Error analysis and compensation for the volumetric errors of a vertical machining centre using a hemispherical helix ball bar test

Machining accuracy is directly influenced by the quasi-static errors of a machine tool. Since machine errors have a direct effect upon both the surface finish and geometric shape of the finished workpiece, it is imperative to measure the machine errors and to compensate for them. A laser measurement system to identify geometric errors of a machine tool has disadvantages, such as a high cost, a long calibration time and the usage of a volumetric error synthesis model. In this study, we proposed a novel analysis of the geometric errors of a machine tool using a ball bar test without using a complicated error synthesis model. Also, a statistical analysis method was employed to derive geometric errors using a hemispherical helix ball bar test. According to the experimental result, we observed that geometric errors of the vertical machining centre were compensated by 88%.