Analysis of the cutting ratio and investigating its influence on the workpiece’s diametrical error in ultrasonic-vibration assisted turning

Due to its numerous advantages such as reduction of machining force and surface roughness, ultrasonic-vibration assisted turning process has been extensively investigated. In the present paper, a new vibration analysis has been done and it has been shown that in the case of rigid workpiece or stable cutting ratio, negligible diametrical error is created by tool vibration in vibration turning which is not present in conventional turning. On the other part of the study, flexible workpiece has been considered and workpiece deformation has been investigated. It has been shown that in this case, the cutting ratio experiences an increasing trend from spindle to free end of one-end fixed workpiece. It has been also shown that the experimental results are in good agreement with analysis. Workpiece diametrical error in conventional turning is about twice in vibration turning.

Chatter Suppression in Parallel Turning Assisted with Tool Swing Motion Provided by Feed System

Parallel turning technology has been attracting attention as an important technology to enhance the productivity of multitasking machine tools. To maximize the productivity advantage of parallel turning, chatter avoidance or suppression is one of the most noteworthy concerns. In this study, a novel chatter suppression technique using tool swing motion is provided by a feed drive system. The optimal design methodology of the tool swing motion for effective chatter suppression is also introduced based on its analogy with the spindle speed variation technique under the shared-surface parallel turning and rigid-tool and flexible-workpiece assumptions. The proposed method was evaluated with regard to the chatter stabilizing performance and workpiece runout as compared to conventional equal pitch turning and unequal pitch turning for chatter suppression. As a result, the proposed tool swing parallel turning exhibited a high chatter stabilizing performance without eccentricity of the workpiece and enhanced surface quality, although particular swing marks were left on the machined surface.

Minimax Optimization Strategy for Process Parameters Planning: Toward Interference-Free Between Tool and Flexible Workpiece in Milling Process

In milling of flexible workpieces, like axial-flow compressor impellers with thin-wall blades and deep channels, interference occurrence between workpiece and tool shaft is a great adverse issue. Even though interference avoidance plays a mandatory role in tool path generation stage, the generated tool path remains just a nominally interference-free one. This challenge is attributed to the fact that workpiece flexibility and dynamic response cannot be considered in tool path generation stage. This paper presents a strategy in process parameters planning stage, aiming to avoid the interference between tool shaft and flexible workpiece with dynamic response in milling process. The interference problem is formulated as that to evaluate the approaching extent of two surfaces, i.e., the vibrating workpiece and the swept envelope surface generated by the tool undergoing spatial motions. A metric is defined to evaluate quantitatively the approaching extent. Then, a minimax optimization model is developed, in which the optimization objective is to maximize the metric, so as the interference-free can be guaranteed while constraints require the milling process to be stable and process parameters to fall into preferred intervals in which material removal rate is satisfactory. Finish milling of impeller using a conical cutter governed by a nominally interference-free tool path is numerically simulated to illustrate the dynamics responses of the spatially distributed nodal points on the thin-wall blade and approaching extent of the time-varying vibrating blades to the tool swept envelope surface. Furthermore, the present model results suggest to use an optimal process parameters set in finish milling, as a result improving machining efficiency in addition to ensuring the interference-free requirement. The model results are verified against milling experiments.