Effects of tool orientation and surface curvature on tool wear in ball end milling of 17-4PH stainless steel

During the process of five-axis free-form milling, tool orientation and surface curvature of the workpiece have significant effects on tool wear. Five-axis milling experiments are carried out on 17-4PH stainless steel using a carbide ball end mill. The influence of tool orientation on the amount of wear, cutting force, and chip morphology of the ball end cutter was investigated. The results show that tool wear is slighter at a tool inclination angle of approximately 15°, reducing tool wear by up to 29.55% compared with other angles. The inclination angle also has great effects on the milling force and torque signals, a suitable tool inclination angle makes the milling force and torque signals smooth, and the standard deviation is only 0.94 N and 0.017 N·m, respectively. In addition, the chips can reflect the stability of the machining process to some extent. On this basis, different workpiece surfaces were selected to investigate the effect of workpiece surface characteristics on tool wear. The results show that more severe tool wear and higher milling force signals on curved surfaces occurred with smaller radii of curvature. An appropriate tool orientation in relation to the curvature of the workpiece surface can significantly reduce tool wear; concave surfaces are suitable for machining with small angle of inclination, e.g., 5° ~ 10°, whereas convex surfaces are suitable for machining with larger angle of inclination, e.g., 20° ~ 25°.