A review on the multi-scaled structures and mechanical/thermal properties of tool steels fabricated by laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

The laser powder bed fusion(LPBF) process can integrally form geometrically complex and high-performance metallic parts that have attracted much interest,especially in the molds industry.The appearance of the LPBF makes it possible to design and produce complex conformal cooling channel systems in molds.Thus,LPBF-processed tool steels have attracted more and more attention.The complex thermal history in the LPBF process makes the microstructural characteristics and properties different from those of conventional manufactured tool steels.This paper provides an overview of LPBF-processed tool steels by describing the physical phenomena,the microstructural characteristics,and the mechanical/thermal properties,including tensile properties,wear resistance,and thermal properties.The microstructural characteristics are presented through a multiscale perspective,ranging from densification,meso-structure,microstructure,substructure in grains,to nanoprecipitates.Finally,a summary of tool steels and their challenges and outlooks are introduced.

Exploring the Core-shell Structure of BaTiO3-based Dielectric Ceramics Using Machine Learning Models and Interpretability Analysis

A machine learning(ML)-based random forest(RF)classification model algorithm was employed to investigate the main factors affecting the formation of the core-shell structure of BaTiO_(3)-based ceramics and their interpretability was analyzed by using Shapley additive explanations(SHAP).An F1-score changed from 0.8795 to 0.9310,accuracy from 0.8450 to 0.9070,precision from 0.8714 to 0.9000,recall from 0.8929 to 0.9643,and ROC/AUC value of 0.97±0.03 was achieved by the RF classification with the optimal set of features containing only 5 features,demonstrating the high accuracy of our model and its high robustness.During the interpretability analysis of the model,it was found that the electronegativity,melting point,and sintering temperature of the dopant contribute highly to the formation of the core-shell structure,and based on these characteristics,specific ranges were delineated and twelve elements were finally obtained that met all the requirements,namely Si,Sc,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Pd,Er,Tm,Lu,Pa,and Cm.In the process of exploring the structure of the core-shell,the doping elements can be effectively localized to be selected by choosing the range of features.

Geometries and electronic structures of Zr_(n)Cu(n=2–12) clusters: A joint machine-learning potential density functional theory investigation

Zr-based amorphous alloys have attracted extensive attention because of their large glassy formation ability, wide supercooled liquid region, high elasticity, and unique mechanical strength induced by their icosahedral local structures.To determine the microstructures of Zr–Cu clusters, the stable and metastable geometry of Zr_(n)Cu(n=2–12) clusters are screened out via the CALYPSO method using machine-learning potentials, and then the electronic structures are investigated using density functional theory. The results show that the Zr_(n)Cu(n ≥ 3) clusters possess three-dimensional geometries, Zr_(n)Cu(n≥9) possess cage-like geometries, and the Zr_(12)Cu cluster has icosahedral geometry. The binding energy per atom gradually gets enlarged with the increase in the size of the clusters, and Zr_(n)Cu(n=5,7,9,12) have relatively better stability than their neighbors. The magnetic moment of most Zr_(n)Cu clusters is just 1μB, and the main components of the highest occupied molecular orbitals(HOMOs) in the Zr_(12)Cu cluster come from the Zr-d state. There are hardly any localized two-center bonds, and there are about 20 σ-type delocalized three-center bonds.

Numerical Investigation of Thermal Behavior of CNC Machine Tool and Its Effects on Dimensional Accuracy of Machined Parts

The dimensional accuracy of machined parts is strongly influenced by the thermal behavior of machine tools (MT). Minimizing this influence represents a key objective for any modern manufacturing industry. Thermally induced positioning error compensation remains the most effective and practical method in this context. However, the efficiency of the compensation process depends on the quality of the model used to predict the thermal errors. The model should consistently reflect the relationships between temperature distribution in the MT structure and thermally induced positioning errors. A judicious choice of the number and location of temperature sensitive points to represent heat distribution is a key factor for robust thermal error modeling. Therefore, in this paper, the temperature sensitive points are selected following a structured thermomechanical analysis carried out to evaluate the effects of various temperature gradients on MT structure deformation intensity. The MT thermal behavior is first modeled using finite element method and validated by various experimentally measured temperature fields using temperature sensors and thermal imaging. MT Thermal behavior validation shows a maximum error of less than 10% when comparing the numerical estimations with the experimental results even under changing operation conditions. The numerical model is used through several series of simulations carried out using varied working condition to explore possible relationships between temperature distribution and thermal deformation characteristics to select the most appropriate temperature sensitive points that will be considered for building an empirical prediction model for thermal errors as function of MT thermal state. Validation tests achieved using an artificial neural network based simplified model confirmed the efficiency of the proposed temperature sensitive points allowing the prediction of the thermally induced errors with an accuracy greater than 90%.

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.

