ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 50 (2010) 585589

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Analysis and compensation of mass loading effect of accelerometers on tool

point FRF measurements for chatter stability predictions
a
zs-ahin a, H.N. O
zguven

O. O
, E. Budak b,n
a
b

Middle East Technical University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ankara, Turkey

Sabanci University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey

a r t i c l e in fo

abstract

Article history:
Received 18 August 2009
Accepted 2 February 2010
Available online 18 February 2010

Chatter is one of the major problems in machining resulting in poor surface quality and reduced
productivity. Stability diagrams can be used to determine chatter-free process conditions yielding high
productivity. For generation of stability diagrams, frequency response functions (FRF) at the tool tip are
needed to be used in stability models. Impact tests involving accelerometers are commonly used in FRF
measurements. Although mass of a typical accelerometer used in these measurements is extremely
small compared with the cutting tool, it can have a signicant effect on the FRF measurement. In this
paper, the effect of accelerometers mass on tool point FRFs and stability diagrams is demonstrated for
several cases with different tool-to-accelerometer mass ratios by using laser velocity sensor
measurements. In addition, a structural modication method which can be used to compensate this
effect is also presented on several cases. The structural modication method can be used to correct the
FRFs measured with accelerometers, and thus the resulting stability diagrams.
& 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Chatter stability
Machine tool dynamics
Mass loading effect

1. Introduction
Machining chatter caused by process instability results in poor
surface nish and low material removal rate. Dynamic cutting
process and chatter stability have been investigated for decades
[15], and the stability lobe diagram method, which provides
stable regions in the machining process, has been developed
[36]. Although there are various methods for the generation of
stability diagrams for different machining operations, in all
approaches it tool point frequency response function (FRF) is
required. In general, the tool point FRF is determined experimentally using impact testing and modal analysis. In impact tests, the
tool point FRF is obtained by exciting the tool tip with an
instrumented hammer which also measures the impact force, and
measuring the response with an accelerometer at the tool tip.
After these measurements, the tool tip FRF is calculated using the
frequency spectra of the force and the response.
In tool point FRF measurements, accelerometers are commonly
used to obtain the response to impact loading. Although the mass
effect of accelerometers is a well known source of measurement
errors, due to their simple use, cost benets and relatively small
masses they are widely used by ignoring their mass effect. With
the development of the non contact sensors, such as laser doppler
vibrometer (LDV), the response of the system to a given excitation

Corresponding author. Tel.: + 90 216 483 9519; fax: + 90 216 483 9550.
E-mail address: ebudak@sabanciuniv.edu (E. Budak).

0890-6955/$ - see front matter & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2010.02.002

can be measured more accurately. However, due to the cost and

other practical issues such as the surface conditions of the target
point and space limitations, accelerometers are still preferred in
many cases. Also, in-process measurements with noncontact
sensors might be difcult due to the existence of chips during a
machining process.
In addition to the development of the measurement techniques, additional mass effect of the accelerometer can be
eliminated with structural modication techniques [7,8]. With
the application of these techniques more accurate results can be
obtained in the tool point FRF thus stability diagram determinations.
In this paper, mass loading effect of accelerometers on tool
point FRF and stability diagrams are investigated by performing
impact testing at the tool tip of a real spindle-holder-tool
assembly. During the experiments tool point FRF is measured
both with laser vibrometer and accelerometer. In addition to the
experimental results, in order to eliminate the mass loading
effect, structural modication techniques are applied to the
accelerometer based measurements and consistent results with
the laser measurement are obtained.

2. FRF measurement and mass loading effect of

accelerometers
As discussed in the previous section, in order to obtain stability
diagrams, tool point FRF of the cutting system must be

ARTICLE IN PRESS
586

zs- ahin et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 50 (2010) 585589
O. O

