An energy saving approach for rough milling tool path planning

A huge amount of energy is required when machining complicated parts with large size such as turbine blades and vehicle molds. Especially in roughing stage, energy consumption is extremely large and strongly affected by three parameters: axial depth of cut a_p, radial depth of cut a_e and feed rate f. On the other hand, these cutting parameters are also physically constrained by a critical cutting force. Previous study concerning energy consumption such as presented a rough trend that an increasing material removal rate would lower the specific energy, thus improve the energy efficiency. However, a more quantitative study is still needed to answer a perceptive question: how each cutting parameter affects the energy efficiency individually, and how to obtain an optimal set that consumes the least energy in terms of rough milling? To answer this question, we plan to derive an energy consumption formula specifically in terms of these three cutting parameters, with which an optimal set of parameters is determined for a particular machine tool. A tool path strategy based on these parameters should be developed exclusively for a three axis machine tool that not only improves energy efficiency but also remains under a safety level of cutting force at all the time.