Simulation Study of the Workspace of the Parallel Machine Tool

A new three dimensional simulation method is introduced to study the workspace of a 6 PSS (P denotes a prismatic kinematic pair, S denotes a spherical kinematic pair) parallel machine tool. This algorithm adopts the method of numerical analysis to investigate the boundary points in a series of sections which form the surface of the workspace. That is, to study such points that have the largest polar radius on a certain section in a system of polar coordinates according to conditions of constraint. The constraint conditions considered in the article include the maximum and minimum displacements of each dieblock, the maximum and minimum angles of oscillation in each hinge. By converting the constraint inequalities into constraint equations, the largest polar radius corresponding to every constraint condition can be evaluated and the minimum one is used to decide the boundary point. This algorithm greatly simplifies the computational process and can be used to analyze any section of the workspace. It provides a theoretical basis for the structural design of such a machine tool.

STUDY ON THE COMPENSATION TECHNIQUE OF POSITIONING ERRORS FOR NC MACHINE TOOLS

Through analysis of the basic transformation of a typical body,the error transformations of the position vector and the displacement vector are employed,a general model for positioning errors of NC machine tools by using kinematics of the multi body system is discussed.By means of 8031 single chip system,intelligent error compensation controller has been developed.The results of experiments on XH714 machining center show that the positioning accuracy is enhanced effectively by more than 50%.

STIFFNESS ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN MODULE FOR PARALLEL MACHINE TOOLS BY FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

With the aid of commercial finite element analysis software package ANSYS,investigations are made on the contributions of main components to stiffness of the main module for parallel machine tools,and it is found that the frame is the main contributor.Then,influences of constraints,strut length and working ways of the main module have also been investigated.It can be concluded that when one of the main planes of the frame without linear drive unit is constrained,the largest whole stiffness can be acquired.And,the stiffness is much better when the main module is used in a vertical machine tool instead of a horizontal one.Finally,the principle of stiffness variation is summarized when the mobile platform reaches various positions within its working space and when various loads are applied.These achievements have provided critical instructions for the design of the main module for parallel machine tools.

Geometric Error Identification of Gantry-Type CNC Machine Tool Based on Multi-Station Synchronization Laser Tracers

Laser tracers are a three-dimensional coordinate measurement system that are widely used in industrial measurement.We propose a geometric error identification method based on multi-station synchronization laser tracers to enable the rapid and high-precision measurement of geometric errors for gantry-type computer numerical control(CNC)machine tools.This method also improves on the existing measurement efficiency issues in the single-base station measurement method and multi-base station time-sharing measurement method.We consider a three-axis gantry-type CNC machine tool,and the geometric error mathematical model is derived and established based on the combination of screw theory and a topological analysis of the machine kinematic chain.The four-station laser tracers position and measurement points are realized based on the multi-point positioning principle.A self-calibration algorithm is proposed for the coordinate calibration process of a laser tracer using the Levenberg-Marquardt nonlinear least squares method,and the geometric error is solved using Taylor’s first-order linearization iteration.The experimental results show that the geometric error calculated based on this modeling method is comparable to the results from the Etalon laser tracer.For a volume of 800 mm×1000 mm×350 mm,the maximum differences of the linear,angular,and spatial position errors were 2.0μm,2.7μrad,and 12.0μm,respectively,which verifies the accuracy of the proposed algorithm.This research proposes a modeling method for the precise measurement of errors in machine tools,and the applied nature of this study also makes it relevant both to researchers and those in the industrial sector.

ADAPTABLE DESIGN OF MACHINE TOOLS STRUCTURES

Adaptable design aims to extend the utilities of design and product. The specific methods are developed for practical applications of adaptable design in the design of mechanical structures, including adaptable platform, interface and module designs. Adaptable redesign problems are formulated as adaptable platform design under adaptability bound constraints. Analysis tools are then suggested for the implementation of the redesign of machine tool structures, including variation techniques based sensitivity analysis, similarity-based commonality analysis, performance improvement, and adaptability measures. The specific measure of adaptability for machine tool structures is measured through the quantification of the structural similarity and performance improvement gained from adaptable design. The method provides designers with an approach that brings adaptability into the design process, with considering the cost and benefits of such adaptability. The redesign of CNC spiral bevel gear cutting machine structures has been included to illustrate these concepts and methods.

DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF SPECIAL STRUCTURE OF MILLING-HEAD MACHINE TOOL

The milling-head machine tool is a sophisticated and high-quality machine tool of which the spindle system is made up of special multi-element structure. Two special mechanical configurations make the cutting performance of the machine tool decline. One is the milling head spindle supported on two sets of complex bearings. The mechanical dynamic rigidity of milling head structure is researched on designed digital prototype with finite element analysis（FEA） and modal synthesis analysis （ MSA ） for identifying the weak structures. The other is the ram structure hanging on milling head. The structure is researched to get dynamic performance on cutting at different ram extending positions. The analysis results on spindle and ram are used to improve the mechanical configurations and structure in design. The machine tool is built up with modified structure and gets better dynamic rigidity than it was before.

