Improvement of workpiece quality in face milling of aluminum alloys

The compliance with the quality requirements of components is essential for the functionality of the whole product. With respect to parts with face-milled faces, the surface quality and the shape of the workpiece edges are of great interest. Frequently, these faces take over the function of seal faces where high demands on the surface integrity and burr formation exist. To ensure the workpiece quality that is required, nowadays additional processes for deburring are often necessary. To avoid deburring, the modification of machining processes is a promising approach. In this study, the influence of process cooling on workpiece quality is investigated. Using this approach, two effects are expected. The cooling is used to minimize a reduction of flow stress generated from the process heat, which than leads to a lower formability. The second effect relates to the kinetic energy of the snow blast for deburring by deformation and breakage of the burrs. Using a process cooling with carbon dioxide, the surface quality is enhanced and the burr formation is minimized.