Manufacturing Letters 13 (2017) 1–5

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Manufacturing Letters
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mfglet

Letters

Recent advances in characterization, modeling and control of burr

formation in micro-milling
Pankaj Kumar, Mohan Kumar, Vivek Bajpai ⇑, Nirmal K. Singh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, JH, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The demands of high accuracy micro-parts and micro-scale features are increasing in the different indus-
Received 22 December 2016 tries today. Micro-milling is widely used to manufacture micro-scale parts and features. The major prob-
Received in revised form 17 April 2017 lem in the micro-milling operation is burr formation, as due to micro-scale size of burr, deburring
Accepted 25 April 2017
becomes difficult. Burr deteriorates the quality and performance of micro-parts and features, therefore,
Available online 30 April 2017
burr minimization and control techniques are topics of extensive research today. Many researchers have
worked on the micro-milling burr to achieve better control on the burr formation in micro-milling oper-
Keywords:
ation. This paper presents recent works on burr formation in micro-milling operation.
Micro-milling
Burr characterization
Ó 2017 Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Burr modeling
Burr control

1. Experimental characterization of burr formation in micro-
milling
Smaller cutting area and feed per tooth to the radius of cutter
ratio, size effect, minimum chip thickness, low stiffness of micro-
tool, tool run-out etc. are such factors which distinguishes the
micro-milling from the conventional milling operation. Due to
smaller size of burr in micro-milling compared to conventional
milling, burr removal and control is a big challenge. Cutting param-
eters, work-piece material properties, tool geometry, coating,
lubrication are such factors which affect the burr formation in
micro-milling operation.
Mian et al. [1] conducted micro-milling tests on wrought
Inconel 718 nickel alloy work-piece and used acoustic emission
(AE) signals to identify frequency/energy bands for understanding
the size-effect mechanism. They found that feed per tooth to the
cutting edge radius ratio was the dominant parameter in reducing
the burr root thickness. More uniform and relatively larger burrs
were found on the down milled side of all the slots. Biermann
and Steiner [2] analyzed the top burr formation of austenitic stain-
less steel X5CrNi18-10 in slot micro-milling and concluded that up
milling produces a significantly reduced top burr height. The top
burr height increases with an increasing cutting speed due to the
higher strain rate hardening of the material. Top burr height
increases with increasing feed.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: vbajpai007@rediffmail.com (V. Bajpai).
Saptaji et al. [3] observed the top burr formation of aluminum
alloy Al-6061 in micro-milling to study the effect of side edge angle
and taper tool angle on the top burrs in micro-milling. They con-
cluded that the top burr in micro-milling is affected by both side
edge angle and taper angle. The Combination of largest side edge
angle and largest taper angle produces the smallest burr. Thepsonthi
and Ozel [4,5] used the process modeling and optimization methods
to understanding the top burr formation of Ti-alloy Ti6Al4V in
micro-milling. They found that the integrated toolpath strategy,
axial depth of cut and feed rate are the major process parameters
which affect the top burr formation and surface roughness. Higher
feed rate results better surface roughness and channel quality. Cut-
ting edge radius influences the burr formation in milling. Burr for-
mation increases with the increase of cutting edge radius [6].
Wu et al. [7] investigated the influence of uncut chip thickness
and cutting edge radius on burr formation of oxygen free copper in
micro-milling operation. They concluded that the top burr
decreases with the decrease of feed ratio and reaches its minimum
value when feed ratio is equal to the cutting edge radius. Further,
decrease in the feed ratio it results rapidly increase in the top burr.
Smaller top burr was found in the up milling side compared to the
down milling side. Mathai et al. [8] examined the burr formation of
thin nickel-titanium alloy (nitinol) foil in micro-milling operation.
They found larger down milling burr and three main shapes of
burrs: rollover type, feathery type and wall type. Tool condition
during the machining process affect the burr formation [9]. New
tool and strong adhesive bond results smaller burrs at the higher
feeds on either side of the groove. With a new tool, it was seen that
spindle speed does not have a significant effect on the burr height

