The Effect of Geometry on Harmonically Varied Helix Milling Tools

Two different kinds of descriptions for edge geometry of harmonically varied helix tools are studied in this work. The edge geometries of the so-called lag and helix variations are used in this paper, and their equivalency is established from engineering point of view. The equivalent relation is derived analytically and the nonlinear algebraic system is described, with which the numerical equivalency properties can be determined. The equivalent description can be utilized in variable helix tool production to determine an optimized set of geometrical parameters of the edge geometry. The stability properties are shown and compared for a simple one degree-of-freedom case with the nonuniform constant helix tools. The robustness of the results related to the harmonically varied tools is critically discussed in this paper showing advantages compared to the nonuniform constant helix case. The results suggest that the more extreme the edge variation is, the more stable the process performed with the corresponding harmonically varied tool becomes.