In-process optical measurement and compensation of machine tool thermal deformations

Published

June 9, 2026

Author(s)

Zongze Li, Aaron Cornelius, Gonzalo Reyes, Edward Kinzel, Ryuta Sato, Gregory Vogl, Robert Landers

Abstract

Machine tool deformations due to thermal loads from motors and part processing, as well as from changing ambient temperature, can dominate the machine tool's volumetric error and substantially affect part quality. Current methods struggle to take measurements and adjust toolpaths quickly enough for in-process corrections and, thus, few experimental results for machining operations have been reported. This paper describes an in-process strategy to measure, model, and compensate machine tool thermal errors. Thermal drifts are measured via a digital microscope mounted in the spindle. A thermal drift prediction model is constructed based on those measurements, and the results are used to modify the G-code to compensate for the errors. Two implementations of the strategy are considered. The timing requirements of previously proposed measurement methods are improved in the first implementation using a two-dimensional Fast Fourier Transformation (2D-FFT) method and in the second implementation by employing a Hough Transformation method. In both implementations, the entire process from measurement to compensation requires less than 100 s, making the proposed method applicable for in-process machine tool thermal error compensation. Uncertainty sources for both methods are discussed and analyzed. The strategy is demonstrated with an experimental study of a scaled ISO 10791-7 M1 specimen and a second experimental study of a larger artifact with a grid of bores. It was found that the thermal error compensation methodology reduces errors on machined parts by up to an order of magnitude compared to parts machined without compensation, with residual errors below the measurement uncertainty.

Citation

Journal of Manufacturing Processes

Volume

172

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2026.05.074

Local Download

Keywords

Machine tool thermal deformations, Three-dimensional optical measurement, In-process compensation

Citation

Li, Z. , Cornelius, A. , Reyes, G. , Kinzel, E. , Sato, R. , Vogl, G. and Landers, R. (2026), In-process optical measurement and compensation of machine tool thermal deformations, Journal of Manufacturing Processes, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2026.05.074, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960792 (Accessed June 25, 2026)

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