A critical analysis of effectiveness of acoustic emission signals to detect tool and workpiece malfunctions in milling operations

The industrial demands for automated machining systems to increase process productivity and quality in milling of aerospace critical safety components requires advanced investigations of the monitoring techniques. This is focussed on the detection and prediction of the occurrence of process malfunctions at both of tool (e.g. wear/chipping of cutting edges) and workpiece surface integrity (e.g. material drags, laps, pluckings) levels. Acoustic emission (AE) has been employed predominantly for tool condition monitoring of continuous machining operations (e.g. turning, drilling), but relatively little attention has been paid to monitor interrupted processes such as milling and especially to detect the occurrence of possible surface anomalies.This paper reports for the first time on the possibility of using AE sensory measures for monitoring both tool and workpiece surface integrity to enable milling of “damage-free” surfaces. The research focussed on identifying advanced monitoring techniques to enable the calculation of comprehensive AE sensory measures that can be applied independently and/or in conjunction with other sensory signals (e.g. force) to respond to the following technical requirements: (i) to identify time domain patterns that are independent from the tool path; (ii) ability to “calibrate” AE sensory measures against the gradual increase of tool wear/force signals; (iii) capability to detect workpiece surface defects (anomalies) as result of high energy transfer to the machined surfaces when abusive milling is applied.Although some drawbacks exist due to the amount of data manipulation, the results show good evidence that the proposed AE sensory measures have a great potential to be used in flexible and easily implementable solutions for monitoring tool and/or workpiece surface anomalies in milling operations.     

SSEST: A new approach to higher accuracy cylindricity measuring instrument

The spatial rotation error of a cylindricity measuring instrument (CMI) spindle is one of the biggest obstacles to further improvement of CMI accuracy, and in order to reduce the effect of the spatial rotation error on measurement results, a new single-step spatial rotation error separation technique (SSEST) is proposed and a new spatial rotation error separation system is designed to separate the spatial rotation error of CMI section by section. SSEST proposed can be used to remove the spatial rotation error of an instrument spindle from the measurement results by first measuring the circular profile of a workpiece at i sections and rotating the workpiece through a small angle, then measuring the circular profile of the workpiece after rotation, and finally analyzing and processing the circular profiles. The spatial rotation error separation system designed integrates the functions and structures of circular profile error separation system and CMI spindle rotation system to form a new ultraprecision CMI rotation reference for autonomous separation of spatial rotation errors. Theoretical analyses and numerical experimental results indicate that SSEST can accurately remove the spatial spindle rotation error of CMI from the measured workpiece result in the range of 1–100 upr, and improves the CMI accuracy, and the error separation system based on SSEST simplifies the separation process and the separation system.     

声发射监测技术在磨削加工中的应用

在磨削加工中,砂轮的工作状况是不断变化的,因此,对砂轮的修整及磨削过程进行监测是非常必要的。本文将声发射(AE)信号应用到对磨削过程的监测上,通过监测砂轮修整过程可以得到一致的砂轮表面质量。通过监测AE信号的幅值和频谱特征即可确定砂轮的寿命。用AE信号可以成功地检测出砂轮和工件的初始接触时间,为砂轮向工件进给时的准确对刀及高精度表面质量的获得提供了有效的方法。     

Tool wear monitoring for micro-end grinding of ceramic materials

As grinding process usually is a final step of a machining procedure, excessive grinding tool wear could deteriorate both workpiece surface quality and its dimensional accuracy. This becomes more severe in the case of microgrinding than in conventional grinding because microgrinding wheels are more sensitive to tool wear. An effective tool wear monitoring technique is, therefore, crucial for maintaining consistent machining quality and high efficiency in microgrinding. In this paper, the influence of tool wear and tool stiffness on microgrinding process signals such as grinding force, grinding system vibration, acoustic emission signal and spindle load, are analyzed during end grinding of ceramic materials. To indicate the actual wear status of a microgrinding wheel, this study proposed a new monitoring parameter by fusing grinding force and system vibration signals, based on the concept of varying cutting stiffness. This new monitoring parameter is then experimentally tested in microgrinding a series of ceramic miniature features with consistent and inconsistent geometry.     

