Roughing End Mill Waveform Inserts for Chip Fragmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing roughing end mills with square plate-shaped inserts fail to sufficiently fragment chips and reduce cutting resistance, leading to poor processing quality and increased vibration during coarse processing.
Innovation Solution
The use of waveform cutting edges on the inserts, positioned in offset rows around the end mill body, allows for continuous phase alignment on a rotation trajectory, enabling effective chip fragmentation and smooth surface processing by alternating raised and groove portions along the cutting edges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If square plate-shaped inserts with rectilinear cutting edges are used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the chips cannot be sufficiently fragmented and cutting resistance is not reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting edges are transformed from rectilinear to waveform shapes with undulating contours. This curvature allows the cutting edge to gradually engage with the workpiece, breaking chips into smaller fragments more effectively while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through standard insert design processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting edge is segmented into multiple raised and recessed portions along its length, creating a waveform pattern. This segmentation enables progressive chip breaking rather than single-point cutting, improving chip fragmentation without significantly complicating the insert structure.
2Device complexity
If square plate-shaped inserts with rectilinear cutting edges are used, then the insert design is simple, but vibration increases and processing quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The waveform cutting edges with undulating profiles reduce vibration by distributing cutting forces over multiple contact points along the cutting path. This curvature-based design smooths out impact forces while maintaining relatively simple insert geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The waveform pattern creates periodic variations in cutting engagement along the cutting edge. This periodic action distributes the cutting load over time and space, reducing vibration and improving surface finish quality without requiring complex insert designs.
3Productivity
If waveform cutting edges with offset insert rows are used, then chip fragmentation is improved and cutting resistance is reduced, but the insert arrangement becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The insert rows are arranged asymmetrically with offsets in the axial direction rather than symmetric alignment. This asymmetric configuration, combined with waveform cutting edges, optimizes chip breaking patterns and reduces cutting resistance while the offset distances are designed to maintain reasonable structural symmetry at the tool holder level.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert rows are offset in the axial dimension rather than only in the radial or circumferential directions. This dimensional approach to arranging inserts creates effective chip fragmentation patterns without requiring complex multi-layer or three-dimensional insert configurations.
4Reliability
If waveform cutting edges are used, then cutting edge impact is alleviated and surface quality improves, but the manufacturing complexity of inserts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The waveform cutting edges provide gradual impact softening through their undulating profiles, allowing the cutting edge to progressively engage the workpiece. This curvature-based approach achieves impact reduction while remaining compatible with standard insert manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The waveform parameters (amplitude, wavelength, number of undulations) can be adjusted to optimize impact softening effects for different applications. This parameter variability allows tailoring the cutting edge geometry to specific material and operation requirements without fundamentally changing the insert manufacturing approach.
Data Source
AI summary
A roughing end mill comprises an end mill body and plural inserts which are placed on an outer circumference of the end mill body with a predetermined distance apart from each other in the axial direction of the end mill body, wherein the plural inserts form plural insert rows which are provided in a circumferential direction of the end mill body, where the inserts are offset in the axial direction from each other between the different insert rows which are adjacent in the circumferential direction. The inserts have waveform cutting edges which face towards an outer circumferential side of the end mill body. One insert of one insert row and an insert of another insert row are positioned such that the waveform cutting edges of each of these inserts make up a waveform cutting edge row whose phase is continuous on a rotation trajectory around the axis.