Surface Topography Analysis When High-Speed Rough Milling Hardened Steel

摘要

This study is part of a bigger picture on investigating three main cutter path strategies-raster, single-direction raster, and offset-in order to evaluate the feasibility of employing high axial depths of cut (10 mm <= A_d <= 20 mm) when high-speed rough milling hardened AISI H13 hot work tool steel with the aim of achieving high volume of metal removed with short machining time. Here, comparative studies were made of the surface topography maps induced at various axial depths of cut in order to gain an in-depth understanding of their effects on the surface texture obtained via the parametric study of alternative cutter path strategies. Previous work has shown that the use of an offset cutter path strategy when high-speed rough milling hardened steel using an axial depth of 15 mm resulted in the lowest tool life, as compared with the use of raster and single-direction raster strategies. This article also describes a novel approach on improving the offset cutter path strategy by selecting the proper entrance and exit conditions to improve surface texture. The effects of an offset strategy and a modified offset strategy are investigated in terms of surface roughness and surface texture.