus, time consumption is low. In order to verify the proposed chip thickness model, the chip volume predicted based on the proposed chip thickness calculation model is compared with the theoretical results. The comparison results show that the desired accuracy is obtained with the proposed chip thickness calculation model. The validation cutting tests, which are in a constant material removal rate and with only ball part engaged in cutting, are carried out. The optimized lead and tilt angles are analyzed with regard to cutting forces. The geometrical as well as the kinematics meaning of the proposed method is obvious comparing with the existing models.