Experimental Investigation of the Machined Surface Waviness, Vibrations and Cutting Forces in Peripheral Milling

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the intrinsic relationship among the machined surface waviness, vibrations of both the spindle head and workpiece, and cutting forces in peripheral milling. A series of well designed cutting tests were carried out with different helical end mills under different cutting parameters on a vertical machining centre. The 3D cutting forces were recorded by a Kistler dynamometer, and the vibrations of the spindle head and workpiece were monitored by accelerometers during the cutting process. The surface topography and surface waviness were measured by a Form Talysurf PGI after the cutting process. All of the recorded signals were carefully analyzed and compared to each other. The results demonstrate that the amplitude of the surface waviness is correlated to the amplitude of the vibrations or chatter of both the spindle head and the workpiece, and the surface waviness is dominant at the spindle frequency, regardless of chatter occurrence in the cutting process.