Abstract

Carbide end mill, as one of the most commonly used cutting tool in aluminum, titanium and steel machining industry, is of crucial importance in the industry regarding to the machining efficiency and quality. For fillet end-mill, because of its complexity geometry in flank and fillet parts, a free-form geometry model is needed for further analysis and optimization. Many research works have been conducted on building geometric model based on grinding tool path. In this thesis, a parametric and easy controlled method is proposed for design and modeling of the fillet flank and the fillet rake surface. First, the end and side clearance surface need to be established according to geometric parameters and constraints; Secondly, the fillet cutting edge is designed to achieve the machining requirement of the corner radius geometry, which is critical for the modeling of the fillet flank and the fillet rake surface face; Then, the surface of the fillet flank is supported by splines which derived from the customized two-dimensional corner. And a rake angle based method is applied for modeling of the fillet rake surface. A detailed discussion on parametric variables of this method is provided for a more accurate surface. Together with flutes and gashes, the solid model of the fillet end-mill can be modeled using Boolean operations. All the modeling process is carried out with a VB automatic program for fast and customized modeling in CATIA. In order to examine the geometry of this model, machining simulation is conducted in a finite element analysis software compared with the original model which based on grinding tool path.