Ball End Mill Insert Geometry for Surface Finish and Higher Pick Feed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ball end mills with linear cutting edges struggle to maintain machining efficiency when cutting both planar and curved surfaces, as they often compromise on surface roughness, making it difficult to improve efficiency for both surfaces simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A ball end mill with a ball end cutting edge featuring large diameter edges formed in an arc shape, covering 80% to 120% of the ball radius, which allows for increased pick feed and improved surface roughness on both planar and curved surfaces, while maintaining a contour shape close to an arc, thereby enhancing machining efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If linear cutting edges are used in a ball end cutting edge, then machining efficiency is improved, but surface roughness of the machined surface deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces linear cutting edges with arc-shaped large diameter edges in the ball end cutting edge. The large diameter edge is formed in an arc shape having a curvature radius larger than the ball radius, which allows the cutting edge to maintain contact with the workpiece surface over a longer path, improving surface roughness while preserving machining efficiency through the optimized arc geometry
2Manufacturing precision
If arc-shaped ball end cutting edge with single curvature radius is used, then surface roughness is improved, but machining efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the ball end cutting edge into multiple segments: a plurality of large diameter edges formed in arc shape with curvature radius larger than the ball radius, and small diameter edges connecting them. This segmentation allows different portions of the cutting edge to perform different functions - the large diameter edges improve surface roughness while the optimized arrangement maintains machining efficiency
3Productivity
If linear cutting edges are used to cut curved surfaces, then machining efficiency is improved, but surface roughness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses arc-shaped large diameter edges with curvature radius larger than the ball radius to cut curved surfaces. The curved geometry of the large diameter edges allows better adaptation to curved surface contours, maintaining surface roughness quality while preserving the machining efficiency benefits of the segmented edge design
Data Source
AI summary
Large diameter edges formed in arc shapes having curvature radii larger than a ball radius are provided. This allows improving surface roughness of a machined surface by cutting of a planar surface with the respective large diameter edges compared with cutting of a planar surface with a ball end cutting edge formed in an arc shape having a single curvature radius. Further, since the respective large diameter edges are formed in the arc shape, compared with cutting of a curved surface with linear cutting edges, surface roughness of a machined surface can be improved by cutting a curved surface with the respective large diameter edges. Accordingly, a pick feed during the cutting of the planar surface and the curved surface with the respective large diameter edges can be increased, and therefore machining efficiency in the cutting of both of the planar surface and the curved surface can be improved.