Manufacturing Technology 2020, 20(4):442-447 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2020.099

Lightweight design of milling cutter with modified stiffness

Pavel Hanzl¹, Vojtěch Rulc², Hynek Purš³, Miroslav Zetek⁴, Ivana Zetková⁵

^1,4,5 Regional Technological Institute, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Bohemia, Univerzitní 8, 306 14 Pilsen. Czech Republic

^2,3 Advanced Engineering s.r.o. Na Ostrohu 2405/16, 160 00 Praha 6. Czech Republic

The conventional milling cutter design is based on a solid body. A cutter designed in this way has a guaranteed rigidity, but at the expense of tool dynamics. Computational methods of designing reduce the mass of a cutter in locations with lower stress density. This approach increases stiffness relative to the weight of the cutter. This paper analyses the benefits of modifications in the design of a lightweight cutter. The design uses an envelope of a con-ventional milling cutter that is filled by walls. Each modification changes the elasticity in different directions. These changes are monitored by displacements at the centre of the cutting inserts under load. Simulations confirm that even a small weight gain can mean a significant increase in tool stiffness.

Keywords: Milling Tool, Topological Optimization, Direct Melting Laser Sintering, Metal Additive Manufacturing

Grants and funding:

The project TRIO FV30149.

Received: June 18, 2020; Revised: October 19, 2020; Accepted: November 2, 2020; Prepublished online: November 23, 2020; Published: December 8, 2020  Show citation