Prediction and compensation of countersinking depth error in drilling of thin-walled workpiece

The countersink depth accuracy is a remarkable quality index in modern aerospace industry, and it needs to be controlled quite accurately due to the extremely tight tolerances. However, the wide use of the thin-walled workpiece with low stiffness makes it difficult to achieve the required tolerance because of the complex deformation in the countersinking process. Focusing on the accurate control of countersink depth in the drilling of thin-walled workpiece, this paper provides a novel insight into the study on predicting of the feasible workpiece deformation and compensating for the countersink depth error through both theoretical and experimental analyses. An analytical model of workpiece deformation is first presented with the Fourier series approach in this study, and the finite element simulation is carried out to verify the model precision. Then a flexible cutting force model is developed to help to analyze the effect of deformation on the thrust force in the countersinking process. A novel approach of integrated iterative algorithm, that considers both the deformation and the cutting force, is established to calculate the final feasible deformation and make decision for the countersink depth error compensation, and the generalized convergence and adaptability of this iterative algorithm are investigated based on the calculus theory. Finally, the proposed integrated methodology is verified by multivariate simulations and experiments, and the results show that the countersink depth accuracy could be effectively guaranteed by countersinking with compensation based on this integrated methodology. The work in this paper enables us to understand the causes of poor countersink depth accuracy in the drilling of thin-walled workpiece and develop new countersinking techniques to satisfy the tight tolerance.