Trochoidal machining for the high-speed milling of pockets

When machining the pocket of a mould in high-speed milling mode, the tool load at a pocket’s narrow area or corner may sharply increase because of the presence of a higher amount of material to be cut. A trochoidal machining method considering milling force, machining tool, and pocket geometry is proposed in this paper. First, a method for the geometric modeling of the engagement angle in trochoidal machining is proposed. Maximum and mean values of the milling force are analysed; meanwhile, the corresponding relationship between the milling force curve and the engagement angle curve during the trochoidal machining process is analysed. Based on fundamental experiments on trochoidal machining, results for the milling force and tool wear are obtained; then, a proper control strategy for cavity trochoidal milling machining is proposed. Based on this control strategy for trochoidal milling machining, two realisations of cavity trochoidal milling machining are proposed. Finally, comparison experiments on cavity machining are conducted. Compared with the feedrate adjustment method, trochoidal machining provides better control over the milling force and tool wear at corners and narrow slots. The milling force and machining vibrations are smaller, and the tool wear is substantially reduced.