Machining accuracy improvement of five-axis machine tools by geometric error compensation

In five-axis machining, geometric error of the machine tool is an important error source reducing machining accuracy. Through geometric error compensation, the machining accuracy can be improved. A software-based error compensation strategy is discussed in this study. All individual geometric error components of five-axis machine tools are identified by a laser interferometer system and a ball bar system. To acquire synthetic error, a generalized error model was established based on muti-body system (MBS) and homogeneous transfer matrix (HTM). Finally, the geometric error was compensated by correcting the NC code. Corresponding error compensation software has been developed and an experiment has shown the feasibility of the proposed compensation method.