Actualities and Development of Heavy-Duty CNC Machine Tool Thermal Error Monitoring Technology

Thermal error monitoring technology is the key technological support to solve the thermal error problem of heavy-duty CNC （computer numerical control） machine tools. Currently, there are many review literatures intro- ducing the thermal error research of CNC machine tools, but those mainly focus on the thermal issues in small and medium-sized CNC machine tools and seldom introduce thermal error monitoring technologies. This paper gives an overview of the research on the thermal error of CNC machine tools and emphasizes the study of thermal error of the heavy-duty CNC machine tool in three areas. These areas are the causes of thermal error of heavy-duty CNC machine tool and the issues with the temperature moni- toring technology and thermal deformation monitoring technology. A new optical measurement technology called the ＂fiber Bragg grating （FBG） distributed sensing tech- nology＂ for heavy-duty CNC machine tools is introduced in detail. This technology forms an intelligent sensing and monitoring system for heavy-duty CNC machine tools. This paper fills in the blank of this kind of review articlesto guide the development of this industry field and opens up new areas of research on the heavy-duty CNC machine tool thermal error.

Spindle Thermal Error Optimization Modeling of a Five-axis Machine Tool

Aiming at the problem of low machining accu- racy and uncontrollable thermal errors of NC machine tools, spindle thermal error measurement, modeling and compensation of a two turntable five-axis machine tool are researched. Measurement experiment of heat sources and thermal errors are carried out, and GRA（grey relational analysis） method is introduced into the selection of tem- perature variables used for thermal error modeling. In order to analyze the influence of different heat sources on spindle thermal errors, an ANN （artificial neural network） model is presented, and ABC（artificial bee colony） algorithm is introduced to train the link weights of ANN, a new ABC- NN（Artificial bee colony-based neural network） modeling method is proposed and used in the prediction of spindle thermal errors. In order to test the prediction performance of ABC-NN model, an experiment system is developed, the prediction results of LSR （least squares regression）, ANN and ABC-NN are compared with the measurement results of spindle thermal errors. Experiment results show that the prediction accuracy of ABC-NN model is higher than LSR and ANN, and the residual error is smaller than 3 pm, the new modeling method is feasible. The proposed research provides instruction to compensate thermal errors and improve machining accuracy of NC machine tools.

Thermal Error Compensation for Telescopic Spindle of CNC Machine Tool Based on SIEMENS 840D System

In this paper, eddy current sensors and thermocouple sensors were employed to measure the thermal field and thermal deformation of a spindle of a telescopic CNC boring-milling machine tool, respectively. A linear regression method was proposed to establish the thermal error model. Furthermore, two compensation methods were implemented based on the SIEMENS 840D system by using the feed shaft of z direction and telescopic spindle respectively. Experimental results showed that the thermal error could be reduced by 73.79% when using the second compensation method, and the thermal error could be eliminated by using the two compensation methods effectively.

Thermal Error Modeling Method with the Jamming of Temperature-Sensitive Points'Volatility on CNC Machine Tools

Aiming at the deficiency of the robustness of thermal error compensation models of CNC machine tools, the mechanism of improving the models＇ robustness is studied by regarding the Leaderway-V450 machining center as the object. Through the analysis of actual spindle air cutting experimental data on Leaderway-V450 machine, it is found that the temperature-sensitive points used for modeling is volatility, and this volatility directly leads to large changes on the collinear degree among modeling independent variables. Thus, the forecasting accuracy of multivariate regression model is severely affected, and the forecasting robustness becomes poor too. To overcome this effect, a modeling method of establishing thermal error models by using single temperature variable under the jamming of temperature-sensitive points＇ volatility is put forward. According to the actual data of thermal error measured in different seasons, it is proved that the single temperature variable model can reduce the loss of fore- casting accuracy resulted from the volatility of tempera- ture-sensitive points, especially for the prediction of cross quarter data, the improvement of forecasting accuracy is about 5 μm or more. The purpose that improving the robustness of the thermal error models is realized, which can provide a reference for selecting the modelingindependent variable in the application of thermal error compensation of CNC machine tools.

Bayesian networks modeling for thermal error of numerical control machine tools

The interaction between the heat source location, its intensity, thermal expansion coefficient, the machine system configuration and the running environment creates complex thermal behavior of a machine tool, and also makes thermal error prediction difficult. To address this issue, a novel prediction method for machine tool thermal error based on Bayesian networks (BNs) was presented. The method described causal relationships of factors inducing thermal deformation by graph theory and estimated the thermal error by Bayesian statistical techniques. Due to the effective combination of domain knowledge and sampled data, the BN method could adapt to the change of running state of machine, and obtain satisfactory prediction accuracy. Ex- periments on spindle thermal deformation were conducted to evaluate the modeling performance. Experimental results indicate that the BN method performs far better than the least squares (LS) analysis in terms of modeling estimation accuracy.

