Effect of machining-induced residual stress on the distortion of thin-walled parts

One of the main problems in the machining of thin-walled parts made of high-strength aluminum alloys is distortion and dimensional instability after machining, which leads to an increase in scraped parts and the cost of production. In general, distortion and dimensional instability in machined parts made of aluminum alloy is a function of the residual stresses. In this article, the correlation between machining-induced residual stresses and distortion in a thin-walled work pieces is investigated. Several experiments are carried out under different machining conditions using two carbide and polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tools on a thin-walled cylinder made of AL7075-T6 alloy. Rates of variations in geometrical tolerances and distortion for all work pieces are measured. To study the effect of mechanical and thermal loads on the residual stresses and distortion, the machining force and temperature of cutting area are measured. Finally, the correlation between the residual stress and distortion is studied by measurement of residual stress on some work pieces. Similarly, in order to investigate the effect of work pieces thickness on distortion, several tests are carried out on three work pieces with different thicknesses. The results indicate that the force and temperature have direct effect on the residual stresses and distortion in the thin-walled parts.