Force Prediction in Cutting Operations with Self-propelled Rotary Tools Considering Bearing Friction☆

Abstract This paper presents a model to predict cutting force and motion of the rotating insert in cutting processes with self-propelled rotary tools (SPRT). Metal cutting utilizing rotary tools is effective to suppress tool wear and thus it is considered to be suitable to attain high performance machining of difficult-to-cut materials. It is well known that a circular insert attached to a rotational axis is self-propelled due to inclined chip flow on rake face plane by setting certain oblique angle. A resultant insert rotation speed can be easily predicted considering a frictionless rotary axis. However, friction at the rotary axis of SPRTs may not be negligible in practice especially when slide bearings are employed. In order to investigate the influence of the friction at the rotation axis on the rotary cutting process, a new cutting model is proposed. As the friction at the rotation axis causes a decrease in a speed of round insert rotation, an equivalent oblique cutting process is taken into account in the proposed model utilizing conventional theoretical model. In the equivalent process, the tangential component of the resultant cutting force corresponds to the friction force at the rotary axis. The friction force is determined by cutting force component normal to force-bearing mechanism and the bearing's friction coefficient. Considering the equilibrium condition in cutting and friction forces, the resultant cutting force and the insert rotation speed are iteratively computed in the proposed model. Edge force model is also associated with the oblique cutting model, which is not negligible especially in machining difficult-to-cut materials. The developed model is extended to simulate milling processes with SPRTs. The proposed model is experimentally verified, and influence of the bearing friction of SPRT on the process is clarified.