Akihiro Mochizuki

Development of a circular vibration milling attachment and its application to machining of hardened steel

It has been proven that vibration-assisted machining can improve finished surface quality of hard materials and reduce tool wear. In previous researches, a prototype milling machine was developed to investigate the feasibility of vibration-assisted milling process. In this research, a device that can be attached to any machining centre to perform circular vibration milling was developed and its performance was investigated. The device is used to vibrate a cutting tool along a circular locus about the machine tool spindle axis, in addition to tool rotation motion. Experimental results showed that by using the circular vibration milling attachment, the finished surface quality of hardened steel can be improved and tool wear can be reduced compared with conventional milling process.