Experimental analysis and optimization of cutting strategies and parameters of thin-walled ABS thermoplastics

This study investigates the influence of tool path and milling parameters on the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of thin-walled structured thermoplastic polymer acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Tests examined the effects of up-milling and down-milling on channels of two depths (10 and 20 mm) using three tool path strategies (zig-single direction, zigzag-double direction and follow periphery-peripheral cutting), five cutting speeds (25 to 125 m/min) and three feed rates (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mm/rev). The milling operation was carried out with an uncoated tungsten carbide end mill. Performance was evaluated through cutting forces (full and half immersion), surface roughness (base and side walls) and dimensional accuracy (channel width and 1 mm thin-wall deviations). A multi-objective optimization based on the chip removal rate (CRR), width deviation, wall deviations (left and right) and corresponding surface roughness values was conducted in order to determine the optimum cutting parameters. The results demonstrate that the Zig-Zag tool path combined with a cutting speed of 125 m/min yielded the optimal performance. Moreover, the optimization analysis revealed that the ideal feed rates for these conditions fall within the range of 0.05–0.09 mm/rev.