HIGH SPEED MACHINING - CUTTING TOOLS AND

MACHINE REQUIREMENTS

R. C. DEWES*, D. K. ASPINWALL* ** AND M. L. H. WISE**

SUMMARY

A machine tool designed for high speed machining requires not only a high speed spindle but the
capability of operating at rapid feed rates with high accuracy. Commercially available machine
tools meeting this specification are reviewed and a list of machines presented, including costs.
An alternative approach is to retrofit a high speed spindle to an existing machine using one or
more of the spindle designs available. Such designs involve the use of angular contact ball
bearings, magnetic bearings or air bearings; these are assessed. Tooling is also important and
the paper refers to appropriate tool materials and geometry, aspects of tool interface quality and
dynamic balancing. Finally, the traditional ISO taper is compared to the new HSK taper.
INTRODUCTION Much of the original work on high speed
machining was performed over 60 years ago by
The term 'High Speed Machining' (HSM) Salomon [11] who proposed a maximum cutting
commonly refers to end milling at high rotational temperature at an intermediate cutting speed and a
speeds, for example, the routing of aluminium alloy reduction in temperature as cutting speed is
airframe sections to remove large volumes of increased from this point, see Figure 1a.
material quickly. Over the past 60 years HSM has Significantly, much of the literature that has
been applied to a wide range of metallic and non- subsequently been published has concluded that
metallic workpiece materials and machining temperature rises to a maximum corresponding to
operations, including the production of components the melting point of the workpiece material with no
with specific surface topography requirements and reduction at higher cutting speeds, see Figure 1b
the machining of materials with hardnesses of [12]. This explains why there appears to be no
50 HRC and above. limit to the cutting speeds used when machining
aluminium alloys. The melting point of aluminium
Many advantages of HSM have been cited. The alloys (up to 660 "C) is lower than the temperature
most common claims are high metal removal rates at which cemented carbide and ceramic tool
[1], low cutting forces and minimal workpiece materials begin to soften or wear rapidly.
distortion [2], an ability to machine thin walled However, this is not the case for most other
sections and the use of simple fixturing [3]. The workpiece materials. As a result, the limit on
list also includes surface finishes down to 0.1 Jlm cutting speed for aluminium alloys is imposed by
Ra [4], little or no damage to the workpiece surface the machine tool; whereas, the limit on cutting
integrity [5], a reduction in cutting tool variety [6], speed for most other metals is a function of the
burr free components [7] and easier chip disposal cutting tool used.
[5]. A number of drawbacks have also been
identified, such as high tool wear, the need for MACHINE TOOLS
expensive tool materials [8], balanced tooling and
precision toolholder tapers [9], expensive spindles Modern machine tools can be equipped with
with low spindle life (typically 5,000-10,000 hours spindles capable of very high rotational speeds.
at maximum rotational speed [10]) and costly Manufacturers of milling machines and machining
machine tools and control systems [6]. centres commonly offer rotational speeds of
10,000 rev/min as an option, while speeds of
In addition to rotational speed, various criteria such 20,000 rev/min are not unusual and milling
as peripheral cutting speed, material removal rate machines with spindle speeds as high as
and feed rate may be used to define HSM. 100,000 rev/min are available [13].
Conflicting impressions can be given depending on
whether the operation is viewed in terms of the End milling at high rotational speeds is usually,
machine tool or the cutting tool, for example, a though not always, partnered by rapid feed rates.
4 mm diameter end milling cutter rotating at By necessity, a 4 tooth cutter rotating at
20,000 rev/min will only achieve a surface speed of 20,000 rev/min requires a feed rate of 12 m/min for
about 250 rnlmin. a feed of 0.6 mm/rev (0.15 mrnltooth). Machines

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A. K. Kochhar (ed.), Proceedings of the Thirty-First International Matador Conference

with spindle speeds of 20,000 rev/min or above, are although the Mikron unit has a look-ahead function
often capable of feed rates of up to 15 m/min. of 8,000 blocks. The speed of data transfer from
Indeed, Ex-Cell-O's XHC240 machine incorporates the computer holding the NC data to the machine
in-cut feed rates as high as 60 m/min. tool controller can also be a problem [16]. The
standard interface used is the RS232C serial cable,
Leading on from this is the need for rapid which can transfer data at 9,600 baud (bits per
accelerations and decelerations in feed rate. Values second) which is equivalent to 960 characters per
for a high specification machine of 2 m/s 2 have second. This is likely to be a limitation on cutter
been published [14]. As a consequence, it is feed rates during operations requiring a very large
desirable for moving parts to have low mass and number of small cutter movements.
low inertia, however, the machine must also have
high rigidity/dynamic stiffness and have good Table 1 lists commercially available prismatic
vibration damping properties; features that machining centres and milling machines with a
generally result in a large mass. Compromise standard or optional spindle speed of
strategies which involve the use of new, high ~20,000 rev/min and 3 or more axes that can be
stiffness, lightweight materials for machine tool simultaneously controlled; one such machine is
construction are, therefore, necessary [5, 15]. shown in Figure 2. Due to space restrictions, the
table details only one machine from each
manufacturer although a range of machines are
available from most of the companies concerned.
Cost comparisons should be made with care

l
because of differences in machine specification
which are not shown in the table. Minimum
E
~ spindle speeds are generally 10% of maximum
speeds. This may prove to be a limitation when a
machine is required to perform both high and low
speed work.
Cutting Speed
There are several other important considerations
(a) Salomon's curve when assessing high speed machine tools. Safety
is, of course, essential and most machines have a
Melling range of AI
totally enclosed working area to protect the
---~-"d'--- machine operator from high pressure coolant, swarf
and broken tools [1 0]. Noise is generated by the
machine tool, spindle rotation, coolant supply, the
impact of the tool on the workpiece and ejection of
large volumes of swarf at high speeds. Not
surprisingly, noise levels of 97 dB(A) have been
reported [17]. Machines need efficient conveyor
1000 2000 3000
Cotting Speed (feet/min)
4000 5000
systems to remove the high volumes of swarf that
are often produced. One report states that a
Makino machine can generate enough swarf to fill
a 55 U.S. gallon (208litre) drum in one hour [18].
Furthermore, high pressure coolant systems are
A critical feature of HSM is cutter path control used in many machines and this requires large
Numerical control data need to be supplied at volumes of coolant; for example, the Matsuura
higher rates and in larger volumes than with FX-5 is capable of delivering coolant at up to
conventional machine tools. Where contouring 30 litres/minute and 20 bar (300 psi) and requires a
work is performed, small, frequent cutter 300 litre coolant tank.
movements are required to achieve the necessary
component accuracy. High speed machines must W~:h speed spindles
be capable of storing large volumes of data and
processing these data very quickly. A typical An alternative strategy to purchasing a dedicated
motion block processing time for such a machine high speed machine is to retrofit a high speed
tool is 2- 8 ms [15], however, machines such as the spindle with integral motor onto a conventional
Mikron HSM 520 have a much faster processing machine [19, 20]. Spindles are available which
time of 0.05 ms. Controllers commonly feature a cover a wide range of rotational speeds and power
'look-ahead' function that enables the machine to ratings depending on the type and size of bearings
maintain accuracy when rapid changes in feed used, the lubrication system and the power unit.
direction occur. This is typically 64 blocks [15], Common terminology for defining bearing speed is