Abrasive waterjet micro-machining of channels in metals: Comparison between machining in air and submerged in water

Abrasive water jet technology can be used for micro-milling using recently developed miniaturized nozzles. Abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining is often used with both the nozzle tip and workpiece submerged in water to reduce noise and contain debris. This paper compares the performance of submerged and unsubmerged abrasive water jet micro-milling of channels in 316L stainless steel and 6061-T6 aluminum at various nozzle angles and standoff distances. The effect of submergence on the diameter and effective footprint of AWJ erosion footprints was measured and compared. It was found that the centerline erosion rate decreased with channel depth due to the spreading of the jet as the effective standoff distance increased, and because of the growing effect of stagnation as the channel became deeper. The erosive jet spread over a larger effective footprint in air than in water, since particles on the jet periphery were slowed much more quickly in water due to increased drag. As a result, the width of a channel machined in air was wider than that in water. Moreover, it was observed that the instantaneous erosion rate decreased with channel depth, and that this decrease was a function only of the channel cross-sectional geometry, being independent of the type of metal, the jet angle, the standoff distance, and regardless of whether the jet was submerged or in air, in either the forward or backward directions. It is shown that submerged AWJM results in narrower features than those produced while machining in air, without a decrease in centerline etch rate.     

Electromagnetism-like algorithms for optimized tool path planning in 5-axis flank machining

Optimization of tool path planning using metaheuristic algorithms such as ant colony systems (ACS) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) provides a feasible approach to reduce geometrical machining errors in 5-axis flank machining of ruled surfaces. The optimal solutions of these algorithms exhibit an unsatisfactory quality in a high-dimensional search space. In this study, various algorithms derived from the electromagnetism-like mechanism (EM) were applied. The test results of representative surfaces showed that all EM-based methods yield more effective optimal solutions than does PSO, despite a longer search time. A new EM-MSS (electromagnetism-like mechanism with move solution screening) algorithm produces the most favorable results by ensuring the continuous improvement of new searches. Incorporating an SPSA (simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation) technique further improves the search results with effective initial solutions. This work enhances the practical values of tool path planning by providing a satisfactory machining quality.     

A Linear Cross-Coupled Control System for High-Speed Machining

We present a linear cross-coupled controller to improve highspeed contouring accuracy independently of tracking accuracy in a biaxial machine tool feed drive servomechanism. Unlike conventional cross-coupled controllers, the cross-coupled controller presented here is a linear system, so it is very easy to perform the stability and steady-state error analysis, and to optimise the controller parameters. The proposed controller is evaluated experimentally on a CNC LOM machine and compared to an uncoupled controller and a conventional cross-coupled controller. Controller performance is evaluated for a circular contour at a feedrate of 30 m min _1 . The experimental results show that the proposed controller can greatly reduce the contour error at large feedrates. The linear cross-coupled controller is simple to implement and is practical.     

铣制三元流叶轮时产生误差的原因分析及解决方法

对在五坐标数控加工中心上铣制三元流叶轮时出现的叶轮附面尺寸误差问题，进行了详细分析，并提出了问题的解决方法，有效地避免了加工中产生的超差。     

钻杆接头螺纹退刀尺寸对接头寿命的影响

钻杆接头螺纹退刀尺寸是指外螺纹接头的台肩面到螺纹消失前第一个完整螺纹之间的距离。GB9253．1－88规定退刀尺寸应小于或等于12．7mm内螺纹，钻杆接头内螺纹的锤孔尺寸为16±2mm，以保证内、外螺纹啮合良好。经检测发现，从日本NKK公司进口的所有φ127mm钻杆接头外螺纹退刀尺寸都大于12．7mm，镗孔尺寸为16～18mm。而APISpec7K规定钻杆接头内螺纹最小镗孔尺寸为15．9mm。鉴于此，建议对我国的有关标准作相应修改，与API标准保持一致。     

数控加工的基本坐标系和对刀问题

数控加工中的对刀问题影响机械加工的各个方面。这里从介绍数控机床的基本坐标系出发，重点阐述了对刀的基本原理和方法以及常见数控机床对刀问题的处理。     

Ultrasonic measurement of the inter-electrode gap in electrochemical machining

During the process of electrochemical machining the dependency of the inter-electrode gap with time and process parameters can be used to determine process characteristics and to define the shape of the workpiece surface relative to the tool surface. Defining process variables to map out the required gap-time function requires the use of time-consuming iterative trials. In-line monitoring of the gap would enable process control and tool to workpiece transfer characteristics to be achieved (for ideal conditions) without the requirement to generate such parameter maps. This work explores the use of ultrasound applied as a passive, non-intrusive, in-line gap measurement system for ECM. The accuracy of this technique was confirmed through correspondence between the generated gap-time and current time data and theoretical models applicable to ideal conditions. Gap measurements are also used to demonstrate and quantify the degree of departure from ideal behaviour for an In718/chloride system as the electrolyte flow rate is reduced from 16 to 4 l min⁻¹. The monitoring of the gap size has also been shown to be effective when determining shape convergence under ideal conditions, for the example case of a 2D sinusoidal profile.     

展望21世纪的制造业及相关技术

综述了制造业未来的发展前景，重点分析了与制造业相关的制造系统、机械加工技术、生产组织形式、人员素质的发展趋势。     

Transformations in machining. Part 1. enhancement of wavelet transformation neural network (WT-NN) combination with a preprocessor

Properly selected transformation methods obtain the most significant characteristics of metal cutting data efficiently and simplify the classification. Wavelet Transformation (WT) and Neural Networks (NN) combination was used to classify the experimental cutting force data of milling operations previously. Preprocessing (PreP) of the approximation coefficients of the WT is proposed just before the classification by using the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART2) type NNs. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to estimate the weights of each coefficient of the PreP. The WT-PreP-NN (ART2) combination worked at lower vigilances by creating only a few meaningful categories without any errors. The WT-NN (ART2) combination could obtain the same error rate only if very high vigilances are used and many categories are allowed.     

Material removal and surface damage in EDM of Ti3SiC2 ceramic

Material removal and surface damage of Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic during electrical discharge machining (EDM) were investigated. Melting and decomposition were found to be the main material removal mechanisms during the machining process. Material removal rate was enhanced acceleratively with increasing discharge current, i_e, working voltage, u_i, but increased deceleratively with pulse duration, t_e. Microcracks in the surface and loose grains in the subsurface resulted from thermal shock were confirmed, and the surface damage in Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic led to a degradation of both strength and reliability.