Study on the Cutting Forces and Surface Integrity in High Speed Milling of Aluminum-Lithium Alloy

Aimed at the uncertain and unpredictable cutting forces and surface integrity of new lightweight aeronautical structural material aluminum-lithium alloy after high speed milling, an experimental study of cutting forces and surface integrity including surface roughness, surface morphology, micro-crack, metallurgical structure and surface stress is presented by means of rough meter, SEM, X-ray stress analyzer etc. The experimental results show that cutting forces increase linearly as the feed per tooth increases. As the cutting speed increases, the cutting forces increase firstly and then decrease; the surface roughness increases as the feed per tooth increases. However, the influence of cutting speed on surface roughness is not obvious; The surface of aluminum-lithium alloy after milling contains factors such as feed marks, micro-pits, burrs caused by cutting vibration; In addition, no micro-cracks of surfaces after milling was detected and the surface stress amplitude is small.