Digital Twin Modeling Enabled Machine Tool Intelligence:A Review

Machine tools,often referred to as the“mother machines”of the manufacturing industry,are crucial in developing smart manufacturing and are increasingly becoming more intelligent.Digital twin technology can promote machine tool intelligence and has attracted considerable research interest.However,there is a lack of clear and systematic analyses on how the digital twin technology enables machine tool intelligence.Herein,digital twin modeling was identified as an enabling technology for machine tool intelligence based on a comparative study of the characteristics of machine tool intelligence and digital twin.The review then delves into state-of-the-art digital twin modelingenabled machine tool intelligence,examining it from the aspects of data-based modeling and mechanism-data dual-driven modeling.Additionally,it highlights three bottleneck issues facing the field.Considering these problems,the architecture of a digital twin machine tool(DTMT)is proposed,and three key technologies are expounded in detail:Data perception and fusion technology,mechanism-data-knowledge hybrid-driven digital twin modeling and virtual-real synchronization technology,and dynamic optimization and collaborative control technology for multilevel parameters.Finally,future research directions for the DTMT are discussed.This work can provide a foundation basis for the research and implementation of digital-twin modeling-enabled machine tool intelligence,making it significant for developing intelligent 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.

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.

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.

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。

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.

Prediction of Wearing of Cutting Tools Using Real Time Machining Parameters and Temperature Using Rayleigh-Ham Method

Wear of cutting tools is a big concern for industrial manufacturers, because of their acquisition cost as well as the impact on the production lines when they are unavailable. Law of wear is very important in determining cutting tools lifespan, but most of the existing models don’t take into account the cutting temperature. In this work, the theoretical and experimental results of a dynamic study of metal machining against cutting temperature of a treated steel of grade S235JR with a high-speed steel tool are provided. This study is based on the analysis of two complementary approaches, an experimental approach with the measurement of the temperature and on the other hand, an approach using modeling. Based on unifactorial and multifactorial tests (speed of cut, feed, and depth of cut), this study allowed the highlighting of the influence of the cutting temperature on the machining time. To achieve this objective, two specific approaches have been selected. The first was to measure the temperature of the cutting tool and the second was to determine the wear law using Rayleigh-Ham dimensional analysis method. This study permitted the determination of a law that integrates the cutting temperature in the calculations of the lifespan of the tools during machining.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dynamic characteristic analysis of whole machine tools based on Kriging model

In order to study the variation of machine tools’dynamic characteristics in the manufacturing space,a Kriging approximate model is proposed.Finite element method(FEM)is employed on the platform of ANSYS to establish finite element(FE)model with the dynamic characteristic of combined interface for a milling machine,which is newly designed for producing aero engine blades by a certain enterprise group in China.The stiffness and damping of combined interfaces are adjusted by using adaptive simulated annealing algorithm with the optimizing software of iSIGHT in the process of FE model update according to experimental modal analysis(EMA)results.The Kriging approximate model is established according to the finite element analysis results utilizing orthogonal design samples by taking into account of the range of configuration parameters.On the basis of the Kriging approximate model,the response surfaces between key response parameter and configuration parameters are obtained.The results indicate that configuration parameters have great effects on dynamic characteristics of machine tools,and the Kriging approximate model is an effective and rapid method for estimating dynamic characteristics of machine tools in the manufacturing space.

Characterization of machine tools and measurement system for micromilling

Technological progress has led to increased demand for small components with tiny features, which cannot be achieved through conventional machining. Industrial application of processes based on microcutting is limited by some issues concerning the geometrical scale. The process performance is significantly affected by milling machine, tool holder, tool, workpiece material microstructure, workpiece fixtures, and process parameters. At present, an ultimate micromachining assessment procedure is not available. This study aims to propose and conduct an experiment on a testing procedure for micromilling. The set up to be implemented and the output to be considered are defined and described. Three major stages are identified: estimation of the effective bandwidth of the load cell–tool holder system, the milling machine natural frequency measurement, and micromilling test execution. The entire procedure is performed, and its robustness is demonstrated.