Abstract

The resulting surface roughness is studied for Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) during peripheral milling of sapwood and heartwood samples. It is known that the surface roughness is sensitive to a change in cutting conditions, tool wear, cutting geometry and direction change, but also when some material parameters vary like the species, moisture content and wood density. The bite or better the mean chip thickness is strongly related to the resulting surface quality as well as to the needed cutting forces, whereas other studies have shown these relationships with regard to changing cutting conditions. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and quantify the resulting surface roughness for Acacia melanoxylon considering a change in the mean chip thickness for both types of wood: sapwood and heartwood, and to evaluate the results considering changes in the rotational speed and the feed speed. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.