Effect of tool Inclination Angle on the Elastic Deformation of Thin-walled Parts in Multi-axis Ball-end Milling

Thin-walled freeform surface parts are widely used in many fields, such as aerospace, automotive, etc. However, it is difficult to produce high quality thin-walled freeform parts in Numerical Controlled(NC) machining due to bending and twisting deformations induced by cutting forces. To overcome this problem, key issues are focused on twofold. First, the relationship between the milling force and the tool inclination angle in ball-end milling was established by using the theoretical and experimental methods. Second, the influence of tool inclination angle on the elastic deformation of thin-walled parts was analyzed by the finite element method. Finally, verification experiment was carried out in a 4-axis CNC machine tool, and the deformation values of the stainless steel test workpieces were measured by a coordinate measurement machine(CMM). The results show that when the tool inclination angles are 15° or 45°, both the milling force and the deformation of the test workpieces are the smallest.