Bayesian Reliability Modeling and Assessment Solution for NC Machine Tools under Small-sample Data

Although Markov chain Monte Carlo（MCMC） algorithms are accurate, many factors may cause instability when they are utilized in reliability analysis; such instability makes these algorithms unsuitable for widespread engineering applications. Thus, a reliability modeling and assessment solution aimed at small-sample data of numerical control（NC） machine tools is proposed on the basis of Bayes theories. An expert-judgment process of fusing multi-source prior information is developed to obtain the Weibull parameters＇ prior distributions and reduce the subjective bias of usual expert-judgment methods. The grid approximation method is applied to two-parameter Weibull distribution to derive the formulas for the parameters＇ posterior distributions and solve the calculation difficulty of high-dimensional integration. The method is then applied to the real data of a type of NC machine tool to implement a reliability assessment and obtain the mean time between failures（MTBF）. The relative error of the proposed method is 5.8020×10-4 compared with the MTBF obtained by the MCMC algorithm. This result indicates that the proposed method is as accurate as MCMC. The newly developed solution for reliability modeling and assessment of NC machine tools under small-sample data is easy, practical, and highly suitable for widespread application in the engineering field; in addition, the solution does not reduce accuracy.

Bayesian zero-failure reliability modeling and assessment method for multiple numerical control(NC) machine tools

A new problem that classical statistical methods are incapable of solving is reliability modeling and assessment when multiple numerical control machine tools(NCMTs) reveal zero failures after a reliability test. Thus, the zero-failure data form and corresponding Bayesian model are developed to solve the zero-failure problem of NCMTs, for which no previous suitable statistical model has been developed. An expert-judgment process that incorporates prior information is presented to solve the difficulty in obtaining reliable prior distributions of Weibull parameters. The equations for the posterior distribution of the parameter vector and the Markov chain Monte Carlo(MCMC) algorithm are derived to solve the difficulty of calculating high-dimensional integration and to obtain parameter estimators. The proposed method is applied to a real case; a corresponding programming code and trick are developed to implement an MCMC simulation in Win BUGS, and a mean time between failures(MTBF) of 1057.9 h is obtained. Given its ability to combine expert judgment, prior information, and data, the proposed reliability modeling and assessment method under the zero failure of NCMTs is validated.

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.

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.

STUDY ON NEW METHOD OF IDENTIFYING GEOMETRIC ERROR PARAMETERS FOR NC MACHINE TOOLS

The methods of identifying geometric error parameters for NC machine tools are introduced. According to analyzing and comparing the different methods, a new method-displacement method with 9 lines is developed based on the theories of the movement errors of multibody system (MBS). A lot of experiments are also made to obtain 21 terms geometric error parameters by using the error identification software based on the new method.

The Application of the GM(1,1) Metabolism Model to Error Data Processing of NC Machine Tools

This paper applied the gray system theory to error data processing of NCmachine tools according to the characteristic. It presented the gray metabolism model of error dataprocessing. The test method for the model needs less capacity. Practice proved that the method issimple, calculation is easy, and results are exact.

American Factories Continue to Increase Equipment Investment——Competitors in Asia also increased their consumption of machine tools.

去年美国金属加工工厂对新机床产品的需求量较 2004 年和 2003 年都有增加。消沉中的美国资本投资发生了一个转变,排在德国之前成为第三大消费国。然而对于美国机床业来说,不太好的消息是亚洲竞争对手同样增加了他们在机床的设备投资。来自第 41 次世界机床生产和消费的调查显示,中国、日本、韩国、印度以及中国台湾地区的机床消费都有显著增长。在 28 个国家和地区的调查中,四分之三的国家和地区消费都在增长,这同时也诠释了经济“表面消费”的含义。这一切表明美国的机床消费量还会继续保持增加,订购机器的数量会维持向上的势头,最新的数据也证明了这一点。此外,调查数据还罗列了其它国家,尤其是亚洲国家的机床生产情况(本刊2006 年第一期环球瞭望栏目文章图表中显示了世界主要机床生产状况):德国和日本领导着世界机床的生产;中国超过意大利成为第三大机床生产国;中国台湾地区排在第五位;美国机床的生产和出口排在台湾之后,保持小的增长;韩国与瑞士紧追其后;印度也毫不示弱。这28个被调查国家和地区的机床产量都比前一年平均增长了14% 。中国、日本、韩国、印度以及中国台湾地区占据了整个调查地区机床产量的 47.6% ,作为CECIMO 成员的由 15 个国家组成的西欧联盟占据了机床产量的 4 2 . 3 % 。

