Error compensation strategy in milling flexible thin-wall parts

Accuracy of machined components is one of the most critical considerations for any manufacturer. One of the challenging difficult areas is the machining of low-rigidity complex parts usually associated with industries such as aerospace. The paper reports on advanced error prediction and compensation strategy specifically focused on force-induced errors in machining of thin-wall structures. The machining error is predicted using a theoretical flexible force-deflection model and compensated for by optimising the tool path prior to machining. The error compensation scheme is simulated using NC verification tools and experimentally validated. The experimental results show that the overall error in the flexible milling can be captured and predicted with very high accuracy using the proposed flexible force-deflection model and a large percentage of it can be eliminated through the proposed error compensation scheme. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.