Theoretical modeling of cutting temperature in high-speed end milling process for die/mold machining

A parametric model of cutting temperature generated in end milling process is developed according to the thermal mechanism of end milling as an intermittent operation, which periodically repeats the cycle of heating under cutting and cooling under non-cutting. It shows that cutting speed and the tool-workpiece engagement condition are determinative for tool temperature in the operation. The suggested model was investigated by tests of AlTiN coated endmill machining hardened die steel JIS SKD61, where cutting temperature on the flank face of tool was measured with an optical fiber type radiation thermometer. Experimental results show that the tendency of cutting temperature to increase with cutting speed and engagement angle is intensified with the progressing tool wear.

New Mathematical Method for the Determination of Cutter Runout Parameters in Flat-end Milling

The cutting force prediction is essential to optimize the process parameters of machining such as feed rate optimization, etc. Due to the significant influences of the runout effect on cutting force variation in milling process, it is necessary to incorporate the cutter runout parameters into the prediction model of cutting forces. However, the determination of cutter runout parameters is still a challenge task until now. In this paper, cutting process geometry models, such as uncut chip thickness and pitch angle, are established based on the true trajectory of the cutting edge considering the cutter runout effect. A new algorithm is then presented to compute the cutter runout parameters for flat-end mill utilizing the sampled data of cutting forces and derived process geometry parameters. Further, three-axis and five-axis milling experiments were conducted on a machining centre, and resulting cutting forces were sampled by a three-component dynamometer. After computing the corresponding cutter runout parameters, cutter forces are simulated embracing the cutter runout parameters obtained from the proposed algorithm. The predicted cutting forces show good agreements with the sampled data both in magnitude and shape, which validates the feasibility and effectivity of the proposed new algorithm of determining cutter runout parameters and the new way to accurately predict cutting forces. The proposed method for computing the cutter runout parameters provides the significant references for the cutting force prediction in the cutting process.

Study on End Milling Generation Surface Model and Simulation in View of Main Axle's Tolerance

In accordance with the relative movement between end-milling cutter and workpiece surface, a theoretical generation model for milled surface was established with the movement error of principal axle considered. Then the milled surfaces under various cutting condition were simulated, the results of which showed that end milled surfaces were of "vaulted profile", heights of surface irregularty at various points to be different with maximum value in the middle and smaller at both sides, the difference were determined by diameter of milling cutter, feeding speed, ratio between the diameter of milling cutter and teeth point curve radius and width of workpiece. The study results can be applied to quality prediction of milled surfaces for precision and/or super precision milling operation.

The Extraction Method of Cutting Engagement in Ball-end Milling Simulation

Ball-end mill is widely used in workpiece processi ng with free-form surfaces. Such models that can predict processing character istics precisely are very necessary to the aim of cost reducing, quality improvi ng and productivity progressing, the cutting force prediction is the most import ant among these models. To explore the physical essence of metal cutting, model researchers commonly simplify the geometric conditions in cutting process, and a ssume that the geometric parameters that are needed to solve the physical models have already been predefined, so it results in the separation between model res earch and practical application. In this paper, for the representative cutting f orce models of ball end milling, a new extraction method of geometric parameters is suggested, which makes it possible for physical model to actually serve for the practical manufacturing, and take in the inspection of real production.

Heat regulating strategy in numerical control end milling for hard metal machining

The trend in die/mold manufacturing at present is towards the hard machining at high speed to replace the electron dis- charge machining. Failure forms of the AlTiN-coated micro-grain carbide endmill when used for the machining of JIS SKD61 (HRC 53), a widely used material in die/mold manufacturing, are investigated. The endmill shows a characteristic that tool life decreases greatly due to the chipping when overload occurs or the rapid increase of wear when over-heat accumulation in cutting edges. As a consequence of the investigation, a strategy to regulate heat generation in the end milling process is proposed. This is accomplished by controlling the cutting arc length, i.e. the length of each flute engaging workpiece in a cutting cycle. Case studies on the slot end milling and comer rounding are conducted. The results show that the proposed strategy suggests the optimal tool path as well as the optimal pitch between successive tool paths under the cutting time criterion.

Analysis and correction of the machining errors of small plastic helical gears by ball-end milling

Many small-size precise plastic helical involutes gears are used in electrical appliances to transmit rotary movements con- tinuously and smoothly. Ball-end milling is an effective method for trial manufacture or small batch production of this type of gear, but the precision of the gear is usually low. In this research, the main sources of the errors of the gear, machining errors of the tooth profile and trace of the gear obtained were analyzed. The correction amounts for these errors are then determined by using a CNC gear tester. They are used to generate a new 3D-CAD model for gear machining with better nrecision.

New Cutting Force Modeling Approach for Flat End Mill

A new mechanistic cutting force model for flat end milling using the instantaneous cutting force coefficients is proposed. An in-depth analysis shows that the total cutting forces can be separated into two terms: a nominal component independent of the runout and a perturbation component induced by the runout. The instantaneous value of the nominal component is used to calibrate the cutting force coefficients. With the help of the perturbation component and the cutting force coefficients obtained above, the cutter runout is identified. Based on simulation and experimental results, the validity of the identification approach is demonstrated. The advantage of the proposed method lies in that the calibration performed with data of one cutting test under a specific regime can be applied for a great range of cutting conditions.

