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.

Identification of Kinematic Errors of Five-axis Machine Tool Trunnion Axis from Finished Test Piece

Compared with the traditional non-cutting measurement,machining tests can more accurately reflect the kinematic errors of five-axis machine tools in the actual machining process for the users.However,measurement and calculation of the machining tests in the literature are quite difficult and time-consuming.A new method of the machining tests for the trunnion axis of five-axis machine tool is proposed.Firstly,a simple mathematical model of the cradle-type five-axis machine tool was established by optimizing the coordinate system settings based on robot kinematics.Then,the machining tests based on error-sensitive directions were proposed to identify the kinematic errors of the trunnion axis of cradle-type five-axis machine tool.By adopting the error-sensitive vectors in the matrix calculation,the functional relationship equations between the machining errors of the test piece in the error-sensitive directions and the kinematic errors of C-axis and A-axis of five-axis machine tool rotary table was established based on the model of the kinematic errors.According to our previous work,the kinematic errors of C-axis can be treated as the known quantities,and the kinematic errors of A-axis can be obtained from the equations.This method was tested in Mikron UCP600 vertical machining center.The machining errors in the error-sensitive directions can be obtained by CMM inspection from the finished test piece to identify the kinematic errors of five-axis machine tool trunnion axis.Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method can reduce the complexity,cost,and the time consumed substantially,and has a wider applicability.This paper proposes a new method of the machining tests for the trunnion axis of five-axis machine tool.

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.

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.

Design and development of a five-axis machine tool with high accuracy,stiffness and efficiency for aero-engine casing manufacturing

In order to satisfy the machining requirements of aero-engine casing in modern aviation industry, this paper investigates three main issues during the design and development process of a five-axis machine tool with high accuracy, stiffness and efficiency, including whole structure design,key components design, and supporting stiffness design. First, an appropriate structure of five-axis machine tool is determined considering the processing characteristics of aero-engine casing. Then, a dual drive swing head and a compact motorized spindle are designed with enough drive capability and stiffness, and related structure, assembly method, cooling technology, and performance simulation are given in detail. Next, a design method of supporting stiffness of guide is proposed through the deformation prediction of the spindle end. Based on above work, a prototype of machine tool is developed, and some experiments are carried out, including performance tests of swing head and motorized spindle, and machining of a simulated workpiece of aero-engine casing. All experimental results show that the machine tool has satisfactory accuracy, stiffness and efficiency, which meets the machining requirements of aero-engine casing. The main work can be used as references for engineers and technicians, which are meaningful in practice.

Improved closed-loop tracking interferometer measurement for a five-axis machine tool with a bi-rotary milling head

Tracking interferometer based on bi-rotary milling head is a novel scheme to conduct volumetric accuracy measurement of a five-axis machine tool.The laser beam direction of the interferometer can be regulated to follow the retroreflector by moving the bi-rotary head.This is a low-cost implementation of multilateration measurement,and its measurement accuracy is mainly affected by the error motion of the rotary axes.This paper proposes an improved multilateration principle to identify the positionindependent geometric errors of rotary axis and laser beam,and minimize their impact on the measurement uncertainty.A closed-loop tracking interferometer system installed on the spindle is developed to perform the measurement with high tracking accuracy.The device can be installed on an ordinary five-axis machine tool without modifying the machine tool structure.The proposed scheme is conducive to improving the accuracy and practical application of the tracking interferometer based on birotary milling head.Experiments with the corresponding closed-loop tracking interferometer and uncertainty analysis are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed measurement scheme.

Design of Five-Axis Ultrasonic Assistant Compound Machine Tool

A compound machine tool was designed, which combined rotary ultrasonic assisted grinding, electrical discharge machining(EDM) and multi-axis milling. Experimental results indicated that its positioning accuracy was less than 5.6 μm and its repetitive positioning accuracy was less than 1.8 μm; the vibration amplitude of ultrasonic grinding system was uniform and stable, and the EDM system worked well and stably.A smooth surface of K9 optical glass component was achieved by the grinding method.

