Investigation of the Dynamics of Microend Milling—Part II: Model Validation and Interpretation

Abstract

In Part II of this paper, experimental and analytical methods have been developed to estimate the values of the process faults defined in Part I of this paper. The additional faults introduced by the microend mill design are shown to have a significant influence on the total net runout of the microend mill. The dynamic model has been validated through microend milling experiments. Using the dynamic model, the effects of minimum chip thickness and elastic recovery on microend milling stability have been studied over a range of feed rates for which the cutting mechanisms vary from ploughing-dominated to shearing-dominated. The minimum chip thickness effect is found to cause feed rate dependent instability at low feed rates, and the range of unstable feed rates depends on the axial depth of cut. The effects of process faults on microend mill vibrations have also been studied and the influence of the unbalance from the faults is found to be significant as spindle speed is increased. The stability characteristics due to the regenerative effect have been studied. The results show that the stability lobes from the second mode of the microend mill, which are generally neglected in macroscale end milling, affect the microend mill stability significantly.