Projects

End milling operation is being used for many decades due to the flexibility and versatility of the machining operation. It has a significant influence on the surface finish of machined parts with complex geometry. The selection of proper machining parameters such as spindle speed, feed rate, axial depth of cut, and radial depth of cut is the most common method to minimize vibration effects on the workpiece during end milling operations. At present, the utilization of numerical methods tends to predict cutting forces/chatter for different machining parameters instead of an experimental approach. This study is based on predicting cutting forces numerically during slot milling for the work material Aluminum 6061 T6. In this study, the 3D Finite Element modeling method has been used to model the workpiece and tool, to run the numerical analysis for end milling operation. The Abaqus CAE software is used to carry out numerical analysis of the dynamic cutting process and the cutting forces were predicted for different cutting parameters for Aluminum 6061 T6. A series of 3D FE models were run to analyze the cutting forces on the Abaqus/Explicit platform for a selected range of cutting parameters. The results obtained from the simulations have been verified with the experimental data from literature. The ability to utilize the FE modeling method indicates the possibility of optimizing the cutting parameters to reduce cutting forces.