Modelling and analysis of tool deflections in tailored micro end mills

The deflection of micro end mills has a detrimental effect on surface quality of the machined micro components and adversely affects the achievable dimensional and geometrical tolerances. In this paper, the analysis and modelling of tool deflections of tailored micro end mills have been considered. The tool deflections are obtained using analytical models as well as finite element simulations and verified using a dedicated measurement setup, which uses a capacitive sensor with a nanometre resolution for static tool deflection measurements. The optimisation of the micro end mill geometry has been performed to determine optimum neck taper angle and transition radius of the single edge micro end mill to have minimum tool deflections. With the developed model, tool failure predictions for a given process parameter set can be performed and it can be used for better micro milling process planning.