Influence of Lubrication Status on Milling Performance of Bionic Micro-Textured Tools

Abstract

Titanium alloy material has physical properties such as low thermal conductivity, high hardness, and surface resilience, which are prone to problems such as large milling force, low machining efficiency, and poor surface quality in processed products during dry milling. This document details our process of isolating micro-textures from biological structures, applying them to cutting tool surfaces to create micro-texture milling cutters, and employing this micro-texture technique to reduce friction and prevent wear on these cutters. According to the milling dosage and the installation position between the tool and the workpiece, the effective working area of the cutting edge of the ball-end milling cutter is calculated. At the same time, a self-lubricating cutter was constructed by using a laser to process micro-textures and filling solid lubricant inside the micro-textures. An analysis was conducted to compare the milling efficiency of bionic microtextured cutters in both dry and micro-lubricated environments. It was found that the self-lubricating tool promoted a 3% to 5% decrease in milling force, a reduction in the coefficient of friction, a high surface finish of the machined workpiece, and an alleviation of chip sticking at the edge area.

Keywords

• ball end milling cutter
• micro-texture
• milling force
• self-lubricating tool
• solid lubricant