Abstract: Investigations on the prediction and controlling of machining error in milling process are the key issues for machining quality control. They are of great significance to ensure productivity and accuracy for machining process. Based on cutter deflection and cutter edge trajectories, a novel modeling method for predicting the machining error in peripheral milling process with flexible cutter is presented. Key ideas of this method can be listed as follows. The cutter deflection is calculated based on the predicted cutting force. The cutter edge trajectories are solved in light of circular approximation. The machining error is determined by searching for the minimal value of all cutter edge trajectories. Compared with the existing methods, the remarkable feature of the presented method lies in two aspects. On the one hand, the generation mechanism of machining error is well revealed in the modeling procedure. On the other hand, since the influences of cutter edge trajectory on machining error are concerned, the prediction result can illustrate the surface topography. The validity of the presented model is experimentally demonstrated by a series of cutting tests

Key words: Cutter deflection, Cutter edge trajectory, Machining error, Peripheral milling