End Milled Surfaces

Abstract

The figures presented in this section relate to a surface typical of those generated by the end milling process. This process produces a surface with a highly correlated structure, generated by the rotation of the end mill as it is traversed across the surface of the material. The structure of the surface is related to the variation in surface cutting speed and the feed-rate as the cutter is traversed across the surface. The surface cutting speed is a product of the milling machine feed-rate and the end mill tool-face cutting velocity, which varies along the edge as the radius of the tool increases from the centre to the outside. The surface cutting speed approaches zero at the centre of the tool. As the end mill is traversed across the surface of the component cutting is occurring all along the cutting edge, and hence the cutting velocity, normally termed V (feet/minute or metres/second), varies significantly.