Finite Element Simulation and Deformation Control of High-Speed Milling of Al7050-T7451 Thin-walled Parts

Background: To reduce environmental pollution and improve resource utilization, lightweight equipment has become an important development trend of manufacturing. Therefore, thin-walled parts are being widely used in automobiles, aerospace, etc. due to their lightweight and high specific strength. However, they usually deform during machining due to poor stiffness. Objective: To reduce the machining deformation, the finite element method has been used to analyze the deformation law of thin-walled parts. Method: A 3D milling model of Al7050-T7451 thin-walled parts was established. Then, the influence of hole structure, rib, and auxiliary support on the deformation was investigated under the condition of optimized parameters. Moreover, some related patents on the research of machining deformation of thin-walled parts were also consulted. Results: The results showed that the established 3D model could accurately predict the machining deformation of thin-walled parts. The machining deformation on the edges is more severe due to holes that weaken the stiffness of thin-walled parts. Besides, ribbed slab and auxiliary support can shorten machining deformation by 71.9% and 65.2%, respectively.

CNN-GRU Network-based Force Prediction Approach for Variable Working Condition Milling Clamping Points of Deformable Parts

Improper clamping is one of the major causes of part deformation. Improving the fixture arrangement through force analysis of clamping points is an effective means to suppress or improve machining deformation. However, the existing research focuses on the monitoring and off-line optimization of the clamping point force, which has a certain lag on the machining deformation control, and it is difficult to predict the clamping point force due to the time-varying coupling effect of multiple factors such as process parameters, cutting force and clamping point force in the machining process. Inspired by the excellent performance of convolutional neural networks and gated recurrent networks in feature extraction and learning of temporal association laws, this paper proposes a CNN-GRU-based method for predicting the force state of clamping points under variable working conditions. Firstly, a force prediction model of clamping point during milling process with variable working conditions is established. Secondly, a convolutional neural network is designed to extract the features of dynamic coupled machining conditions. Then, a network of gated recurrent units is constructed to learn the temporal correlation law between the machining conditions and the forces on the clamping points to achieve force prediction of the clamping points during machining. Finally, it was verified by the milling process of the piston skirt. The results show that CNN-GRU can effectively predict the clamping force. In addition, CNN-GRU has higher computational efficiency and accuracy compared with CNN-LSTM, CNN-RNN and CNN-BP.

Effects of Residual Stress and Equivalent Bending Stiffness on the Dimensional Stability of the Thin-Walled Parts

The monolithic thin-walled parts are widely used in the aeronautic and astronautic field because of its excellent mechanical performance and light weight, but the thin-walled parts are vulnerable to the machining deformation due to its low stiffness and high material removal rate. According to the relative basic theory, the stiffness and internal residual stress of the part are the critical factors affecting the dimensional stability. In this work, the influences of equivalent bending stiffness and residual stress on the dimensional stability of thin-walled parts are studied. Nine typical thin-walled parts in three groups with two materials (7075 aluminum alloy for A1~A3 and B1~B3, and Ti6Al4V titanium alloy for B4~B6) are machined and treated with different processes. Topology optimization technique is used to optimize the structure of parts to enhance the bending stiffness. Corresponding finite element method (FEM) simulations are carried out to further investigate the generation mechanism. The deformations in 312 hours after machining are measured using coordinate measuring machine, and the deformation changes of the parts are obtained and analyzed. Finally, based on topological optimization and stress relief technology, a machining deformation control method for the monolithic thin-walled parts is proposed. Results show that the maximum and average deformations of thin-walled are evidently decreased using the proposed method.

Numerical Simulation Investigation on Machining Deformation of Aviation Thin-Walled Parts Caused by Residual Stress

Holistic thin-walled parts are common structural parts of modern aircraft to reduce the weight and increase the stiffness. Over 90% of the materials are removed from the blank, as a result, large machining deformations occur to the parts, which causes the manufacturing discrepancies and even the scrap parts. In this paper, numerical simulation models are established to predict the machining deformation of two typical aviation thin-walled parts. The blank initial and machining induced residual stresses, as well as the cutting parameters, are considered in the model. The deformations and stresses after machining are calculated using the proposed model, and the deformation and stress distributions are analyzed.

Machining Deformation Analysis of Aircraft Monolithic Components based on the Energy Method

In the process of machining aircraft monolithic components, the initial stress in the blank will cause machining deformation. Based on the energy method, an analytical mathematical model of machining deformation is presented in this paper. The key point is to transform the energy in the removed material into the deformation energy of the part after machining. The initial residual stress of 7050-T7451 aluminum alloy blank and single frame part are used as investigated case in the analytical model. For layer by layer machining, the deformation evolution is closely related to the tensile or compressive properties of the initial stress of removed material. Combined with the change of neutral axis position, The machining deformation is calculated by theoretical model. Then, FEM simulation is carried out to analyze the influence of stiffening ribs on machining deformation utilizing the semi-analytical model of equivalent bending stiffness. Furthermore, experiments are set up to verify the validity of the theory and FEM data. The results indicate that the deformation results of the experiment are consistent with that of theory and FEM model. Deformation is determined by energy of removed material. This paper provides a novel theoretical approaches for the further investigation of this issue.

Prediction of machining deformation and reasonable design of gear blank for split straight bevel gear

The deformation of gear blank is serious in the machining process of the split straight bevel gear,considering the material and the design of gear blank, the relationship between the change of additional stress and bending deformation of gear blank is studied, and the calculation model of the internal additional stress and additional torque during the gear cutting is established.According to the moment-area method, the calculation formula of the bending deformation of gear blank is derived, and combined with the time-varying stiffness, the mathematical model of the gear blank deformation is obtained. The theoretical calculation, finite element analysis and experimental results are highly consistent.Based on the above research, the internal relationships between the machining deformation and the geometric parameters such as the thickness, diameter and gear module of the split gear blank is analyzed, and the reasonable design of the geometric parameters of the split gear blank and the reasonable dividing law of the gear blank are explored.