TaCoMA – Increased Tool Life and Process Reliability through Additively Manufactured Milling Tool Bodies with Tangential Seats and Coolant Channels with Optimized Flow Characteristics

 

Within the research project "TaCoMA", the fundamentals for the production of additively manufactured milling tool bodies are investigated systematically. The primary project goals are the production of improved milling tools from a material to be qualified by means of the additive manufacturing process Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) and the derivation of design guidelines for the implementation in the industry. Recent research results have shown that the productivity of shell end mills can be increased by 50 percent by means of focused cutting fluid supply. However, the manufacturing of the complex coolant channels is expensive and time-consuming.

The main innovation of the project is to use the freedom of design enabled by additive manufacturing for producing high-performance milling tools. Furthermore, requirements on the periphery and the process variables for an efficient use by cutting technology end users are determined. This includes the optimization of the cutting fluid supply at the coolant channel transitions and outlet nozzles in terms of flow characteristics in order to reduce pressure losses inside the tool. By means of CFD simulations, the influence of tool rotation on the cutting fluid impact point on the cutting insert is investigated. The performance of the tools is validated in machining experiments.

Universally applicable design guidelines for manufacturing and post-processing of additively manufactured cutting tools are developed. Furthermore, the qualification of a suitable material for the LPBF production of tool bodies is paramount. Results can, thus, be transferred for the qualification of other steels by the methods developed in the project.