Simulation-aided Design of Thread Milling Cutter

Thread milling has become quite popular in recent years as an alternative to tapping or other forms of threading because of diversity and complexity of parts and flexibility of the process in industries such as biomedical applications, aerospace and die-mold manufacturing. Today the design of the tooth profile is, however, predominantly feasible by the expertise and “trial and error” principle. Presented in this paper are a novel methodology to design the tooth profile of the thread mill by comparing the “to-be” thread profile and the “as-is” thread profile which is analyzed by means of NC cutting simulation. The simulation kernel enables to continually subtract the swept volume of thread milling cutter undergoing helical movement from the workpiece and to calculate the virtual workpiece (VWP). Combined with the standardized “to-be” thread profile, the tooth profile of to-be-designed thread mill is adaptively modified until the thread profile on VWP and the “to-be” thread profile become congruent with each other. The proposed methodology could be integrated into CAD/CAM systems.