The Research on Hybrid Intelligent Fault-diagnosisSystem of CNC Machine Tools

After analyzing the structure and characteristics of the hybrid intelligent diagnosis system of CNC machine toolsCNC-HIDS), we describe the intelligent hybrid mechanism of the CNC-HIDS, and present the evaluation and the running instance of the system. Through tryout and validation, we attain satisfactory results.

High Accurate Interpolation of NURBS Tool Path for CNC Machine Tools

Feedrate fluctuation caused by approximation errors of interpolation methods has great effects on machining quality in NURBS interpolation, but few methods can efficiently eliminate or reduce it to a satisfying level without sacrificing the computing efficiency at present. In order to solve this problem, a high accurate interpolation method for NURBS tool path is proposed. The proposed method can efficiently reduce the feedrate fluctuation by forming a quartic equation with respect to the curve parameter increment, which can be efficiently solved by analytic methods in real-time. Theoretically, the proposed method can totally eliminate the feedrate fluctuation for any 2nd degree NURBS curves and can interpolate 3rd degree NURBS curves with minimal feedrate fluctuation. Moreover, a smooth feedrate planning algorithm is also proposed to generate smooth tool motion with considering multiple constraints and scheduling errors by an efficient planning strategy. Experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility and applicability of the proposed method. This research presents a novel NURBS interpolation method with not only high accuracy but also satisfying computing efficiency.

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.

ZERO TRANSMISSION AND ITS APPLICATION IN HIGH SPEED CNC MACHINE TOOLS

In order to realize high speed machining,the special requirements for the transmission and sturctrue of CNC machine tool have to be satisfied.A high speed spindle unit driven by a built-in motor is developed.An oil-water heat exchange system is used for cooling the spindle motor.The spindle is supported by Si_4N_3 ceramic ball angular contact bearings. An oil-air lubricator is used to lubricate and cool the spindle bearings.Some special structures are taken for balancing the spindle.

MODULE DEFINITION MODEL FOR MODULAR DESIGN AND MANUFACTU－RING OF HEAVY DUTY MACHINE TOOLS

The key techniques of modular design of heavy duty NC mathine tools are described. Amodule definition modelfor modular design and manufacturing of heavy duty NC machine tools isbulit and the essential composition of the module definition model (MDM) is discussed in detail. Itis composed of two models: the part definition model (PDM) and the module assembly model(MAM). The PDM and MAM are built and their structures are given. Using object-oriented know-ledge representation and based on these models, an intelligent support system of modular design forheavy duty NC machine tools is developed and implemented This system has been applied to thepractical use of Wuhan Heavy Duty Machine Tool Works

A Generic Kinematic Model for Three Main Types of Five-axis Machine Tools

Material removal is one of the most used processes in manufacturing. Five-axis CNC machines are believed to be the best tools in sculptured surface machining. In this study, a generic and unified kinematic model was developed as a viable alternative to the particular solutions that are only applicable to individual machine configurations. This versatile model is then used to verify the feasibility of the two rotational joints within the kinematic chain of three main types of a five-axis machine-tool. This versatile model is very useful applied to the design of five-axis machine tools.

The Kinematic Analyses of the 3-DOF Parallel Machine Tools

A 3-degree-of-freedom （3-DOF） parallel machine tool based on a tripod mechanism is developed and studied. The kinematics analysis is performed, the workspace is derived, and an analysis on the number of conditions of the Jacobian matrix and manipulability is carried out. A method for error analysis and manipulability is introduced. Hence, the manipulability analysis of the parallel machine tool is accomplished.