On dry machining of AZ31B magnesium alloy using textured cutting tool inserts

Magnesium alloys have many advantages as lightweight materials for engineering applications,especially in the fields of automotive and aerospace.They undergo extensive cutting or machining while making products out of them.Dry cutting,a sustainable machining method,causes more friction and adhesion at the tool-chip interface.One of the promising solutions to this problem is cutting tool surface texturing,which can reduce tool wear and friction in dry cutting and improve machining performance.This paper aims to investigate the impact of dimple textures(made on the flank face of cutting inserts)on tool wear and chip morphology in the dry machining of AZ31B magnesium alloy.The results show that the cutting speed was the most significant factor affecting tool flank wear,followed by feed rate and cutting depth.The tool wear mechanism was examined using scanning electron microscope(SEM)images and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS)analysis reports,which showed that at low cutting speed,the main wear mechanism was abrasion,while at high speed,it was adhesion.The chips are discontinuous at low cutting speeds,while continuous at high cutting speeds.The dimple textured flank face cutting tools facilitate the dry machining of AZ31B magnesium alloy and contribute to ecological benefits.

ArcCHECK Machine QA工具在医用直线加速器质量保证中的应用效果

目的探讨ArcCHECK Machine QA工具在医用直线加速器质量保证中的应用效果。方法利用ArcCHECK Machine QA工具和ArcCHECK体模对医用直线加速器进行性能测试,项目包括机架角度、机架旋转速度、机架旋转中心、多叶准直器和铅门位置的一致性、机架旋转出束时的平坦度和对称性,评估该工具在医用直线加速器质量保证中的应用效果。结果旋转模式下机架平均旋转速度为3.6 deg/s,最大偏差约0.5 deg/s;机架旋转等中心形成的平均半径为0.4 mm,多叶准直器与铅门的最大距离正、负差异平均值分别为0.7 mm、-0.7 mm;旋转出束模式下Y方向的平坦度为1.8%,Y方向的对称性为1.1%,X方向的对称性为4.3%。结论ArcCHECK Machine QA工具可用于医用直线加速器常规及容积调强出束性能质量保证。

A New Dynamics Analysis Model for Five-Axis Machining of Curved Surface Based on Dimension Reduction and Mapping

The equipment used in various fields contains an increasing number of parts with curved surfaces of increasing size.Five-axis computer numerical control(CNC)milling is the main parts machining method,while dynamics analysis has always been a research hotspot.The cutting conditions determined by the cutter axis,tool path,and workpiece geometry are complex and changeable,which has made dynamics research a major challenge.For this reason,this paper introduces the innovative idea of applying dimension reduction and mapping to the five-axis machining of curved surfaces,and proposes an efficient dynamics analysis model.To simplify the research object,the cutter position points along the tool path were discretized into inclined plane five-axis machining.The cutter dip angle and feed deflection angle were used to define the spatial position relationship in five-axis machining.These were then taken as the new base variables to construct an abstract two-dimensional space and establish the mapping relationship between the cutter position point and space point sets to further simplify the dimensions of the research object.Based on the in-cut cutting edge solved by the space limitation method,the dynamics of the inclined plane five-axis machining unit were studied,and the results were uniformly stored in the abstract space to produce a database.Finally,the prediction of the milling force and vibration state along the tool path became a data extraction process that significantly improved efficiency.Two experiments were also conducted which proved the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed dynamics analysis model.This study has great potential for the online synchronization of intelligent machining of large surfaces.

Spatial Expression of Assembly Geometric Errors for Multi-axis Machine Tool Based on Kinematic Jacobian-Torsor Model

Assembly geometric error as a part of the machine tool system errors has a significant influence on the machining accuracy of the multi-axis machine tool.And it cannot be eliminated due to the error propagation of components in the assembly process,which is generally non-uniformly distributed in the whole working space.A comprehensive expression model for assembly geometric error is greatly helpful for machining quality control of machine tools to meet the demand for machining accuracy in practice.However,the expression ranges based on the standard quasistatic expression model for assembly geometric errors are far less than those needed in the whole working space of the multi-axis machine tool.To address this issue,a modeling methodology based on the Jacobian-Torsor model is proposed to describe the spatially distributed geometric errors.Firstly,an improved kinematic Jacobian-Torsor model is developed to describe the relative movements such as translation and rotation motion between assembly bodies,respectively.Furthermore,based on the proposed kinematic Jacobian-Torsor model,a spatial expression of geometric errors for the multi-axis machine tool is given.And simulation and experimental verification are taken with the investigation of the spatial distribution of geometric errors on five four-axis machine tools.The results validate the effectiveness of the proposed kinematic Jacobian-Torsor model in dealing with the spatial expression of assembly geometric errors.

