Command shaping control for micro-milling operations

Micro milling requires both high speed and high accuracy in order to economically produce parts with features on the scale of 1 μm. Micro mills are smaller and more flexible than traditional large-scale machines. Therefore, vibration of the machine structure is a significant problem. Given that micro milling requires high positioning precision, even small vibrations in the controller dynamics are problematic. The small-scale operation has considerably lower tool/workpiece interaction forces than traditional-scale milling. These low cutting forces have minimal effect on the machine structural response. Therefore, the dominant dynamic factor in exciting vibration can be the machine tool motion, rather than the workpiece/tool interaction. Given this realization, properly shaping the motions of the micro mill is a promising approach to reduce vibration. This paper presents a nonlinear command-shaping technique to reduce the vibrations of a micro mill that can be implemented with a standard CNC controller. The robustness of this technique to modeling errors and disturbances is investigated. Theoretical proofs and experimental demonstrations of the command-shaping technique are presented. The improved performance from the command shaping enables higher throughput and improved accuracy of the micro mill.