Model based reconstruction of milled surface topography from measured cutting forces

This paper presents a method for the reconstruction of surface topographies of peripheral milled surfaces based on measured cutting forces. Even under stable process conditions, machine tool vibrations occur due to the milling tool's dynamic excitation. In order to estimate the influence of tool vibrations on surface degradation, a dynamic tool model is developed and applied to a material removal model. The proposed tool model is able to reconstruct the accurate shape and roughness of machined surfaces. The developed method is verified by comparing the reconstructed and the measured surface topographies. The results demonstrate that the method is able to reconstruct the surface topography of the machined workpiece from measured resultant cutting forces and it can be used also for the online monitoring of milling processes.

► The surface topographies of machined surfaces were reconstructed from measured cutting forces.
► The behavior of spindle, machine tool and the endmill was modeled.
► The machined surface was reconstructed based on a process model for milling operations.
► Measured and reconstructed surfaces show good agreement for a range of milling processes.
► The implemented method can also be applied in case of chatter vibrations.