Further Analysis of Machine Tool Dimensional Accuracy and Thermal Stability under Varying Floor Temperature

Machining is as old as humanity, and changes in temperature in both the machine’s internal and external environments can be of great concern as they affect the machine’s thermal stability and, thus, the machine’s dimensional accuracy. This paper is a continuation of our earlier work, which aimed to analyze the effect of the internal temperature of a machine tool as the machine is put into operation and vary the external temperature, the machine floor temperature. Some experiments are carried out under controlled conditions to study how machine tool components get heated up and how this heating up affects the machine’s accuracy due to thermally induced deviations. Additionally, another angle is added by varying the machine floor temperature. The parameters mentioned above are explored in line with the overall thermal stability of the machine tool and its dimensional accuracy. A Robodrill CNC machine tool is used. The CNC was first soaked with thermal energy by gradually raising the machine floor temperature to a certain level before putting the machine in operation. The machine was monitored, and analytical methods were deplored to evaluate thermal stability. Secondly, the machine was run idle for some time under raised floor temperature before it was put into operation. Data was also collected and analyzed. It is observed that machine thermal stability can be achieved in several ways depending on how the above parameters are joggled. This paper, in conclusion, reinforces the idea of machine tool warm-up process in conjunction with a carefully analyzed and established machine floor temperature variation for the approximation of the machine tool’s thermally stability to map the long-time behavior of the machine tool.