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.

Energy-Efficient Approaches for a Machine Tool Building in a University through Field Measurement and Energy Modelling

The heating,ventilating,and air conditioning(HVAC)system consumes nearly 50%of the building’s energy,especially in Taiwan with a hot and humid climate.Due to the challenges in obtaining energy sources and the negative impacts of excessive energy use on the environment,it is essential to employ an energy-efficient HVAC system.This study conducted the machine tools building in a university.The field measurement was carried out,and the data were used to conduct energymodelling with EnergyPlus(EP)in order to discover some improvements in energy-efficient design.The validation between fieldmeasurement and energymodelling was performed,and the error rate was less than 10%.The following strategies were proposed in this study based on several energy-efficient approaches,including room temperature settings,chilled water supply temperature settings,chiller coefficient of performance(COP),shading,and building location.Energy-efficient approaches have been evaluated and could reduce energy consumption annually.The results reveal that the proposed energy-efficient approaches of room temperature settings(3.8%),chilled water supply temperature settings(2.1%),chiller COP(5.9%),using shading(9.1%),and building location(3.0%),respectively,could reduce energy consumption.The analysis discovered that using a well-performing HVAC system and building shading were effective in lowering the amount of energy used,and the energy modelling method could be an effective and satisfactory tool in determining potential energy savings.

High accuracy NURBS interpolation for five-axis machine of table-rotating/spindle-tilting type

In this paper, the definition of NURBS curve and a speed-controlled interpolation in which the feed rate is automatically adjusted in order to meet the specified chord error limit were discussed. Besides those, a definition of linear interpolation error of post-processed data was proposed, which should be paid more attention to because it will not only reduce quality of the surface but also may cause interference and other unexpected trouble. In order to control the error, a robust algorithm was proposed, which successfully met a desired error limit through interpolating some essential CL data. The excellence of the proposed algorithm, in terms of its reliability and self-adaptiveness, has been proved by simulation results.

Tool wear condition monitoring method of five-axis machining center based on PSO-CNN

The effective monitoring of tool wear status in the milling process of a five-axis machining center is important for improving product quality and efficiency,so this paper proposes a CNN convolutional neural network model based on the optimization of PSO algorithm to monitor the tool wear status.Firstly,the cutting vibration signals and spindle current signals during the milling process of the five-axis machining center are collected using sensor technology,and the features related to the tool wear status are extracted in the time domain,frequency domain and time-frequency domain to form a feature sample matrix;secondly,the tool wear values corresponding to the above features are measured using an electron microscope and classified into three types:slight wear,normal wear and sharp wear to construct a target Finally,the tool wear sample data set is constructed by using multi-source information fusion technology and input to PSO-CNN model to complete the prediction of tool wear status.The results show that the proposed method can effectively predict the tool wear state with an accuracy of 98.27%;and compared with BP model,CNN model and SVM model,the accuracy indexes are improved by 9.48%,3.44%and 1.72%respectively,which indicates that the PSO-CNN model proposed in this paper has obvious advantages in the field of tool wear state identification.

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.

Applying CBR to Machine Tool Product Configuration Design Oriented to Customer Requirements

Product customization is a trend in the current market-oriented manufacturing environment. However, deduction from customer requirements to design results and evaluation of design alternatives are still heavily reliant on the designer＇s experience and knowledge. To solve the problem of fuzziness and uncertainty of customer requirements in product configuration, an analysis method based on the grey rough model is presented. The customer requirements can be converted into technical characteristics effectively. In addition, an optimization decision model for product planning is established to help the enterprises select the key technical characteristics under the constraints of cost and time to serve the customer to maximal satisfaction. A new case retrieval approach that combines the self-organizing map and fuzzy similarity priority ratio method is proposed in case-based design. The self-organizing map can reduce the retrieval range and increase the retrieval efficiency, and the fuzzy similarity priority ratio method can evaluate the similarity of cases comprehensively. To ensure that the final case has the based on grey correlation analysis is proposed to evaluate similar cases best overall performance, an evaluation method of similar cases to select the most suitable case. Furthermore, a computer-aided system is developed using MATLAB GUI to assist the product configuration design. The actual example and result on an ETC series machine tool product show that the proposed method is effective, rapid and accurate in the process of product configuration. The proposed methodology provides a detailed instruction for the product configuration design oriented to customer requirements.

