Numerical analyses to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness in using heat pipe embedded end mills

In this paper, the feasibility and effectiveness of heat pipe cooling in end milling operations are investigated. A new embedded heat pipe technology was utilized to remove the heat generated at the tool-interface in end milling processes. Numerical studies involved four cases, including dry milling, fluid cooling, heat-pipe cooling and heat-pipe cooling with cutting fluid supplied. The thermal, structural static and dynamic characteristics of the end-mill were investigated using a numerical calculation with Fast Finite Element (FFE) plus solvers based on explicit finite element analysis software. The results demonstrate that the heat pipe end-mill is most feasible and effective in the actual end milling processes.