Machining processes simulation: specific finite element aspects

The paper presents a simulation tool designed to predict form errors of part surfaces obtained by face milling and turning processes. For these operations, the form error is often due to the flexibility of the workpiece and its supports. The finite element method is adopted to model the part geometry and to compute its deformations. Numerous load cases are required to obtain the form error so that classical resolution methods prove to be inefficient (CPU time, memory and disk space). The paper mainly focuses on the special computation scheme adopted in order to improve the resolution of such an atypical problem.