INVESTIGATION ON HARDENED STEEL MILLING WITH MICRO-END MILL

Tool wear and breakage of the micro-milling tool is an important problem for high speed machining of hardened steel die and mould. Dry milling of S136 hardened steel is carried out using TiA1N coated carbide micro-end mill (Ф2 mm). The effect of cutting speed, feed per tooth and radial depth of cut on cutting force is analyzed. Cutting parameters adapting to dry machining and strategy optimized for higher rate of material removal with lower cutting force are attained. Results of SEM observation show that the main failure patterns of micro-end mill are breakage of tool tip, wear and drop-off of surface coating, micro-chipping, and breakage of flank.

Online tool-wear measurement of small-diameter end mills based on machine vision

The objective of this study was to develop an online tool-wear-measurement scheme for small diameter end-mills based on machine vision to increase tool life and the production efficiency. The geometrical features of wear zone of each end mill were analyzed, and three tool wear criterions of small-diameter end mills were defined. With the uEye camera, macro lens and 3-axis micro milling machine, it was proved the feasibility of measuring flank wear with the milling tests on a 45# steel workpiece. The design of experiment （DOE） showed that Vc was the most remarkable effect factor for the flank wear of small-diameter end mill. The wear curve of the experiments of milling was very similar to the Taylor curve.

A simplified method for local tool interference detection and tool position modification during five-axis ball-end milling process

Five-axis ball-end milling is commonly used to machine the complex surfaces. Local tool interference phenomenon which often occurs in five-axis milling should be urgently solved. In this paper, a simplified method to detect the occurrence of local tool interference and modify tool position is proposed. First, the detection matrix is established to detect local tool interference at all the cutter location points on tool path simultaneously in five-axis ball-end milling of complex surfaces. The algorithm of detection matrix based on point arithmetic is simple. Secondly, the new coordinates of the modified interfering-free points are obtained precisely by using the genetic algorithm. The feasibility of the method is validated by simulation in Matlab. This research is benefit to simplify the calculation of local tool interference detection and tool position modification.

Study on High-Performance Computing for Simulation of End Milling Force

Milling Process Simulation is one of the important re search areas in manufacturing science. For the purpose of improving the prec ision of simulation and extending its usability, numerical algorithm is more and more used in the milling modeling areas. But simulative efficiency is decreasin g with increase of its complexity. As a result, application of the method is lim ited. Aimed at above question, high-efficient algorithm for milling process sim ulation is studied. It is important for milling process simulation’s applicatio n. Parallel computing is widely used to solve the large-scale computation question s. Its advantages include system flexibility, robust, high-efficient computing capability and high ratio of performance to price. With the development of compu ter network, utilizing the computing resource in the Internet, a virtual computi ng environment with powerful computing capability can be consisted by microc omputers, and the difficulty of building hardware environment which is used to s upport parallel computing is reduced. How to use network technology and parallel algorithm to improve simulative effic iency for milling forces simulation is investigated in the paper. In order to pr edict milling forces, a simplified local milling forces model is used in the pap er. End milling cutter is assumed to be divided by r number of differential elem ents along the axial direction of the cutter. For a given time, the total cuttin g forces can be obtained by summarizing the resultant cutting force produced by each differential cutter disc. Divide the whole simulative time into some segmen ts, send these program’s segments to microcomputers in the Internet and obtain the result of the program’s segments, all of the result of program’s segments a re composed the final result. For implementing the algorithm, a distributed Parallel computing framework is de signed in the paper. In the framework, web server plays a role of controller. Us ing Java RMI(remote method interface), the computing processes in computing serv er are called by web server. There are lots of control processes in web server a nd control the computing servers. The codes of simulative algorithm can be dynam ic sent to the computing servers, and milling forces at the different time are c omputed through utilizing the local computer’s resource. The results that are ca lculated by every computing servers are sent to the web server, and composed the final result. The framework can be used by different simulative algorithm. Comp ared with the algorithm running single machine, the efficiency of provided algor ithm is higher than that of single machine.

Cutting force signal pattern recognition using hybrid neural network in end milling

Under certain cutting conditions in end milling, the signs of cutting forces change from positive to negative during a revolution of the tool. The change of force direction causes the cutting dynamics to be unstable which results in chatter vibration. Therefore, cutting force signal monitoring and classification are needed to determine the optimal cutting conditions and to improve the efficiency of cut. Artificial neural networks are powerful tools for solving highly complex and nonlinear problems. It can be divided into supervised and unsupervised learning machines based on the availability of a teacher. Hybrid neural network was introduced with both of functions of multilayer perceptron (MLP) trained with the back-propagation algorithm for monitoring and detecting abnormal state, and self organizing feature map (SOFM) for treating huge datum such as image processing and pattern recognition, for predicting and classifying cutting force signal patterns simultaneously. The validity of the results is verified with cutting experiments and simulation tests.

