Chatter in machining processes: A review Guillem Quintana a , Joaquim Ciurana b,n a ASCAMM Technology Centre, Av Universitat Auto ´noma, 23, 08290 Cerdanyola del Vall  es, Barcelona, Spain b Department of Mechanical Engineering and Civil Construction, Universitat de Girona, Av. Lluis Santalo ´ s/n, 17071 Girona, Spain article info Article history: Received 20 October 2010 Received in revised form 5 January 2011 Accepted 6 January 2011 Available online 15 January 2011 Keywords: Chatter Vibration Stability Machining Review abstract Chatter is a self-excited vibration that can occur during machining operations and become a common limitation to productivity and part quality. For this reason, it has been a topic of industrial and academic interest in the manufacturing sector for many years. A great deal of research has been carried out since the late 1950s to solve the chatter problem. Researchers have studied how to detect, identify, avoid, prevent, reduce, control, or suppress chatter. This paper reviews the state of research on the chatter problem and classifies the existing methods developed to ensure stable cutting into those that use the lobbing effect, out-of-process or in-process, and those that, passively or actively, modify the system behaviour. & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 363 1.1. Generalities ................................................................................................ 363 1.2. Chatter relevance in machining ................................................................................. 364 1.3. Self-excitation mechanisms .................................................................................... 364 1.4. Stability lobe diagrams ....................................................................................... 365 2. Strategies for ensuring stable machining processes ....................................................................... 366 3. Out-of-process strategies for stability lobe diagram identification ........................................................... 366 4. In-process strategies for chatter recognition ............................................................................ 369 5. Passive chatter avoidance ........................................................................................... 371 6. Active chatter elimination ........................................................................................... 372 7. Discussion ....................................................................................................... 373 8. Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 373 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 373 References ....................................................................................................... 373 1. Introduction 1.1. Generalities Technologies involved in machining operations have advanced greatly in the recent decades and machines have experienced significant changes such as the incorporation of numerical control. Every year it is possible to observe in fairs, conferences and of course, in the market, how production capabilities have increased thanks to the development of new concepts, devices, materials, tools, coatings, structures, etc. Accuracy, flexibility and produc- tivity are enhanced constantly with innovative solutions to achieve market demands or even raise them to higher levels. In the end, all these improvements are possible thanks to the generation of knowledge. Understanding metal cutting funda- mentals has become a key factor in recent decades but this is not an easy task due to complexities of the chip formation mechan- ism. Recent trends, thanks to advances in computers and sensors, seem to be focused on the online monitoring, measuring and control of the machining process. Several kinds of sensors and Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 0890-6955/$ - see front matter & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2011.01.001 n Corresponding author. Tel.: + 34 972 418265; fax: + 34 972 418098. E-mail addresses: gquintana@ascamm.com (G. Quintana), quim.ciurana@udg.edu (J. Ciurana). International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 51 (2011) 363–376