Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Temperature Rise of Cutting Tools Caused by the Tool Deflection Energy

Abstract

Tool temperature variation in flank milling usually causes excessive tool wear, shortens tool life, and reduces machining accuracy. The heat source is the primary factor of the machine thermal error in the process of cutting components. Moreover, the accuracy of the thermal error modeling is greatly influenced by the formation mechanism of the heat source. However, the tool heat caused by the potential energy of the tool bending and twisting has essentially not been taken into consideration in previous research. In this paper, a new heat source that causes the thermal error of the cutting tools is proposed. The potential energy of the tools’ bending and twisting is calculated using experimental data, and how tool potential energy is transformed into heat via friction is explored based on the energy conservation. The temperature rise of the cutting tool is simulated by a lattice-centered finite volume method. To verify the model, the temperature separation of a tool edge is measured experimentally under the given cutting load. The results of the numerical analysis show that the rise in tool temperature caused by the tool’s potential energy is related to the time and position of the cutting edge involved in milling. For the same conditions, the predicted results are consistent with the experimental results. The proportion of temperature rise due to tool potential energy is up to 6.57% of the total tool temperature rise. The results obtained lay the foundation for accurate thermal error modeling, and also provide a theoretical basis for the force–thermal coupling process.