An Open CAM System for Dentistry on the Basis of China-made 5-axis Simultaneous Contouring CNC Machine Tool and Industrial CAM Software

China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestically developed industrial computer-aided manufacture （CAM） technology were used for full crown fabrication and measurement of crown accuracy, with an attempt to establish an open CAM system for dental processing and to promote the introduction of domestic dental computer-aided design （CAD）/CAM system. Commercially available scanning equipment was used to make a basic digital tooth model after preparation of crown, and CAD software that comes with the scanning device was employed to design the crown by using domestic industrial CAM software to process the crown data in order to generate a solid model for machining purpose, and then China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool was used to complete machining of the whole crown and the internal accuracy of the crown internal was measured by using 3D-MicroCT. The results showed that China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool in combination with domestic industrial CAM technology can be used for crown making and the crown was well positioned in die. The internal accuracy was successfully measured by using 3D-MicroCT. It is concluded that an open CAM system for den-tistry on the basis of China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestic industrial CAM software has been established, and development of the system will promote the introduction of domestically-produced dental CAD/CAM system.

Identification of the key thermal points on machine tools by grouping and optimizing variables

The grouping and optimization approach to identify the key thermal points on machine tools is studied.To solve the difficulty in grouping because of the high correlated variables from distinct groups,the variables grouping technique is improved.Temperature variables are sorted according to their relativities with the thermal errors.The representative temperature variables are determined by analyzing the variable correlation in sort order and removing the other variables in the same group.Considering the diverse effect of importing the different variables on thermal error model,the method of variable combination optimization is improved.Regression models made up of different combination of representative temperature variables are evaluated by the index of both the determined coefficient and the average residual squares to select the combination of the temperature variables.For the machine tools with complicated structures which need more initial temperature measuring points the improvement is demanded.The improved approach is applied to a precision horizontal machining center to identify the key thermal points.Experimental results show that the proposed approach is capable of avoiding the high correlation among the different groups' variables,effectively reducing the number of the key thermal points without depressing the prediction accuracy of the thermal error model for machine tools.

THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF VIBRATION STRUCTURE OF VERTICAL DYNAMIC BALANCING MACHINE

A new type of vibration structure (i.e. supporting system, called swing frame cus- tomarily) of vertical dynamic balancing machine has been designed, which is based on an analysis for the swing frame of a traditional double-plane vertical dynamic balancing machine. The static unbalance and couple unbalance can be e?ectively separated by using the new dynamic balancing machine with the new swing frame. By building the dynamics model, the advantages of the new structure are discussed in detail. The modal and harmonic response are analyzed by using the ANSYS7.0. By comparing the ?nite element modal analysis with the experimental modal analy- sis, the natural frequencies and vibration modes are found. There are many spring boards in the new swing frame. Their sti?nesses are di?erent and assorted with each other. Furthermore, there are three sensors on the measuring points. Therefore, the new dynamic balancing machine can measure static unbalance and coupling unbalance directly, and the interaction between them is faint. The result shows that the new vertical dynamic balancing machine is suitable for inertial measurement of ?ying objects, and can overcome the shortcomings of traditional double-plane vertical dynamic balancing machines, which the e?ect of plane-separation is inferior. The vertical dynamic balancing machine with the new vibration structure can ?nd wide application in the future. The modelling and analysis of the new vibration structure will provide theoretical basis and practical experience for designing new-type vertical dynamic balancing machines.

Dynamic modeling of ultra-precision fly cutting machine tool and the effect of ambient vibration on its tool tip response

The dynamic performances of an ultra-precision fly cutting machine tool(UFCMT)has a dramatic impact on the quality of ultra-precision machining.In this study,the dynamic model of an UFCMT was established based on the transfer matrix method for multibody systems.In particular,the large-span scale flow field mesh model was created;and the variation in linear and angular stiffness of journal and thrust bearings with respect to film thickness was investigated by adopting the dynamic mesh technique.The dynamic model was proven to be valid by comparing the dynamic characteristics of the machine tool obtained by numerical simulation with the experimental results.In addition,the power spectrum density estimation method was adopted to simulate the statistical ambient vibration excitation by processing the ambient vibration signal measured over a long period of time.Applying it to the dynamic model,the dynamic response of the tool tip under ambient vibration was investigated.The results elucidated that the tool tip response was significantly affected by ambient vibration,and the isolation foundation had a good effect on vibration isolation.