Rotary-Linear Hybrid Axes for Meso-Scale Machining

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This research will develop novel hybrid machine tool axes as key components of new manufacturing machines for meso-scale parts. Hybrid means that some of the axes of motion of the machine are compounded within a single component. Meso-scale parts are defined as having a size on the order of fractions of a millimeter up to centimeters, and thus falling between the domains of microfabrication and standard machining. On the small end of the scale, such parts include micromechanical devices; on the large end of the scale are elements such as dental restorations and turbine blades. The project participants will design and build a promising hybrid axis in which a cylindrical element is driven in both rotation and linear translation. This hybridization allows the minimization of machine inertias and thereby the optimization of acceleration in order to produce parts rapidly and accurately. Such a hybrid axis can form the core of novel machines for fabricating meso-scale parts and thus catalyze the development of the manufacturing infrastructure for such devices. In developing this axis, the project participants will design, prototype, and test the mechanical actuation, sensing, and control elements of the device.One challenging meso-scale application is the cutting or grinding of metal and ceramic dental restorations. A project objective is to make it possible to rapidly produce the complex geometries of these elements with a 5-axis machine incorporating two of the proposed hybrid axes, one carrying the part, the other carrying the cutting tool. This proposed machine will be designed in detail, and selected components fabricated and tested in order to verify the value of the developed concepts. The project participants will work with researchers and manufacturers in the machine tool and dental fields in order to see the developed concepts utilized in practical devices and thereby have a significant impact on these and other industries.