Numerical simulation of ball-end milling with SPH method

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless technique used for simulating large deformation processes. Due to its particle nature, SPH is capable of modeling metal cutting processes without any need of remeshing methods. This paper presents a hybrid SPH-Lagrangian model to study cutting forces in ball-end milling process. One flute cutting edge is modeled for 12A degrees of tool rotation to reduce the computation time. The effects of SPH particle spacing and friction coefficient between tool and workpiece on the predicted cutting force are investigated. Then, cutting action is modeled in different tool rotation angles (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180A degrees) to predict the cutting forces in full rotation of the tool. Comparisons of the simulation result and experimentally measured cutting forces showed that the proposed hybrid SPH-Lagrangian model successfully predicts the cutting forces in feed and normal direction. However, model was not able to predict the experimental force trend in axial direction.