Robust combined time delay control for milling chatter suppression of flexible workpieces.

• A novel active control method is proposed to suppress the milling chatter of thin-walled workpieces. • The non-smooth properties, time delays, multi-modal participation, and varying dynamic characteristics are synthesized together in controller design for the first time. • The combination of robust control and time delay controller enhances the control effect and reduces the control voltage to the single robust control. Chatter phenomena commonly plague the milling process of flexible workpieces, leading to undesirable fluctuations in accuracy and diminished machine efficiency. Limited by complex dynamics of this process, the non-smooth properties, time delays, multi-mode participation, and varying dynamic characteristics have never been considered together in active control. This paper proposes a novel active control method to suppress milling chatter of flexible workpieces by synthesizing these factors together in controller design for the first time. The dynamic model for milling processes of a cantilevered plate, which is regarded as an examined example of flexible structure, is transformed from a time delay differential equation with varying coefficients to a real-time differential equation with constant coefficients by uncertainty transformation. A robust combined time delay control method is tailored for the uncertainty system via combining a robust controller with synthesis method and an active time delay controller. Both simulations and experiments validate the effectiveness and performance advantages. Following the implementation of experiments, the maximum stable milling depth experiences a notable improvement from 0.1 mm to 0.8 mm after control, and is larger than that of 0.6 mm under single robust control. Additionally, under the given milling conditions, the control voltages of robust combined time delay control exhibit a 25 % and 11 % reduction compared to those of the robust control method. The novel combination of a robust controller and time delay controller enhances the control effect and reduces the control voltage. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]