Toward Intelligent Machine Tool

With the development of modern information technology-and particularly of the new generation of artificial intelligence(AI)technology-new opportunities are available for the development of the intelligent machine tool(IMT).Based on the three classical paradigms of intelligent manufacturing as defined by the Chinese Academy of Engineering,the concept,characteristics,and systemic structure of the IMT are presented in this paper.Three stages of machine tool evolution-from the manually operated machine tool(MOMT)to the IMT-are discussed,including the numerical control machine tool(NCMT),the smart machine tool(SMT),and the IMT.Furthermore,the four intelligent control principles of the IMT-namely,autonomous sensing and connection,autonomous learning and modeling,autonomous optimization and decision-making,and autonomous control and execution-are presented in detail.This paper then points out that the essential characteristic of the IMT is to acquire and accumulate knowledge through learning,and presents original key enabling technologies,including the instruction-domain-based analytical approach,theoretical and big-data-based hybrid modeling technology,and the double-code control method.Based on this research,an intelligent numerical control(INC)system and industrial prototypes of IMTs are developed.Three intelligent practices are conducted,demonstrating that the integration of the new generation of AI technology with advanced manufacturing technology is a feasible and convenient way to advance machine tools toward the IMT.

Algorithm for Detecting Volumetric Geometric Accuracy of NC Machine Tool by Laser Tracker

Quick and accurate detecting the error of NC machine tool and performing the error compensation are important to improve the machining accuracy of NC machine tool. Currently, there are many methods for detecting the geometric accuracy of NC machine tool. However, these methods have deficiencies in detection efficiency and accuracy as well as in versatility. In the paper, a method with laser tracker based on the multi-station and time-sharing measurement principle is proposed, and this method can rapidly and accurately detect the geometric accuracy of NC machine tool. The machine tool is controlled to move in the preset path in a 3D space or 2D plane, and a laser tracker is used to measure the same motion trajectory of the machine tool successively at different base stations. The original algorithm for multi-station and time-sharing measurement is improved. The space coordinates of the measuring point obtained by the laser tracker are taken as parameter values, and the initial position of each base point can be determined. The redundant equation concerning the base point calibration can be established by the distance information of the laser tracker, and the position of each base point is further determined by solving the equation with least squares method, then the space coordinates of each measuring point can be calibrated. The singular matrix does not occur in calculation with the improved algorithm, which overcomes the limitations of the original algorithm, that the motion trajectory of machine tool is in a 3D space and there exits height difference between the base stations. Adopting the improved algorithm can expand the application of multi-station and time-sharing measurement, and can meet the quick and accurate detecting requirements for different types of NC machine tool.

Temperature Variable Optimization for Precision Machine Tool Thermal Error Compensation on Optimal Threshold

Machine tool thermal error is an important reason for poor machining accuracy. Thermal error compensation is a primary technology in accuracy control. To build thermal error model, temperature variables are needed to be divided into several groups on an appropriate threshold. Currently, group threshold value is mainly determined by researchers experience. Few studies focus on group threshold in temperature variable grouping. Since the threshold is important in error compensation, this paper arms to find out an optimal threshold to realize temperature variable optimization in thermal error modeling. Firstly, correlation coefficient is used to express membership grade of temperature variables, and the theory of fuzzy transitive closure is applied to obtain relational matrix of temperature variables. Concepts as compact degree and separable degree are introduced. Then evaluation model of temperature variable clustering is built. The optimal threshold and the best temperature variable clustering can be obtained by setting the maximum value of evaluation model as the objective. Finally, correlation coefficients between temperature variables and thermal error are calculated in order to find out optimum temperature variables for thermal error modeling. An experiment is conducted on a precise horizontal machining center. In experiment, three displacement sensors are used to measure spindle thermal error and twenty-nine temperature sensors are utilized to detect the machining center temperature. Experimental result shows that the new method of temperature variable optimization on optimal threshold successfully worked out a best threshold value interval and chose seven temperature variables from twenty-nine temperature measuring points. The model residual of z direction is within 3 μm. Obviously, the proposed new variable optimization method has simple computing process and good modeling accuracy, which is quite fit for thermal error compensation.