Using NC-path Deformation for Compensating Tool Deflections in Micromilling of Hardened Steel

During the micromachining of hardened materials, the low stiffness of the milling tool results in an increased tool deflection which has a great influence on the shape and dimensional accuracy of the machined components. In order to compensate these deflections, an optimization method is presented in this paper. Based on measured form errors of the machined workpieces, the NC programs are optimized iteratively to reduce the shape deviations. To verify this method, experimental investigations were carried out by milling pockets in hardened steel. The results show a significant reduction of the tool deflection after the optimization.