ESTABLISHING THEORETICAL PRECISION MACHINING OF A RECONFIGURABLE ALUMINIUM PROFILE CNC ROUTER VIA FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study investigates the theoretical precision machining of a reconfigurable CNC router system constructed using aluminium structural profiles. A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) approach was employed to simulate the mechanical response of the machine under representative cutting forces corresponding to critical machining scenarios according to the intended application. This paper investigates the theoretical static response behavior of the machine structure, with the objective of assessing the achievable precision machining, specifically in applications involving moderate tolerances and precision requirements. The material grades of the semifinished products proposed for machining on this CNC router are as follows: EN AW 6012-T6, EN AW 6060-T6 and PA46, and the milling operations on the router are slot, contour and planar milling for both roughing and finishing operations. The proposed solution meets the ever increasing need in the educational environment for low-cost and reconfigurable CNC platforms.