Figure 1 shows the in-plane milling forces in the x and y directions during ten rotations. Figure 1a represents the fully dense material and Figure 1b represents the thin-walled supports (also called “block type” supports) with no trapped powder. The cutting force is higher in the fully dense material, and the forces steadily climb for six peaks, as each of the six teeth on the fluted end mill cut into the material (see Figure 1a). This process repeats every 0.05 seconds, consistent with the feed rate and speed of the cutting tool used in the experiment.
We see a much different signature for the thin-walled supports in Figure 1b. Every rotation of the tool encounters a different geometry (either thin-wall or hollow section or some combination of the two), and the resulting force varies as the mill travels across the support structure. The amplitude of the force is lower than when cutting the fully dense material, but the frequency is higher given the varying geometry. The patter