Friction drilling of cast metals

This study investigates the friction drilling process, a nontraditional hole-making technique, for cast metals. In friction drilling, a rotating conical tool is applied to penetrate work-material and create a bushing in a single step without generating chip. The cast aluminum and magnesium alloys, two materials studied, are brittle compared to the ductile metal workpiece material used in previous friction drilling research. The technical challenge is to generate a cylindrical shaped bushing without significant radial fracture or petal formation. Two ideas of pre-heating the workpiece and high speed friction drilling are proposed. Effects of workpiece temperature, spindle speed, and feed rate on experimentally measured thrust force, torque, and bushing shape were analyzed. The thrust force and torque decreased and the bushing shape was improved with increased workpiece temperature. Varying spindle speed shows mixed results in bushing formation of two different work-materials. The energy, average power, and peak power required for friction drilling were calculated and analyzed to demonstrate quantitatively the benefits of workpiece pre-heating and high spindle speed in friction drilling.     

微小振动影响超精密非球面加工精度的研究

超精密磨削已广泛应用于轴对称非球面光学元件及硬脆材料的加工，加工过程中砂轮的不平衡量和机床主轴引起的振动直接影响工件表面精度及粗糙度。为了适应非球面工件超精密加工的要求，本文通过分析加工过程中产生的振动现象，建立磨削中振动引起工件表面轮廓误差的数学模型，研究主轴转速变化及磨削加工参数对工件表面精度的影响；通过建立工件与砂轮之间的运动关系，得出砂轮的振幅、频率及加工速度的变化对工件表面精度的影响条件。研究结果表明：选择合理的加工参数能降低工件表面波纹度，提高工件的表面精度。     

BTA深孔钻削过程中工件振动影响因素的研究

在BTA深孔钻削过程中,工件的振动是导致孔加工质量和精度降低的重要因素。通过实验和MATLAB拟合分析不同的切削参数(进给量f、切削速度v、主轴转速n)对工件振动的影响。分析结果表明,在深孔加工过程中,工件的中间位置振幅最大;随着进给量的和切削速度的增大,工件的振幅增大,振幅增大量先增大后减小;主轴转速的变化对工件的振动影响很小。合理的选择切削参数可以降低工件的振动。     

Measurement of slide error of an ultra-precision diamond turning machine by using a rotating cylinder workpiece

Two measurement methods of using a rotating cylinder workpiece, which are referred to as the one-probe method and the two-probe method, respectively, are proposed for measurement of the horizontal error motion (X-directional error motion) of the Z-slide of an ultra-precision diamond turning machine. In the one-probe method, a displacement probe mounted on the opposite position of the turned (self-cut) cylinder workpiece with respect to the cutting tool is moved by the Z-slide to scan the workpiece being rotated by the spindle with its axis of rotation along the Z-axis. The Z-slide error can be obtained by an averaged output of the probe over one rotation without the influence of the spindle error and the surface form error of the cylinder. In the two-probe method, in addition to the displacement probe used in the one-probe method, another displacement probe is mounted at the position of the cutting tool. The rotating cylinder is scanned along the Z-direction by the two displacement probes simultaneously and the Z-slide error can be accurately measured by using the averaged output of the two probes over one rotation. Both the methods can measure not only the out-of-straightness component of the slide error but also the out-of-parallelism of the Z-slide axis with respect to the spindle axis. Experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility of the proposed methods.     

A study on the machining characteristics in the external plunge grinding using the current signal of the spindle motor

This paper describes the machining characteristics of external plunge grinding. The study investigates the process using the current signals of a spindle motor through a hall sensor. Grinding experiments were conducted under various grinding conditions such as wheel speeds, workpiece speeds and infeed rates with a conventional vitrified bonded wheel. Analyzing the current signal of the spindle motor, a relationship between current signals and the metal removal rate in terms of the infeed rate is induced. It was also shown that a hall sensor has similar capabilities in evaluation of grinding behavior compared to the AE signals, which are useful for monitoring the grinding process.     

Precision, Stability and Productivity Increase in Throughfeed Centerless Grinding

Centerless grinding is a high precision manufacturing process commonly applied to the mass production of many industrial components. However, workpiece roundness is critically affected by geometric lobing and no practical tool has been developed to solve the problem in throughfeed working mode. Based on simulation methods previously applied to plunge grinding, a new software tool has been developed in this work. The software determines the optimal working configuration and can be used to reduce set-up time and improve three important features: 1) Precision, as the roundness error is rapidly corrected at the optimal configuration. 2) Productivity, since the workpiece stock can be significantly reduced. 3) Stability, because the process is less sensitive to the original roundness error of the workpiece.     