determined. Generally tool point FRF is obtained by modal testing

at the tool tip by exciting the systems with an impact hammer
and measuring the vibration response with an accelerometer at
the tool tip. Therefore, accuracy of the stability diagrams is highly
dependent on the accuracy of the performed experiments.
Although the mass effect of accelerometers is a well known
source of measurement errors, due to the high mass ratio between
spindle-holder-tool assembly and accelerometer, this effect is
neglected in stability analysis. However since the success of
stability diagram is highly dependent on experimental accuracies
this effect should be investigated carefully.
In order to investigate the mass loading effect of accelerometers on tool point FRFs, tool point FRF of a spindle holder tool
assembly is measured using both a 2.5 g accelerometer and a laser
vibrometer. The carbide end mill has 12 mm diameter with
80 mm gauge length. Measured tool point FRF with both
measurement devices is given in Fig. 1. As seen from Fig. 1, the
tool point FRF measured with the laser vibrometer has a tool
mode with peak value at 1444 Hz. However, the tool point FRF
measured with the accelerometer has the tool mode peak at
1277 Hz. This difference can be attributed to the mass of the
accelerometer which causes 167 Hz shift of the tool mode. In
order to verify the fact that this frequency shift is due to the
additional mass of the accelerometer, the tool point FRF of the
spindle-holder-tool assembly is measured with laser vibrometer
while the accelerometer is attached. The measured tool point FRF
is also given in Fig. 1. As seen from Fig. 1, almost the same FRFs
are obtained using the accelerometer and the laser vibrometer.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the accelerometer measurements may cause signicant errors in the tool point FRF which is
due to the mass of the measurement device.
The mass of the accelerometer causes about 15% frequency
shift for the dominant tool mode considered. The accelerometer
mass causes much smaller variations on the frequencies for the
other modes of the system as can be seen from the Fig.1. This is
mainly due to the fact that the other modes of the system belong
to the spindle and the holder which have much higher mass than
the tool. In addition, for these modes the displacement at the tool
point where the accelerometer is attached is relatively smaller
compared with that of the tool mode.
In order to demonstrate the effects of the accelerometers mass
on chatter stability prediction, stability diagrams are generated by
using the FRFs with and without the accelerometer on the tool tip.

Fig. 1. Tool point FRF measured with both laser sensor and an accelerometer
(2.5 g) for 12 mm diameter tool with gauge length 80 mm.

Fig. 2. Stability diagrams for the tool point FRF with and without accelerometer
mass for the 12 mm diameter tool with 80 mm gauge length.

Fig. 3. Frequency shift of the tool mode due to the accelerometer mass with
increasing tool gauge length. The tool is 12 mm diameter carbide end mill with 4
teeth.

The stability diagrams are generated for a 12 mm diameter end

mill with 80 mm gauge length and 4 teeth. The workpiece is an
aluminum alloy, and the radial depth of cut is 3 mm. The cutting
force coefcients are taken as Kt= 625 MPa and Kr= 100 MPa. The
frequency shift of the tool mode due to the accelerometers mass
is 167 Hz. The effect of this error on the stability diagram is shown
in Fig. 2, which demonstrates that the accelerometer mass may
cause signicant deviations in the stability diagrams so that a
stable point on the diagram may actually be unstable. For
instance, one may use 8000 rpm where a high stability pocket
exists based on the diagram generated using FRFs measured with
an accelerometer. In fact, the stability limit is almost at its
minimum at 8000 rpm, and a higher speed must be used to enter
the stability pocket, as can be seen in Fig. 2.
In order to analyze the signicance of the accelerometers mass
for different cases, a number of measurements were carried out
both with laser vibrometer and accelerometer at the tool tip of the
spindle-holder-tool assembly for different tool geometries. The
observed frequency shift of the tool mode with respect to the tool
gauge length is given in Fig. 3 for a 12 mm diameter end mill.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
zs- ahin et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 50 (2010) 585589
O. O

587

Table 1
Frequency change of tool mode frequency due to the mass effect of the 2.5 g
accelerometer.
Dtool

Lgauge
tool

owomass
tool

omass
tool

10
10
12
12
12
16
16
16

70
75
76
81
85
79
88
94

1228
1200
1438
1361
1247
1413
1267
1203

1041
1023
1278
1219
1125
1339
1202
1147

187
177
160
142
122
74
65
56

In addition, the frequency shift due to the mass of the

accelerometer for different tool diameters and tool gauge
lengths are given in Table 1. In Table 1, Dtool is the tool diameter
is tool gauge length in mm, owomass
is the tool mode
in mm, Lgauge
tool
tool
frequency without accelerometer mass and omass
tool is the tool mode
frequency with accelerometer mass. As seen from Table 1 and
Fig. 3, with increasing gauge length, the effect of the
accelerometer mass decreases which is also the case for
increasing tool diameter. This is an expected result since as the
diameter and the length of tool are increased their mass also
increases. Although the mass effect of the accelerometer can be
neglected for large diameter tools, for smaller tools (12 mm
diameter and less for the cases considered in this study) the mass
effect may cause signicant errors on tool point FRFs, and thus, on
stability diagrams.

