Cutting Force Prediction for Trochoid Milling of 300M Ultra-High Strength Steel

Trochoid milling can improve the quality of machining of difficult materials as well as the efficiency of machining. However, its complex tool trajectory makes it difficult to predict the instantaneous cutting forces during cutting. Therefore, in this paper, the transient cutting thickness model in the cycloidal milling process was established using numerical combined with analytical methods, and the semi-mechanical cutting force model was established. Experiments were designed to compare the differences between the cutting force coefficients extracted from the slot milling experiments and those extracted from the trochoid milling. Finally, experiments were designed to validate the established cutting force model. The results showed that there was an error of 5–23% between the tangential cutting force coefficients extracted from slot milling and the tangential cutting force coefficients extracted from trochoid milling, while there was an error of 21–35% in the radial cutting force coefficients, indicating that the cutting force coefficients extracted from slot milling cannot be used to predict the cutting force in the trochoid milling process. It was verified that the error of the established cutting force model in predicting the cutting force of trochoid milling was 12%, indicating that the established model has a high accuracy, which provides a theoretical basis for the selection of cutting parameters and parameter optimization in the future.