Effect of Clamping Error Compensation and Cutting-Induced Deflection on Depth Accuracy in Thin Plate Milling

This study examined the machining accuracy in thin aluminum plate milling, focusing on the clamping error and deformation caused by cutting forces. A compensation method was applied after the clamping-induced geometric errors were measured using an LVDT. As a result, depth error was reduced from 1.44 mm to 0.16 mm, demonstrating a significant improvement in accuracy. Nevertheless, non-contact displacement measurements showed that the plate deflection of about 0.36 mm during milling caused additional depth errors. Depth variation ranged from 0.56 mm near the center to 0.84 mm near the support, indicating that machining accuracy is strongly affected by stiffness and fixturing conditions. These findings suggest that clamping error compensation alone is insufficient and that denser support or enhanced compensation strategies are required to achieve higher precision.