Abstract
Small lot machining for elastomer has been attracting much attention to support efficient product development. Elastomer endmilling is expected as a promising approach to achieve the problem. In this research, in-process observation of elastomer endmilling is investigated to quantify instantaneous workpiece deformations. Measured deformations with straight flute endmill are compared with machining error to investigate an error generation mechanism. From the experimental results, it has become clear there are different error generation mechanisms between up cut milling and down cut milling. Instantaneous workpiece deformations show a clear correlation only in up cut milling.
