Technological preparation of thread milling cutter production at the design stage

This research was performed on the technological feasibility of manufacturing the multiple thread milling cutter flutes based on their mathematical and experimental simulation and studying the possibility of manufacturing a prototype thread milling cutter with the use of grinding wheels of typical profiles. Using the Walter Basic kinematic scheme as an example, a system of mathematical expressions was developed to determine the flute end section profile produced by a grinding wheel, taking into account the kinematic scheme of the multi-axis CNC tool grinding machines. Proposed mathematical expressions were approved by experimental studies when machining helical flutes on caprolon workpieces with a diameter of 34.5 mm with the use of a universal grinding machine. The comparison of the fluting profiles in the end section (both experimental and calculated) showed satisfactory convergence; the errors (up to 0.42 mm) could be explained by inaccuracies in grinding wheel installation, workpiece yielding, errors in the experiment parameter settings and increasing discrepancies in the error measurement direction to the core diameter. To study the technological feasibility of the flutes of the thread milling cutter, the CoroMill Plura R217.15-140100AC26N thread milling cutter was chosen as a prototype. The end section of the tool was obtained by passing a plane through the top of the tooth, and installation parameters for the grinding wheel type 1V1 (conical profile) were assigned using a developed mathematical expression system. It was established that the grinding wheel type 1V1 made it possible to assign the installation parameters required in the fluting of the prototype. The possibility of choosing the grinding wheel profile and geometric parameters as well as its installation parameters based on the manufacturing simulation of the prototype performed in Walter Helitronic Tool Studio was confirmed, which makes it possible to perform thread milling cutter production technological preparation using the developed mathematical expressions.