Time-domain modeling of a cutter exiting a workpiece in the slot milling process

In a milling operation, there must be processes of a cutter entering and exiting the workpiece boundary. The cutter exit is usually in the feed direction and the dynamic response is different from that in the normal cutting process. This paper presents a new time-domain modeling of mechanics and dynamics of the cutter exit process for the slot milling process. The cutter is assumed to exit the workpiece for the first time with one tooth right in the feed direction. The dynamic chip thickness is summed up along the feed direction and compared with the remaining workpiece length in the feed direction to judge whether the cutter is ready to exit the workpiece or not. The developed model is then used for analyzing the cutting force and machining vibration in the cutter exit process. The developed mathematical model is experimentally validated by comparing the simulated forces and vibrations against the measured data collected from real slotting milling tests. The study shows that stable cutting parameters cannot guarantee stable cutting in a cutter exit process and further study can be performed to control the vibration amplitude in this specific process.