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mfglet.2017.04.002
2213-8463/Ó 2017 Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 P. Kumar et al. / Manufacturing Letters 13 (2017) 1–5
but for a worn tool, lower spindle speed results larger burrs. A
weak adhesive bond with the backing material also results larger
burrs. Coating affect the burr formation in micro-milling [10].
Aslantas et al. [11] found reduced burr size in micro-milling with
the coated tool.
Bajpai et al. [12] investigated the burr formation of titanium
alloy Ti6Al4V in high speed micro-milling. They concluded that
side exit burr in up milling side is the most critical and larger in
all type of the burrs. Burr height decreases when spindle speed
and feed increases. With the increase of depth of cut burr height
increases. The burr width is only significantly affected by the depth
Fig. 1. Influence of machining parameters on the exit burr size, effect of; (a) tool
rotation at 10000, 50,000 and 90,000 rpm under 5 mm/s feed and 50 mm depth of
cut; (b) feed rate at 1, 3 and 5 mm/s under 90,000 rpm spindle rotation speed and
50 mm depth of cut; (c) depth of cut at 10, 20 and 50 mm under 90,000 rpm spindle
rotation and 50 mm depth of cut [12].
of cut. Burr width increases with the increasing depth of cut (see
fig. 1). The burr size do not alter significantly by the tool diameter
and the number of flutes. Piquard et al. [13] studied the top burr
formation of NiTi biomedical alloys in micro-milling. They found
that feed per tooth and width of cut strongly affect the height
and width of burr. Smaller burrs were found when feed per tooth
increases and width of cut decreases. Thinner and wider burrs
(with a characteristics curly shape) were obtained in up milling
compared to down milling burrs due to machining strategy. Only
burr thickness was significantly affected by the phase transforma-
tion of NiTi alloy. Thicker burrs were formed during the end-
milling of martensitic NiTi alloy. Material micro-structure affects
the top burr size in micro-milling [14].
2. Modeling of burr formation in micro-milling
In the micro-milling operation, burr formation is unavoidable.
The smaller size of burr in micro-milling makes deburring difficult.
Modeling of burr formation is a useful tool for better control over
the burr formation in micro-milling operation.
2.1. Analytical modeling of burr size
The prediction of burr sizes by the analytical modeling in micro-
milling operation is extremely challenging due to the complex burr
formation mechanism in micro-milling. Lekkala et al. [15] studied
the burr formation mechanism of aluminum in micro-milling and
Fig. 2. (a) Exit geometry in micro- end milling; (b) geometry of burr initiation and
formation [15].
 P. Kumar et al. / Manufacturing Letters 13 (2017) 1–5 3

Fig. 3. Top burr morphologies at different (i) axial depth of cut (in mm): (a) ap = 5, (b) ap = 10, (c) ap = 15, (d) ap = 20, (e) ap = 25; (ii) feeds (in mm/tooth): (a) ft = 0.5, (b)
ap = 1.0, (c) ap = 1.5, (d) ap = 2.0, (e) ap = 2.5; (iii) spindle speeds (103 rpm): (a) n = 12, (b) n = 30, (c) n = 60, (d) n = 90, (e) n = 120 [23].

developed an analytical model of burr height for exit side burr in Kumar et al. [19] observed the burr formation mechanism of
micro-milling operation. This model is based on the burr formation titanium alloy Ti6Al4V in high speed micro-milling operation and
model given by Ko and Dornfeld [16,17] for orthogonal machining developed the burr height model for exit side burr as,
(see fig. 2) using continuity of work principle at the transition point 2 sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3

2
which is, Nt2x h 2pRtx Rh
hf ¼ 4t x h  þR R 2
  5cosb
DW c ¼ DW b ð1Þ 2pR þ Ntx 2pR þ Ntx log tan b2

(DW c = work done in chip formation at the transition point; and ð3Þ
DW b = work done in burr formation at the transition point) and the
where R = cutter radius;
chip thickness model given by Bao and Tansel [18].
h = tool rotation angle;
The proposed burr height model for exit side burr is, 

 b = initial negative shear angle = 20 ;

