ABSTRACT
This chapter presents information a specific type of manufacturing process, the axis horizontal machining center. In general, the influences which control the dimensional accuracy performance of machine tools are a complete set of interrelated sources. Dynamic thermal effects are error sources that change with time due to changes in operating temperature. Complex temperature gradients or differences in temperature between machine elements and between machine, fixture, and workpiece create thermal inaccuracy distortions which dynamically change the geometric alignments. Troubleshooting procedures called thermal drift checks measure the magnitude of dynamic thermal error sources. The accuracy of most features of machining center workpieces is defined in relation to the dimensional position of other features of the same workpiece. The most common use of the precision spindle probe to improve accuracy is to shift the machining location of workpiece features to compensate for dimensional shifts in workpiece location caused by all the various process error sources.
