On-machine measurement of geometrical deviations on a five-axis CNC machining centre

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ABSTRACT

Measurement of high precision components can be performed on-machine using a suitable measuring system or offline using a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). The former approach is desirable, provided it yields reliable results. This paper presents the on-machine measurement of a high precision cylinder used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with a contact-type CMM probe. The same component was measured offline on a CMM. The CMM data were used to verify the geometry fitting algorithms identified for the present work. The fitting algorithms were used for evaluating the required geometric deviations on the component based on on-machine measurement data. These values were compared with their corresponding values obtained from CMM software. The difference in geometric deviations obtained by the two approaches was found to be well under 5%. Hence, the proposed approach can be used for practical purposes.

KEYWORDS:

• Computer numerical control (CNC) machine
• coordinate measuring machine (CMM)
• geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
• on-machine measurement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.