Predictive modelling of cutting forces in end milling of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V

A cutting force model, based on a predictive model for orthogonal cutting, is developed for force predictions in end milling of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The model assumes a semi-stationary process for the serrated chip formation. The Johnson–Cook material model that couples strain hardening, strain rate sensitivity and thermal softening effects is applied to represent the material strength. A thermal model considering the tool thermal properties is integrated to account for the high temperature rise due to the low thermal conductivity of Ti6Al4V. To extend the predictive model to milling, the end mill is discretised into several axial slices, and an equivalent cutting edge is used to include the end cutting edge effect caused by the first axial slice. The model is assessed by comparing its prediction with the experimental results and a mechanistic model for verification. The results show that the proposed model outperforms the mechanistic model with higher accuracy in force prediction.