3. Elimination of accelerometers mass effect using a

structural modication method
In order to eliminate the mass loading effect of the accelerometers on tool point FRF measurements, the structural
zguven

modication method suggested by O

[7] can be applied.
In this method, the unmodied FRF, and mass, stiffness and
damping properties of the modication are used to obtain the FRF
of the modied system. This method is adapted to the tool point
FRF correction by using the measured FRF and accelerometer
mass as explained below.
Response of a system which consists of a stiffness matrix [K], a
mass matrix [M] and structural damping matrix [H] to a harmonic
force {F} can be expressed as follows:

1
1
fxg Ko2 M H fF g
Receptance matrix [a] of the system can be obtained as

1
a Ko2 M iH

Fig. 4. Tool point FRF measured with laser vibrometer with mass, without mass
and modied tool point FRF with 2.5 g additional mass calculated from without
mass measurements (for the spindle-holder-tool assembly with 12 mm diameter
carbide end mill and 4 teeth).

coordinates where there is modication, can be written as

follows:
g11  I a11 D11 1 a11 

where subscript (1) refer to modied region of the structure. This

formulation reduces the order of the matrix that should be
inverted.
For the spindle-holder-tool assembly, modied tool point FRF
is written as follows:

 

 1 

m
um
um
SHT11
I SHT11
D
7
SHT11
where [I] is the identity matrix, [D] is the modication matrix and
superscript m refer to the modied and um refer to unmodied
properties of the system.
Since in accelerometer measurements the modication on the
assembly is only the mass of the accelerometer, and the effect of
the mass on the displacement-to-force receptance is being
investigated, the modication matrix is a single element given as
D o2 M

Similarly, receptance matrix of the modied system can be

written as follows:


1
3
g K DKo2 M DM iH DH
where [DK], [DM] and [DH] are mass, stiffness and damping
modication matrices, respectively.By rearranging Eq. (3) modied receptance matrix can be found as follows:
g1 a1 D

g I aD1 a

zguven

As discussed by O
[7], the above formulation for the
modied receptance is advantageous when the modication is
local. Then, the receptance matrix of the modied system, for

and, thus Eq. (7) will take the form

m
SHT11

um
SHT11
um  o2 M
1 SHT11

Here, M is the mass of accelerometer and o the excitation

frequency.
Modication method represented by Eq. (9) is applied to the
tool point FRF obtained by the laser vibrometer (for no additional
mass case) where 12 mm diameter carbide end mill with 4 teeth
is attached to the tool holder. For the modication, the same
amount of accelerometer mass which is 2.5 g is added with the
method represented by Eq. (9) and the mass modied tool point
FRF is obtained. Also tool point FRF where 2.5 g additional mass is
attached at the tool tip is measured with laser vibrometer.
In Fig. 4, tool point FRF with mass (measured with laser
vibrometer), the tool point FRF without mass (measured with
laser vibrometer) and the modied tool point FRF calculated by
using Eq. (9) are given. As seen from Fig. 4, with the structural
modication technique presented, the mass loading effect of the
accelerometer can be predicted accurately.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
zs- ahin et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 50 (2010) 585589
O. O

588

Similar to the calculation of FRF with additional mass by using

the modication method and the measured FRF without the mass,
the mass effect can also be subtracted from the tool point FRF by
employing the same method as follows:
m

SHT11

um
SHT11
um
1 SHT11  o2 M

10

Using Eq. (10), the mass effect of the accelerometer can be

subtracted from a tool point FRF measured with an accelerometer.
In order to demonstrate the applicability and the accuracy of this
approach, tool point FRF of the system where 12 mm diameter
carbide end mill with 4 teeth is attached to the tool holder is
measured by using laser vibrometer for the cases with and
without accelerometer mass. Also modied tool point FRF is
obtained by the method represented by Eq. (10). In Fig. 5, tool
point FRF with mass (measured with laser vibrometer), the tool
point FRF without mass (measured with laser vibrometer) and the
modied tool point FRF calculated from FRF with mass (measured

Fig. 5. Tool point FRF measured with laser vibrometer with mass, without mass
and modied tool point FRF with 2.5 g subtracted mass calculated from with
mass measurements (for the spindle-holder-tool assembly with 12 mm diameter
carbide end mill and 4 teeth).

with laser vibrometer) are given. As seen from Fig. 5, the tool
point FRF measured with laser vibrometer (without mass) has
perfect agreement with the modied tool point FRF. These results
show that when the measurements are performed with an
accelerometer, the mass effect of the accelerometer can be
eliminated by applying the structural modication method
presented here.

