Effects of Milling Parameters on Residual Stress and Cutting Force.

Abstract

The 7075-T7451 aluminum alloy, widely used in aerospace, aviation, and automotive fields for critical load-bearing components due to its excellent mechanical properties, suffers from residual stresses induced by thermo-mechanical coupling during milling, which deteriorate workpiece performance. This study explores how key milling parameters-spindle speed *n_c*, feed per tooth *f_z*, cutting depth *a_p*, and cutting width *a_e*-affect surface residual stress and cutting force via orthogonal experiments and finite element analysis (FEA). Results show *a_e* is critical for X-direction residual stresses, while *f_z* dominates Y-direction ones. Cutting force increases with *f_z*, *a_p*, and *a_e* but decreases with higher *n_c*. Multivariate regression-based prediction models for residual stress and cutting force were established, which effectively characterize parameter-response relationships with maximum prediction errors of 18.69% (residual stress) and 12.27% (cutting force), showing good engineering applicability. The findings provide theoretical and experimental foundations for multi-parameter optimization in aluminum alloy milling and residual stress/cutting force control, with satisfactory practical effectiveness.