A study on the feasibility of in-process compensation of cutting force induced errors using axes motors absorbed current

Portable machine tools are developed to address specific applications needs, such as machining of large components. However, they lack in performance such as stiffness. For such a low-stiffness portable machine tool, in this work, it is analysed the possibility and feasibility of employing the motors absorbed current measurements during actual machining operations as a means to monitor the cutting process and eventually compensate the tool deformations due to the cutting forces. In-process tool-path compensation achieved through a sensorized machine is of extreme interest from the costs point of view, especially for portable or dedicated task machine tool. In this paper, measurements of cutting forces, feed axes and spindle motors absorbed currents were carried out simultaneously for different cutting conditions. It is found that good correlations can be established between specific feature of the cutting force and axis motors absorbed current, the result demonstrates that the absorbed current measurements are reliable indirect measurements of the cutting forces and can therefore be employed in an in-process tool-path compensation.