4. Application to stability diagrams

Finally, in order to show the accelerometer mass effect on
stability diagrams and examine the effectiveness of the mass
modication techniques experimentally, chatter tests were
performed on a 3-axis end milling machine. A 10 mm diameter
end mill with 50 mm overhang length and 4 teeth was used to
machine an aluminum alloy in down milling mode by removing
3 mm radial depth from the surface. First, the tool point FRF was
measured with a 2.5 g accelerometer, and the mass modied tool
point FRF (corrected FRF) was obtained by the structural
modication method, i.e. by using Eq. (10). Both FRFs are
presented in Fig. 6 which shows that the 2.5 g accelerometer
mass causes about 112 Hz frequency shift on the tool mode. Then,
stability diagrams were calculated using both FRFs where the
cutting force coefcients are taken as Kt=1100 MPa and
Kr= 300 MPa, and chatter tests were performed according to
them. Fig. 7 shows predicted diagrams using both corrected FRF
and FRF measured by accelerometer (uncorrected FRF) together
with the chatter tests results. As expected, there are signicant
differences between the diagrams obtained by corrected and
uncorrected FRFs. The most important implication of the
difference between two diagrams is the location of stability
pockets where a stable pocket predicted using the uncorrected
FRF can actually be the minimum stability limit. This is
demonstrated by chatter tests conducted at two spindle speeds;
at 7750 and 10,250 rpm. As shown in Fig. 7, compared with the
stability limits suggested by the diagram obtained using the
uncorrected FRF, chatter was encountered at lower cutting depths
at 7750 rpm whereas the process was stable at higher depths at
10,250 rpm. However, for both speeds the test results agree
reasonably well with the diagram obtained by using the mass
modied FRF.

Fig. 6. Tool point FRF measured with 2.5 g accelerometer and mass modied tool point FRF (mass effect of accelerometer is removed) for the spindle-holder-tool assembly
with 10 mm diameter carbide end mill and 4 teeth.

ARTICLE IN PRESS
zs- ahin et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 50 (2010) 585589
O. O

589

Fig. 7. Chatter test results for the machining of an aluminum alloy in down milling mode with 10 mm diameter end mill and 50 mm overhang length, and the stability
diagrams based on both corrected FRF by using mass modication and original FRF measured with accelerometer.

5. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

In this paper, a common source of error in measurement of tool

point FRF is investigated. It is well known that the accurate
generation of stability diagrams requires reliable FRFs. Since
accelerometers are the most commonly used measurement devices
in the machine tool dynamics studies, the effect of the accelerometer mass on the tool point FRF is analyzed. For that purpose,
the tool point FRF is measured both with a laser vibrometer and
accelerometers. The comparison of both FRFs for different cases
shows that even very light accelerometers may cause signicant
deviations of modal frequencies and amplitudes. From the
performed experiments, it is also observed that, as the tool
diameter decreases, the mass effect of the accelerometer becomes
more important. In addition to the error analysis due to the mass of
zguvens

accelerometers, O
modication technique [7] is applied in
order to eliminate the mass effect. The modication results show
that the mass effect can be eliminated from the FRFs measured
with accelerometer, and accurate tool point FRFs can be obtained.
The effect of accelerometer mass on stability diagrams was also
demonstrated on stability diagrams. The chatter test results show
that the accelerometer mass may cause signicant deviations on
stability diagrams resulting in miscalculated stability pocket
locations whereas corrected FRFs can provide accurate results.

Mr. L. Taner Tunc- performed the chatter tests in Sabanci

University, which is gratefully acknowledged.

References
[1] S.A. Tobias, W. Fishwick, The chatter of lathe tools under orthogonal cutting
conditions, Transactions of the ASME 80 (1958) 10791088.
[2] J. Tlusty, M. Polacek, The stability of machine tools against self-excited
vibrations in machining, 1963, in: Proceedings of the ASME International
Research in Production Engineering, Pittsburgh, USA, pp. 465474.
[3] I. Minis, T. Yanushevsky, R. Tembo, R. Hocken, Analysis of linear and nonlinear
chatter in milling, Annals of the CIRP 39 (1990) 459462.
[4] Y. Altintas, E. Budak, Analytical prediction of stability lobes in milling, Annals
of the CIRP 44 (1995) 357362.
[5] E. Budak, Y. Altintas, Analytical prediction of chatter stability in milling Part
I: general formulation; Part II: application to common milling systems, Journal
of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control Transactions of the ASME
120 (1998) 2236.
[6] Y. Altintas, in: Manufacturing Automation, Cambridge University Press, New
York, NY, 2000.
zguven,

[7] H.N. O
Structural modications using frequency response functions,
Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing 4 (1990) 5363.
[8] H. Witeld, J. Decker, 1995, Correction of transducer loading effects in
experimental modal analysis, in: Proceeding of the 13th International Modal
Analysis Conference, pp. 16041608.