An efficient approach to calculating the moment of inertia of solid end-mill flutes

Abstract

Flutes, as the major geometric part of the solid end-mills, cannot be ignored while evaluating the tool's stiffness. In this work, the free-form profile of flute shape is obtained based on the CAD/CAM simulation of end-mills and the corresponding inertia is calculated through discretizing the cross-section into a group of finite rectangular elements. The inertias with various flute shapes are calculated using the discretizing method. Based on the statistical analysis of various flute shapes, a power equation in terms of tool radius and core radius is proposed to calculate the inertia. This work provides an efficient solution of calculating the inertia of solid end-mill flute, which could contribute to predicting the static and dynamic behaviours of solid end-mills.