Experimental study of cutting forces in micro end-milling

Micro-end-milling is an efficient and economical manufacturing operation that is capable of accurately producing high aspect ratio features and parts. It is important to study the cutting forces in micro-milling for the planning and control of the process. This paper presents an experimental study of the cutting forces in micro-end-milling of a 6160 aluminum alloy. The measured cutting forces are presented and discussed for different cutting conditions, such as various feeds per tooth, cutter diameters, and cutting speeds. It is found that the peak cutting forces increase with increasing cutting speed and feed rate. The effects of tool runout on the cutting forces were also analyzed based on the experimental results, from which the influences of feed rate and cutting speed are found to be obvious.