FE THERMAL ANALYSIS OF 3D BALL END MILLING MODEL BASED ON ANALYTICAL STUDY OF OBLIQUE CUTTING

Thermal behaviour study in end milling has been the subject of many investigations using, either,analytical, numerical or experimental approaches. In this paper, we present a numerical analysisto predict temperature distribution in a 3D model describing a ball end milling operation. The tool, chip and workpiece geometries, and also thermal load values are issued from an analytic study based on oblique cutting theory. The effects of different cutting conditions as cutting speed, feed rate and tool rotation angle are studied. The FE model results show that temperature increases when increasing these cutting parameters. Nevertheless, the whole model temperature decreases when replacing air by water as lubricant fluid and also when decreasing tool teeth number. Finally, these results are compared to some works found in the literature and show an agreement regarding thermal evolution with cutting conditions and the coherence with measured temperatures in the same simulated conditions