Coupled fluid-structure-interaction simulation approach for correction of the thermal tool elongation to improve the milling precision

Abstract

AbstractDuring milling operation, the position of the tool centre point (TCP) is affected by structural displacements, which are caused by force loads and heat input inside the machine as well as machining induced thermal loads. These thermal loads result in considerable thermal deformations of tool holder, tool, and accordingly the TCP position. They can be summed up to about tens of microns and compromise the dimensional accuracy. The objective was to develop an integrated, numerical simulation-based approach for future TCP correction for a milling process using characteristic diagrams. For this, a complex Fluid-Structure-Interaction (FSI) simulation model predicts the uni-axial displacement in the longitudinal direction of the TCP due to a specified process heat source at the tool tip. As a partial result, the simulation has reached its performance limits, under the restriction of a reasonable simulation time in order to produce characteristic diagrams for application on a milling machine. The calculated thermally induced displacement can be further processed with the aid of Design of Experiments (DoE) and response surface methodology (RSM), depending on the thermal process load and coolant volume flow rate. That results in characteristic diagrams for the displacement as a function of process parameters. In this study the calculated value for thermally induced TCP displacement covers a span from 10 $$\upmu$$ μ m to 80 $$\upmu$$ μ m, with a strongly nonlinear behaviour. Subsequently, this forms the basis for a future implementation of characteristic diagrams in the machine control system for online correction of thermal tool errors.