Thin-walled components have characteristics of high intensity and light mass and are used widely in aeronautical industry. NC milling is one of the most popular machining methods for the thin-walled components. Because of their poor rigidity, the deformation of the thin-walled workpieces caused by cutting force is a main factor that decreases the machining precision and increases aeronautical product cost. Based on the analyses of the machining deformation mechanism and basic machining

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... on characteristics of the thin-walled workpieces, a NC milling deformation forecasting approach is presented based on CAD/CAM/FEA integration to forecast the machining deformation of the aeronautical thin-walled workpieces. Taking a typical workpiece for example, the proposed deformation forecast framework is validated by the analytic and experimental results. The straight side walls of aluminum LY12CZ workpieces are processed on a vertical machining center THA5656 and their errors are analyzed. Based on orthogonal tests, the deformation characters of the thin-walled workpieces are discussed under different cutting conditions. By the comparison of experimental results and FEA results, although there exist definite difference, their variation tendencies are similar on the whole. Thus, the FEA model is validated. The research can provide support for machining deformation control and machining simulation model verification.