Dimensional Deviations of Horizontal Thin Wall of Titanium Alloy Ti6Al4V Determined by Optical and Contact Methods

Thin-walled structures are used in many industries. The need to use such elements is dictated by the desire to reduce the weight of the finished product, as well as to reduce its cost. The most common method of machining such elements is the use of milling, which makes it possible to make a product of almost any shape. However, several undesirable phenomena occur during the milling of thin-walled structures. The main phenomenon is a deformation of the thin wall resulting from its reduced stiffness. Therefore, it is necessary to control the dimensional and shape accuracy of finished products, which is carried out using various measuring instruments. The development of newer measuring methods such as optical methods is being observed. One of the newer measuring machines is the 3D optical scanner. In the present experiment, thin-walled samples in horizontal orientation of Ti6Al4V titanium alloy were machined under controlled cutting conditions. During machining, the cutting speed and feed rate were assumed constant, while the input factors were the tool and cutting strategy. This paper presents graphs of deviations in the determined cross-section planes of thin-walled structures using a 3D optical scanner and a coordinate measuring machine. A correlation was made between the results obtained from the measurement by the optical method and those determined by the contact method. A maximum discrepancy of about 8% was observed between the methods used.