Machining-induced geometric errors in thin-walled parts-a review of mitigation strategies and development of application guidelines

The growing demand for fuel efficiency and emission reduction in the aviation industry has significantly driven the adoption of weight-reduction strategies, notably through the use of thin-walled parts (TWPs). These parts are fabricated from structurally efficient materials such as light alloys (e.g., aluminum) and hard-to-machine alloys (e.g., titanium and nickel). However, the machining of thin-walled parts presents significant challenges, including high material removal rates, reduced rigidity, elevated vibration levels, residual stresses, and dimensional deformations, all of which complicate the processing of these components. To address these challenges, recent research has led to the development of several innovative machining solutions. In order to implement the findings of these researches in the industry, there is a need for guideline development that can be helpful for both practitioners and researchers by comparing these solutions in terms of the extent of changes required in the current machining setup, level of controls achieved for different dimensional and material categories of workpieces. Hence, the current work reviews causes of machining deflection of thin-walled parts by systematically reviewing all major seven countermeasures proposed by researchers. Based on this, a decision support table has been developed to aid in deciding a deflection mitigation strategy based on the categorization of workpiece thickness, machinability, and level of changes required in the existing machining setup to implement the mitigation strategy and reported extent of control achieved on different machining quality parameters. The novelty of current research is the development of a decision support table and comprehensive review of thin-wall machining based on a mitigation strategy. The findings of this research will be useful for machining technologists to identify thin-wall machining-related challenges and will assist in deciding available solutions for implementation to enable accurate and efficient machining practices.