Radial Load - End Milling

[aldumoul]

Anyone know of a program that calculates radial load? It is important in order for me to figure bearing life and shaft bending moments (we’re a spindle manufacturer). In my research, I have found this calc to be quite involved (merchants circle). Using a calc within Kennametal’s website, it computed a tangential force of 45 lbs, if that helps.

Tool is carbide, 2 flute, 3/8 dia. Workpiece material is aluminum.. 130 brinel, 47.9k psi ultimate strength. Process: 1000 SFM, 10,186 RPM, width of cut: .18. .00413 ipt (chip load). It is a mill/drill application… drill thru 3/8 material and interpolate the hole.

 

[3DDave]

I suspect it will mainly be a tangential load. The cutting edge geometry that I have seen has a section that supports the edge from burying deeper, radially, while plowing out the metal by continuous shear.

 

[aldumoul]

Yes, tangential loading is always higher. But I’m trying to figure the moments and reactions on the shaft bearings. Radial loading and axial loading are what I need to figure bearing life. And if the shaft is going to bend, which would create chatter during machining, and may be catastrophic.

 

[MintJulep]

Maybe this.

 

[TWilkinson]

Kennametal’s calculators are a good starting point for continuous cutting conditions. However, I would exercise caution if you’re also trying to account for torque spikes and interrupted cuts. The easiest way to obtain the max tangential component is by monitoring spindle power consumption on a test piece. From there you can calculate the remaining components with a cutting force diagram. A bit arduous, but doable...

I believe that Vericut and AdvantEdge can be used to simulate cutting forces in all three axes, but they will likely be expensive and have a learning curve. I’ve never personally used either software, but they were the two I was most interested in when I was working in machining.