A study on tool wear for micromilling process

Mechanical production greatly changed among the last decades. Nowadays, the need of higher accuracy and precision even for small details on the finished product makes micromachining a fundamental technology that can fulfill modern industry requirements. Micromilling is one of the most important and widespread microtechnology. This process is characterized by a great precision level even when high strength materials are machined. The understanding of tool deterioration and breakages causes is one of the main research challenges in micromilling field. Mechanisms that underlies these phenomena are different from those observed in conventional milling processes. The definition and the prediction of the tool-life are regulated by the ISO-8688 standard (part 1 and 2) for conventional milling process, but this standard actually is not referred to micromilling and a dedicated regulation has not been compiled yet. Therefore, this research work aims to investigate tool wear in micromilling process, in order to deepen the knowledge and better understand causes and mechanisms that lead to tool failure. Results are particularly focused on the correlation between flank wear and cutting force, and represents a base for a more complete study in this field aimed to provide fundamental knowledge for the development of a future standard that can fill the normative gap in tool-life criterion for micromilling processes.