HIGH SPEED MILLING IN THIN-WALLED AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

Aircraft structures are designed to mainly consist of integral elements which have been produced by welding or riveting of component parts in technologies utilized earlier in the production process. Parts such as ribs, longitudinals, girders, frames, coverages of fuselage and wings can all be categorized as integral elements. These parts are assembled into larger assemblies after milling. The main aim of the utilized treatments, besides ensuring the functional criterion, is obtaining the best ratio of strength to construction weight. Using high milling speeds enables economical manufacturing of integral components by reducing machining time, but it also improves the quality of the machined surface. It is caused by the fact that cutting forces are significantly lower for high cutting speeds than for standard machining techniques.