METHOD OF ENHANCING THE POSITIONING ACCURACY FOR NC MACHINE TOOLS

Based on the kinematics of the multi-body system , a general model for the positioning errors of NC machine tools by means of the lower numbered body array and the geometric constraint is presented. The parameters identification of geometric errors by an improved 22-line method is discussed. Moreover , an intelligent error compensation controller has been developed. All these are verified by a series of experiments on XH714 machining center. The results show that the prosition- ing errors with compensation have been reduced to ±7 μm from 50 μm.

Geometric error measuring,modeling,and compensation for CNC machine tools:A review

Geometric error,mainly due to imperfect geometry and dimensions of machine components,is one of the major error sources of machine tools.Considering that geometric error has significant effects on the machining quality of manufactured parts,it has been a popular topic for academic and industrial research for many years.A great deal of research work has been carried out since the 1970s for solving the problem and improving the machining accuracy.Researchers have studied how to measure,detect,model,identify,reduce,and compensate the geometric errors.This paper presents a thorough review of the latest research activities and gives an overview of the state of the art in understanding changes in machine tool performance due to geometric errors.Recent advances in measuring the geometrical errors of machine tools are summarized,and different kinds of error identification methods of translational axes and rotation axes are illustrated respectively.Besides,volumetric geometric error modeling,tracing,and compensation techniques for five-axis machine tools are emphatically introduced.Finally,research challenges in order to improve the volumetric accuracy of machine tools are also highlighted.

DRIVE AND CONTROL OF VIRTUAL-AXIS NC MACHINE TOOLS

The structure features and driving modes of virtual axis NC machine tools are studied. Accor ding to different application requirements,the three axis control method,the five axis control method and the sixfreedom control method are put forward.These results lay a foundation for the product development of the virtual axis NC machine tools

Kinematic calibration method with high measurement efficiency and robust identification for hybrid machine tools

Geometric error is the main factor affecting the machining accuracy of hybrid machine tools.Kinematic calibration is an effective way to improve the geometric accuracy of hybrid machine tools.The necessity to measure both position and orientation at each pose,as well as the instability of identification in case of incomplete measurements,severely affects the application of traditional calibration methods.In this study,a kinematic calibration method with high measurement efficiency and robust identification is proposed to improve the kinematic accuracy of a five-axis hybrid machine tool.First,the configuration is introduced,and an error model is derived.Further,by investigating the mechanism error characteristics,a measurement scheme that only requires tool centre point position error measurement and one alignment operation is proposed.Subsequently,by analysing the effects of unmeasured degrees of freedom(DOFs)on other DOFs,an improved nonlinear least squares method based on virtual measurement values is proposed to achieve stable parameter identification in case of incomplete measurement,without introducing additional parameters.Finally,the proposed calibration method is verified through simulations and experiments.The proposed method can efficiently accomplish the kinematic calibration of the hybrid machine tool.The accuracy of the hybrid machine tool is significantly improved after calibration,satisfying actual aerospace machining requirements.

Machines,Tools and Tool Transporter Concurrent Scheduling in Multi⁃machine FMS with Alternative Routing Using Symbiotic Organisms Search Algorithm

This study explored the concurrent scheduling of machines, tools, and tool transporter(TT) with alternative machines in a multi-machine flexible manufacturing system(FMS), taking into mind the tool transfer durations for minimization of the makespan(MSN). When tools are expensive, just a single copy of every tool kind is made available for use in the FMS system. Because the tools are housed in a central tool magazine(CTM), which then distributes and delivers them to many machines, because there is no longer a need to duplicate the tools in each machine, the associated costs are avoided. Choosing alternative machines for job operations(jb-ons), assigning tools to jb-ons, sequencing jb-ons on machines, and arranging allied trip activities, together with the TT’s loaded trip times and deadheading periods, are all challenges that must be overcome to achieve the goal of minimizing MSN. In addition to a mixed nonlinear integer programming(MNLIP) formulation for this simultaneous scheduling problem, this paper suggests a symbiotic organisms search algorithm(SOSA) for the problem’s solution. This algorithm relies on organisms’ symbiotic interaction strategies to keep living in an ecosystem. The findings demonstrate that SOSA is superior to the Jaya algorithm in providing solutions and that using alternative machines for operations helps bring down MSN.

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.