N 2 1 2 Rh tx = feed per tooth = f
; f = feed rate; n = spindle speed;
hf ¼ t x h  tx h þ tx  cos b ð2Þ
2pR
nN
2R logðtan b =2Þ N = number of teeth
4 P. Kumar et al. / Manufacturing Letters 13 (2017) 1–5
Fig. 4. Burr control mechanism and process in micro-milling: (a) extending work-piece boundaries with supporting material; (b) crack grows on the support material; (c)
burrs formation on the support material; (e) the process of burr control [29].
Kruy et al. [20] used rollover burr and poisson burr models with
simulators in orthogonal and oblique cutting conditions for the
prediction of top burr and exit burr in up milling and down milling.
Khanghah et al. [21] used response surface methodology (RSM)
and simulated annealing algorithm for the analysis of burr sizes
of 316 stainless steel in micro-milling. They developed a second-
order polynomial response surface mathematical model for mea-
surement of burr sizes as,
X
k X
k X
k
Y ¼ b0 þ bi X iu þ bii X 2iu þ bij X iu X ju
i¼1 i¼1 i¼1
where Y is the response (burr height and burr thickness of up
and down milling process); b0 ; bi ; bii andbij are the co-efficients;
X iu is the variable (N, f and doc); u is the experiment number (1–
20); k is the factor number (1–3); X 2iu is the higher order term of
variables and X iu , X ju are the interaction terms.
The second, third and fourth terms of the Eq. (4) correspond to
the linear effect, higher order effects and interactive effects of the
process parameters respectively. Computer software Design Expert
V8 has been used for the evaluation of different constants of Eq.
(4).
2.2. Finite element modeling of burr formation
Ozel et al. [22] used updated Lagrangian (DEFORM-2D) software
to study the effect of coating on the burr formation of titanium
alloy Ti6Al4V in micro-milling. They found lower burr width with
cBN coated micro-tool.
Chen et al. [23] established 3-dimensional FEM model to inves-
tigate the burr formation process of Ti6Al4V in micro-ball end
milling operation. They observed that the reduction in top burr for-
mation in micro-ball end milling is significantly affected by the
small ratio of axial depth of cut to the mill radius. Down milling
side has larger top burr compared to up milling side. Axial depth
of cut affects top burr size more significantly compared to feed
and spindle speed (see Fig. 3). Top burr size increases when axial
depth of cut increases.
Thepsonthi and Ozel [24] investigated the tool wear effect on
the process performance of Ti6Al4V in micro-end milling by 3-D
FE modeling. They found that increasing edge radius due to tool
wear results higher cutting forces, tool wear rate, cutting temper-
ature and burr formation.
ð4Þ 3. Burr control
The top burrs in micro-milling can be avoided by using a
tapered tool [3]. Wu [7] suggested an extra milling process with
opposite feed direction and small milling width on the down
milling side to remove the larger top burrs on the down milling
side. Optimization of cutting parameters values is the best way
to minimize the burr dimensions [13,21]. Top burr formation can
be reduced by adopting small ratio of axial depth of cut to the cut-
ter radius and the use of lubricants [23]. The burr formation can be
reduced by using cutting fluid, lubrication, cryogenic cooling, sharp
tools with a positive rake angle and large helix angle [2,25–27].
Hybrid cooling-lubrication system gives smallest burr compared
to other system in micro-milling [28]. Kou et al. [29] have pre-
sented a supporting material method for burr controlling in
micro-milling (see Fig. 4).
4. Conclusions
This paper presents characterization, modeling and control of
burr formation in micro-milling operation. Cutting parameters,
work-piece material properties, tool geometry, coating, cutting flu-
ids are such factors which affect the burr formation in micro-
milling operation. In this paper, influence of different parameters
which affect the burr formation in micro-milling has been
discussed. Burr formation is a major problem in micro-milling.
 P. Kumar et al. / Manufacturing Letters 13 (2017) 1–5
Therefore, burr modeling is important for burr minimization and
control. Optimization of cutting parameters values, coating, hybrid
cooling-lubrication system and supporting material method can be
used to minimize and prevent the burr formation.
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