Influence of Tool Length and Profile Errors on the Inaccuracy of Cubic-Machining Test Results

Abstract

A cubic-machining test has been proposed to evaluate the geometric errors of rotary axes in five-axis machine tools using a 3 × 3 zone area in the same plane with different tool postures. However, as only the height deviation among the machining zones is detected by evaluating the test results, the machining test results are expected to be affected by some error parameters of tool sides, such as tool length and profile errors, and there is no research investigation on how the tool side error influences the cubic-machining test accuracy. In this study, machining inaccuracies caused by tool length and tool profile errors were investigated. The machining error caused by tool length error was formulated, and an intentional tool length error was introduced in the simulations and actual machining tests. As a result, the formulated and simulated influence of tool length error agreed with the actual machining results. Moreover, it was confirmed that the difference between the simulation result and the actual machining result can be explained by the influence of the tool profile error. This indicates that the accuracy of the cubic-machining test is directly affected by tool side errors.

Keywords

• five-axis machine tools
• cubic-machining test
• tool length error
• tool profile accuracy