Error compensation model considering tool wear in milling difficult to cut materials

In this paper, error compensation considering tool wear is studied to improve machining precision of difficult-to-cut material in milling process. First, an error model considering tool wear in milling process is established based on the relationship between the position angle and the radius of the section circle of ball-end milling cutter, and the established error model is solved and verified. Then, based on the verified error model, a new error compensation method based on a scale division idea is proposed to determine the required compensation value and generate the compensated tool path by tracing the initial tool path and tool wear deviations. Based on the above error compensation method, the detailed compensated processes for a plane, cylindrical surface and sculptured surface are analysed and an off-line error compensation software is developed by using Visual C++ programming tool. Finally, experimental tests performed with stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti and cemented carbide cutters, are used to validate the reliability of the proposed error compensation method in milling operations. Experimental results show that the proposed error compensation method can reduce machining error and improve machining surface quality.