Engineering Research Equipment Award: Geometric and Mechanistic Models of Numerically Controlled Machining

本研究致力于开发提高数控加工可靠性和效率的方法。这笔奖金将用于购买一台五轴加工中心，以试验性地测试这些概念。变分几何模型的发展是当前研究的一个重要课题。该奖项购买的设备将帮助首席研究人员调查机械零件几何模型中包含的公差信息如何用于在NC铣削操作中自动选择主轴速度和进给速度。如果已知工件和机床的刚度，则可以使用公差信息来计算允许切削力。然后，将使用切割过程的几何和机械模型来选择适当的速度/进给设置，从而使实际切削力低于允许的阈值。最后，加工过程中的力感应可以用来适应主轴速度和进给速度，以保持可接受的公差和表面光洁度。要实际实现所述目标，需要在当前技术水平下取得两项进展：(1)能够验证公差偏差的高效几何模拟方法；(2)能够在大范围的切割条件下估计切削力的可靠和完整的切割过程模型。

This research is focused on developing methods which increase the reliability and efficiency of Numerically Controlled (NC) machining. The award will be used to purchase a five axis machining center to experimentally test the concepts. The development of variational geometric models is an important topic of current research. The equipment purchased by this award will help the principal investigator's investigate how tolerance information contained within the geometric model of a mechanical part can be used to automate the selection of spindle speeds and feedrates in a NC milling operation. The tolerance information can be used to calculate the allowable cutting forces if the stiffness of both the workpiece and the machine tool is known. Geometric and mechanistic models of the cutting process will then be used to select appropriate speed/feed settings which result in actual cutting forces below the allowable threshold. Finally, force sensing during machining can be used to adapt to spindle speeds and feedrates to maintain acceptable tolerances and surfaces finishes. The practical realization of the stated goal requires two advances in the current state of the art: (1) an efficient geometric simulation method capable of verifying tolerance discrepancies, and (2) a reliable and complete model of the cutting process, capable of estimating cutting forces for a wide range of cutting conditions.