Anisotropic Cutting Force Characteristics in Milling of Maraging Steel Processed Through Selective Laser Melting

Additive manufacturing (AM) process of maraging steel has been studied for high value parts in aerospace and automotive industries. The hybrid additive/subtractive manufacturing is effective to achieve tight tolerances and surface finishes. The additive process induces anisotropic mechanical properties of maraging steel, which depends on the laser scanning direction. Because anisotropy in the workpiece material has an influence on the cutting process, the surface finish and the dimension accuracy change according to the direction of the cutter feed with respect to the laser scanning direction. Therefore, the cutting parameters should be determined to control the cutting force considering material anisotropy. The paper discusses the cutting force in milling of maraging steel stacked with selective laser melting, as an AM process. Anisotropic effect on the cutting forces is proved with the changing rate of the cutting force in milling of the workpieces stacked by repeating laser scanning at 0/90 deg and 45/−45 deg. The cutting forces, then, are analyzed in the chip flow models with piling up of orthogonal cuttings. The force model associates anisotropy with the shear stress on the shear plane. The changes in the cutting forces with the feed direction are discussed in the cutting tests and analysis.