Top burr thickness prediction model in milling of thin-walled workpiece considering tool and workpiece deformation

In the aviation and weapon industry, aluminum alloy thin-walled workpieces are widely used, and milling is a common manufacturing process for these thin-walled workpieces. In milling, many burrs generate on the entrances and exits of workpiece edges and the tops of slot on workpiece surface, which affect machining quality and assembly accuracy and produce more seriously tip discharge effect. To investigate the burr formation mechanism, an analyzed model of top burr thickness considering the tool deflection angle and workpiece deformation is proposed to elaborate the burr formation process in milling of thin-walled workpiece. In this process, top burr formation process is analyzed, and the burr thickness is expressed by the motion relationship between cutting tools and workpieces. Then, based on energy theory, a top burr thickness predicted model considering the tool deflection angle and workpiece deformation in milling of aluminum alloy thin-walled workpiece is proposed. Subsequently, under the determined milling condition, the top burr thicknesses are calculated for verification. Finally, several milling experiments are carried out for validating the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. Experimental results show that the predicted top burr thicknesses are in good agreement with the measured value in milling, and the prediction accuracy of the top burr thickness by the proposed model reached 96.5%.