Effects of cutting edge radius on cutting force, tool wear, and life in milling of SUS-316L steel

Cutting edge micro-geometry plays an important role in machining operations. An appropriate shape and size of the cutting edges improve wear resistance, tool life, and process reliability. This study presents an experimental exploration to understand the rounded cutting edge of solid carbide end mills with CrTiAlN coating on milling SUS-316L steel, and the tool performance in terms of cutting force, tool wear, and tool life is investigated. The designed cutting edge radius (CER) from 4 up to 15 mu m is prepared by drag finishing (DF). The results have indicated that the CER are remarkably significant on the cutting performances. With the CER increased from 4 to 15 mu m, the cutting force F-c and feed force F-f increased 23% and 56% at uncut chip thickness h = 0.2 mm, respectively. The wear test results showed that chipping is the primary failure of milling cutter. The tool wear mechanism was depicted through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis. In conclusion, the highest tool life was obtained with nominal CER of 12 mu m in milling of SUS-316L steel.