Optimal spindle speed determination for vibration reduction during ball-end milling of flexible details

In the paper a method of optimal spindle speed determination for vibration reduction during ball-end milling of flexible details is proposed. In order to reduce vibration level, an original procedure of the spindle speed optimisation, based on the Liao–Young criterion [1], is suggested. As the result, an optimal, constant spindle speed value is determined. For this purpose, non-stationary computational model of machining process is defined. As a result of modelling, a hybrid system is described. This model consists of following subsystems, i.e. stationary model of one-side-supported flexible workpiece (modal subsystem), non-stationary discrete model of ball-end mill (structural subsystem) and conventional contact point between tool and workpiece (connective subsystem). The method requires identification of some natural frequencies of stationary modal subsystem. To determine them, appropriate modal experiments have to be performed on the machine tool, just before machining. Examples of vibration surveillance during cutting process on two high speed milling machines Mikron VCP 600 and Alcera Gambin 120CR are illustrated.     

永磁场磁力研磨TC11钛合金的实验研究

目的解决钛合金机械加工后表面质量差的难题。方法采用磁力研磨工艺对TC11钛合金进行了表面光整加工。以表面粗糙度为主要评价指标,研究了磁力研磨工艺参数对钛合金表面质量的影响,并对工艺参数进行了优化。采用优化后的工艺参数对钛合金进行了表面光整加工,研究了磁力研磨工艺对钛合金金相组织的影响。结果当加工间隙为3 mm时,研磨压力适宜,加工后工件表面粗糙度值最小。采用粒径为100目的磨粒使工件表面研磨加工后纹理更细,表面粗糙度值最低。提高主轴转速,工件表面材料去除率增加,当主轴转速为1500 r/min时,加工后工件表面粗糙度值最小。对比工件加工前后的金相组织,加工后试样表面组织晶粒变细,晶界增多,工件表面应力状态由张应力转变为压应力。结论实验确定了较优的工艺参数组合,即:加工间隙为3 mm,磨粒粒径为100目,主轴转速为1500 r/min。采用永磁场磁力研磨工艺,能够大幅降低TC11钛合金表面粗糙度,并使钛合金表面组织得到改善。     

Sensorless tool failure monitoring system for drilling machines

It is well known that on-line tool condition monitoring has great significance in modern manufacturing processes. In order to prevent possible damages to the workpiece or the machine tool, reliable techniques are required providing an on-line response to an unexpected tool failure. Drilling is one of the most fundamental machining operations and two of the most crucial issues related to it are tool wear and fracture. During the spindle process, the motor driver current is related to the drill condition: power consumption is higher for a worn drill in comparison to a sharp drill for the same process. This difference in power consumption can be self-correlated to obtain the resulting waveform variance to provide a merit figure for tool condition. This paper describes a driver current signal analysis to estimate the tool condition by using the discrete Wavelet Transform in order to extract the information from the original cutting force, and through an autocorrelation algorithm evaluate the tool wear in the form of an asymmetry weighting function. The current is monitored from the motor driver to give a sensorless approach. Experimental results are presented to show the algorithm performance, a complete sensorless tool failure system which allows the detection of tool failure as a function of spindle current in real time.     

Monitoring and self-learning fuzzy control for wire rupture prevention in wire electrical discharge machining

Wire breaking is a serious problem in the application of wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). A WEDM sparking frequency monitoring and control system based on the characteristics of the voltage waveform of WEDM is developed. A new self-learning fuzzy controller is proposed to control the sparking frequency at a safe level by regulating the pulse off-time in real time for avoiding wire rupture and maintaining a state of high metal removal rate. The developed control strategy is tested under the conditions of cutting a workpiece with continuous sharp angles, a change in workpiece height during machining process, and machining with a high feed-rate. Experimental results show that this monitoring and control system can control the sparking frequency at a predetermined level without the risk of wire rupture.     

