Segmented Cutting Shank End Mill for Chip Evacuation in Narrow Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shank end mills are inefficient in milling smaller thicknesses and limited in engraving final products, with high material consumption and low productivity, particularly in chip-forming machining processes.
Innovation Solution
A cutting shank end mill with an even number of teeth and a double concave cutting edge design, where the total cutting edge of each tooth is divided into equal gaps, allowing overlapping cutting edges and achieving a high L/D ratio of 5, enhancing chip thickness and reducing specific cutting resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the total cutting length of the cutting edge is increased to improve material removal efficiency, then productivity increases, but the mill diameter must be increased which reduces adaptability to narrow areas
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting edge is segmented into multiple individual cutting edges separated by gaps. Each cutting edge has a length of 5-15 mm and is separated by gaps of 2-10 mm. This segmentation allows the total cutting length to be distributed across multiple small cutting edges on a small-diameter mill, maintaining high material removal efficiency while preserving adaptability to narrow areas and corners.
2Productivity
If the number of teeth is increased to improve productivity, then material removal rate increases, but chip evacuation becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The mill is equipped with 2-4 teeth, each containing multiple individual cutting edges separated by gaps. These gaps act as chip evacuation channels, allowing chips to be efficiently removed from the cutting zone even when multiple teeth are present, thus maintaining high material removal rates without compromising chip evacuation.
Solution Approach 2:
The gaps between individual cutting edges serve as intermediary channels for chip evacuation. These gaps allow chips to pass through the mill structure from the cutting zone, facilitating efficient chip removal while maintaining the productivity benefits of multiple teeth.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cutting edge is made continuous to improve surface finish, then surface quality improves, but vibration damping decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting edge is divided into multiple discrete cutting edges separated by gaps, creating a discontinuous structure. This segmentation provides vibration damping benefits by interrupting vibration transmission, while the individual cutting edges are designed with specific lengths and orientations to maintain surface finish quality.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the cutting edge have different properties - the individual cutting edges are designed with specific lengths (5-15 mm) and orientations to optimize surface finish in their local zones, while the gaps between them provide vibration damping. This local differentiation allows both surface quality and vibration control to be optimized simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A cutting shank end mill includes a clamping shank and an even number of teeth/flutes, where the total cutting length of each tooth is divided into gaps and cutting edges which are as long as the gaps, and the cutting edges on one tooth overlap the gaps on the following tooth, wherein in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the mill and passing through any point of the main part of the total cutting length, on one tooth there is one of the cutting edges and on the following tooth there is one of the gaps. The face of the milling cutter may be equipped with at least a simple concave cutting edge to allow inclined or helical plunging to the full depth of the cutting flute.