Heat Resistant Properties of Some Elements-Incorporated Diamond-Like Carbon Films and Their Trial Applications for Micro End Mill Coatings

In this article, the results obtained from a study carried out on the some elements-incorporated diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are reported. All the films were deposited using plasma-based ion implantation (PBII) technique. The deposited films were annealed at 400℃, 650℃ and 900℃ in an air atmosphere for 1 hour. The effects of adding hydrogen, silicon/oxygen and silicon/nitrogen into the DLC film on chemical composition, friction coefficient and corrosion resistance were investigated. The films coated micro end mills performance was also assessed. The results indicate that all the films showed almost constant atomic contents of C, Si, O and N until annealing at 400℃. However, the films were completely destroyed at 650℃ with the increased Si and O contents, while the C content decreased. The incorporation of silicon/oxygen and silicon/nitrogen into the DLC exhibited lower values of friction coefficients than the hydrogenated DLC (DLC and H-DLC) before and after annealing at 400℃, whereas all the films presented the same values of friction coefficients after annealing at 650℃ due to the completely destroy of the films. Furthermore, the incorporation of silicon/nitrogen into the DLC also exhibited better corrosion resistance and unbroken micro end mills performance on their surfaces. Thus, the incorporation of silicon/nitrogen into the DLC film can be considered beneficial in improving the micro end mills performance.

A novel approach to minimizing material loss for computer numerical control flank-regrinding of worn end mills

Flanks of end mills are prone to wear in a long machining process.Regrinding is widely used in workshops to restore the flank to an original-like state.However,the traditional method involves material waste by trial and error and dramatically decreases the potential regrinding.Moreover,over-cut would happen to the flutes of worn cutters in the regrinding processes because of improper wheel path.This study presented a new approach to planning the wheel path for regrinding worn end mills to minimize material loss and recover the over-cut.In planning,a scaling method was developed to determine the maximum size of the new cutter according to the similarity of cutter shapes before and after regrinding.Then,the wheel path is first generated by envelope theory to regrind the worn area with a four-axis computer numerical control grinder according to the new size of cutters.Moreover,a second regrinding strategy is applied to recover the flute shape over-cut in the first grinding.Finally,the proposed method is verified by an experiment.Results showed that the proposed approach could save 25%of cutter material compared with the traditional method and ensure at least three regrinding times.This work effectively provides a general regrinding solution for the worn flank with maximum material-saving and regrinding period.

High glucose reduces Nrf2-dependent cRAGE release and enhances inflammasome-dependent IL-1βproduction in monocytes:the modulatory effects of EGCG

Soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products(sRAGE)acts as a decoy sequestering of RAGE ligands,thus preventing the activation of the ligand-RAGE axis linking human diseases.However,the molecular mechanisms underlying sRAGE remain unclear.In this study,THP-1 monocytes were cultured in normal glucose(NG,5.5 mmol/L)and high glucose(HG,15 mmol/L)to investigate the effects of diabetesrelevant glucose concentrations on sRAGE and interleukin-1β(IL-1β)secretion.The modulatory effects of epigallocatechin gallate(EGCG)in response to HG challenge were also evaluated.HG enhanced intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS)generation and RAGE expression.The secretion of sRAGE,including esRAGE and cRAGE,was reduced under HG conditions,together with the downregulation of a disintegrin and metallopeptidase 10(ADAM10)and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)nuclear translocation.Mechanistically,the HG effects were counteracted by siRAGE and exacerbated by siNrf2.Chromatin immunoprecipitation results showed that Nrf2 binding to the ADAM10 promoter and HG interfered with this binding.Our data reinforce the notion that RAGE and Nrf2 might be sRAGE-regulating factors.Under HG conditions,the treatment of EGCG reduced ROS generation and RAGE activation.EGCG-stimulated cRAGE release was likely caused by the upregulation of the Nrf2-ADAM10 pathway.EGCG inhibited HG-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation at least partly by stimulating sRAGE,thereby reducing IL-1βrelease.

End-group modulation of phenazine based non-fullerene acceptors for efficient organic solar cells with high open-circuit voltage

Phenazine-based non-fullerene acceptors(NFAs)have demonstrated great potential in improving the power conversion efficiency(PCE)of organic solar cells(OSCs).Halogenation is known to be an effective strategy for increasing optical absorption,refining energy levels,and improving molecular packing in organic semiconductors.Herein,a series of NFAs(Pz IC-4H,Pz IC-4F,Pz IC-4Cl,Pz IC-2Br)with phenazine as the central core and with/without halogen-substituted(dicyanomethylidene)-indan-1-one(IC)as the electron-accepting end group were synthesized,and the effect of end group matched phenazine central unit on the photovoltaic performance was systematically studied.Synergetic photophysical and morphological analyses revealed that the PM6:Pz IC-4F blend involves efficient exciton dissociation,higher charge collection and transfer rates,better crystallinity,and optimal phase separation.Therefore,OSCs based on PM6:Pz IC-4F as the active layer exhibited a PCE of 16.48%with an open circuit voltage(Voc)and energy loss of 0.880 V and 0.53 e V,respectively.Accordingly,this work demonstrated a promising approach by designing phenazine-based NFAs for achieving high-performance OSCs.