Milling Tool Chip Pocket Texture to Reduce Chip Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing milling tools face issues with chip jamming due to friction in the chip evacuation process, leading to tool breakage and poor surface quality, as chips rub against continuous ridges in the chip pocket, slowing down the chip flow and requiring costly surface finish operations.
Innovation Solution
A tool body with a surface pattern of intersecting first and second grooves, formed using ball-nose milling cutters, reduces friction by minimizing contact area and improving coolant distribution, allowing smooth chip evacuation and reducing the risk of chip jamming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If continuous ridges are provided in the chip pocket wall surface, then chip evacuation structure is formed, but chips rub continuously against the ridges causing increased friction and slowed chip flow
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous ridge structure is segmented into discontinuous ridges by introducing grooves that intersect the ridges. This segmentation reduces the continuous contact area between chips and ridges, allowing chips to flow more easily through the grooves while still maintaining the structural framework for chip evacuation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the chip pocket wall surface are given different properties: ridges provide structural support and evacuation pathways, while grooves provide low-friction zones for chip flow. This local differentiation optimizes both structural integrity and chip evacuation efficiency in different areas.
2Productivity
If smooth grooves are formed in the chip pocket wall surface, then chip flow is facilitated, but continuous ridges separate the grooves causing chips to rub against them
Solution Approach 1:
The problem is solved by adding a second dimension of grooves that intersect the first dimension of ridges. This creates a two-dimensional network of grooves that effectively breaks up the continuous ridges into segments, providing multiple pathways for chip flow while reducing friction at each contact point.
3Manufacturing precision
If expensive finishing operations are applied to the chip pocket surface, then surface quality is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The desired surface pattern with grooves and ridges is created during the primary machining operation using ball-nose cutters, rather than applying finishing operations afterward. This preliminary creation of the functional surface pattern eliminates the need for expensive post-machining finishing operations while achieving the required surface quality for optimal chip evacuation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The surface pattern enhances chip evacuation efficiency, decreases machining time, and reduces tool wear, leading to cost savings and improved surface finish without the need for expensive finishing operations.
Implementation Method 1
Thanks to the grooves, a reduced contact area is achieved between a chip being evacuated via the chip pocket during machining and the front wall surface of the chip pocket. The friction, and consequently also the risk of chip jamming, are thereby reduced and the chip flows smoothly over the surface pattern.
Implementation Method 2
Furthermore, since the first and second grooves intersect, during wet machining when coolant/lubricant is applied to the tool and the cutting area via an external arrangement or via internal coolant channels arranged in the tool body, the distribution of coolant/lubricant over the wall surface is improved, such that the chips flow smoothly over the surface pattern.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A tool body (2) for a milling tool (1), comprising: - a front end (3) and a rear end (4) between which a centre axis (C) and a peripheral envelope surface (5) extend, the tool body (2) being configured to be rotated in a direction of rotation (R) around the centre axis (C), - at least one insert seat (6) configured to support a cutting insert (7), - a chip pocket (8) provided in front of the insert seat in the direction of rotation, delimited by a wall surface (9), wherein a surface pattern comprising a plurality of first grooves (12, 12a-e) and second grooves (13, 13a-e) is formed on at least a portion of the wall surface (9), wherein the second grooves (13, 13a-e) intersect the first grooves (12, 12a-e) and wherein each groove of the first grooves (12) and/or each groove of the second grooves (13) has a concave groove profile (17).