Chatter mitigation using moving damper

Abstract Chatter vibration will lead to poor surface quality of the resulting component and shorten the life of the machine tool unless it is avoided. Damping method is widely used in the engineering practice to mitigate the chatter. Using a moving damper, present paper concerns with the chatter suppression during milling the flexible components. It is realized by supporting the damper at the back surface of the workpiece. During milling process, the damper will move with the cutter at the same velocity. Considering the varying dynamics of the component, coupled with the moving damper, the chatter equation is constructed. The so-called stability lobe diagram (SLD) of the novel method, which describes the relationship between the critical stable depth of cut and corresponding rotational speed of the milling cutter, is also presented and it is compared with the SLD of flexible milling without damper. It is founded that the novel method can significantly improve the system stability. At the end of the paper, the method is experimentally validated.