Three dimensional prediction of stability lobes in end milling of thin-walled structures based on tool and workpiece dimensions

Abstract

Nowadays, researchers are very interested to investigate the dynamic behavior of thin-walled structures during the machining process due to their broad application in aerospace, automotive industries, etc. One of the main problems in the machining of thinwalled structures is unstable chatter vibrations, which causes poor machined surface quality and decreases the system life span. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to propose a practical method to solve the chatter instability problem during the milling process of thinwalled components. To this end, first, the effects of geometrical parameters like workpiece height, thickness, tool overhang, diameter, and their ratios on the chatter stability are investigated. Based on the mentioned parameters, three-dimensional Stability Lobe Diagrams (SLDs) are presented for the first time in which one can use the diagrams to switch the unstable machining process to a stable one by changing the values of the system parameters. Finally, the results obtained by the experimental test show that the presented threedimensional diagrams can be utilized to avoid chatter instability in the milling process.