Feasibility study of using a simulation approach for optimisation of machining process on aircraft materials

Design of machining processes in aerospace manufacturing relies mainly on experimental approaches; but experiments are time–consuming, expensive and require sophisticated instruments. Two alternative methods are analytical and finite element methods. On one hand, analytical methods are often over–simplified to accommodate necessary variables for an application; the results from analytical methods are lacking of details and accuracy. On the other hand, finite element methods are used to predict the behaviour of a machining process without actual machining operations. However, the finite element methods have not been well validated. Most of the reported works on existing simulation tools are out of general curiosity and without a specific targeted application scenario. This work is dedicated to the machining application on aerospace materials. The fidelity of the simulation code AdvantEdge for this application is validated. The suggestions are made for the modelling of complicated machining operations using AdvantEdge.