Active damping of chatter in the boring process via variable gain sliding mode control of a magnetorheological damper

Abstract In this article, a sliding mode control of a magnetorheological fluid damper is presented for active damping of chatter in the boring process for the first time. A boring bar is integrated with an in-house developed magnetorheological fluid damper system. The variable gain super twisting sliding mode control algorithm is designed and implemented for suppressing the chatter in the boring process. Simulations of the controller show its fast response and robustness against disturbances and parametric uncertainties. Validation cutting tests performed under various machining conditions showed that the stability limit can be increased significantly with the sliding mode control of the magnetorheological fluid damper.