展成式精密电火花加工机床

研制了一种展成式精密电火花加工机床，它含有3个回转机构和4个直线移动机构，工件苡轴，工具电极苡轴和转台均可按需要回转，坐标工作台可作纵向和横向移动，工件头架可作轴向和竖向移动。可设置成多种复合运动方式和相应的结构布局，具有很丰富的加工功能，加工精度能达到微米级并实现电火花镜面加工。     

Tooling-integrated sensing systems for stamping process monitoring

In-situ stamping process monitoring plays a critical role in enhancing productivity and ensuring part quality in sheet metal stamping. This paper investigates the realization of two sensing methods to create a tooling-integrated sensing system: mutual inductance-based displacement measurement for sheet draw-in, and distributed contact pressure measurement at the tool–workpiece interface. The two sensing systems are complementary in nature, and together, they significantly enhance the on-line observability of the stamping process. The performance of the draw-in sensor was evaluated using numerical simulations and experiments in a small-scale and a large-scale lab setup, and its effectiveness has been confirmed under the presence of wrinkled sheet. To study the spatial and temporal variations of the tool–workpiece contact pressure in a stamping operation, experiments were conducted on a customized panel stamping test-bed with an array of thin-film force sensors embedded below the die flange and die cavity. The force sensor data were then numerically interpolated to form the contact pressure distribution across the tool–workpiece interface, based on the thin plate spline (TPS) method. Comparison between the interpolated pressure obtained from the surface generation techniques and direct measurement using redundant sensors and a press mounted load cell confirms the validity of the new contact pressure sensing method. The integrated sensing technique provides insight into the stamping process by quantifying process variations and providing a reference base for process control to reduce product disparities. Additionally, new product and process designs can be created based on the quantified and referenced variations.     

立式磨削工艺系统建模方法及仿真研究

为研究磨削行为和磨削误差,提出以立式磨削工艺系统为分析对象的误差分析模型。该模型由转台、工件、砂轮、主轴等零部件组成。分析转速比、工件初始圆度误差相位、磨削时间和主轴回转误差对磨削精度的影响规律。结果表明：该系统能预测磨削行为和磨削误差;当转速比为整数时,磨削精度随着转速比的增大而提高;当转速比不是整数时,变化情况更加复杂;工件初始圆度误差的相位对最终的加工圆度不会产生影响;随着磨削的进行,工件圆度误差开始降低得很快,随后降低趋势逐渐变缓;在主轴误差的组成频率中,3阶误差导致的圆度误差最大,2阶误差导致的圆度误差最小。     

Measurement of quasi-mean resultant force using the vibrational signal of spindle in milling

The quasi-mean resultant force has been proven to be useful on the real-time process control and tool monitoring in milling operations. This paper presents a new way to measure the quasi-mean resultant force using the vibrational displacement signal of spindle. The quasi-mean resultant force can be obtained by subtracting the spindle run-out pattern from the average displacement signal per tooth period, then multiplying a constant, k^*. This new approach is illustrated by computational simulations and experimental cutting tests.     

Pulse excitation technique for determining frequency response of machine tools using an on-line mini computer and a non-contacting electromagnetic exciter

An electromagnetic pulse excitation technique for the determination of receptance data is presented. The relative performance of this in relation to the conventional stepped and swept sine methods was established in tests carried out on a horizontal milling machine. Good correspondence between the three techniques was noted, thus confirming the reliability of the electromagnetic pulse technique.The pulse excitation technique was then used for determining the relative response data of a cylindrical grinding machine. These experiments required the development of a new type of magnetic exciter with which a relative force pulse can be applied to the grinding spindle and the workpiece under conditions simulating actual grinding conditions.     

Measurement of milling tool vibrations during cutting using laser vibrometry

Spindle and tool vibration measurements are of great importance in both the development and monitoring of high-speed milling. Measurements of cutting forces and vibrations on the stationary spindle head is the most used technique today. But since the milling results depend on the relative movement between the workpiece and the tool, it is desirable to measure on the rotating tool as close to the cutters as possible. In this paper the use of laser vibrometry (LDV) for milling tool vibration measurements during cutting is demonstrated. However, laser vibrometry measurements on rotating surfaces are not in general straight forward. Crosstalk between vibration velocity components and harmonic speckle noise generated from the repeating revolution of the surface topography are problems that must be considered. In order to overcome the mentioned issues, a cylindrical casing with a highly optically smooth surface was manufactured and mounted on the tool to be measured. The spindle vibrations, radial tool misalignment, and out-of-roundness of the measured surface were filtered out from the signal; hence, the vibrations of the cutting tool were resolved. Simultaneous measurements of cutting forces and spindle head vibrations were performed and comparisons between the signals were conducted. The results showed that vibration velocities or displacements of the tool can be obtained with high temporal resolution during cutting load and therefore the approach is proven to be feasible for analysing high-frequency milling tool vibrations.