Influence of position-dependent geometric errors of rotary axes on a machining test of cone frustum by five-axis machine tools

A machining test of cone frustum, described in NAS (National Aerospace Standard) 979, is widely accepted by machine tool builders to evaluate the machining performance of five-axis machine tools. This paper discusses the influence of various error motions of rotary axes on a five-axis machine tool on the machining geometric accuracy of cone frustum machined by this test. Position-independent geometric errors, or location errors, associated with rotary axes, such as the squareness error of a rotary axis and a linear axis, can be seen as the most fundamental errors in five-axis kinematics. More complex errors, such as the deformation caused by the gravity, the pure radial error motion of a rotary axis, the angular positioning error of a rotary axis, can be modeled as position-dependent geometric errors of a rotary axis. This paper first describes a kinematic model of a five-axis machine tool under position-independent and position-dependent geometric errors associated with rotary axes. The influence of each error on machining geometric accuracy of a cone frustum is simulated by using this model. From these simulations, we show that some critical errors associated with a rotary axis impose no or negligibly small effect on the machining error. An experimental case study is presented to demonstrate the application of R-test to measure the enlargement of a periodic radial error motion of C-axis with B-axis rotation, which is shown by present numerical simulations to be among potentially critical error factors for cone frustum machining test.     

Prioritization analysis and compensation of geometric errors for ultra-precision lathe based on the random forest methodology

Geometric errors remarkably affect the dimensional accuracy of parts manufactured by ultra-precision machining. It is vital to consider the workpiece shape for the identification of crucial error types. This research investigates the prioritization analysis of geometric errors for arbitrary curved surfaces by using random forest. By utilizing multi-body system (MBS) theory, a volumetric error model is initially established to calculate tool position errors. An error dataset, which contains information of 21 geometric errors, workpiece shape, and dimensional errors, is then constructed by discretizing the workpiece surface along the tool path. The problem of identifying crucial geometric errors is translated into another problem of feature selection by applying random forest on the error dataset. Moreover, the influence extent of each geometric error on the dimensional accuracy of four typical curved surfaces is analyzed through numerical simulation, and crucial geometric errors are identified based on the proposed method. Then, an iterative method of error compensation is proposed to verify the reasonability of the determined crucial geometric errors by specifically compensating them. Finally, under compensated and uncompensated conditions, two sinusoidal grid surfaces are machined on an ultra-precision lathe to validate the prioritization analysis method. Findings show that the machining accuracy of the sinusoidal grid surface with crucial geometric error compensation is better than that without compensation.     

工件分特征下的五轴数控机床关键几何误差分析与补偿方法

提出了工件分特征下的五轴数控机床关键几何误差分析与补偿方法,将复杂工件进行特征分解,通过灵敏度分析辨识工件分特征下的关键几何误差并补偿,从而提高工件整体加工精度。以某一复杂工件为例,首先,将其分解为平面、斜面、圆柱和圆锥台四个典型特征;然后,基于灵敏度分析分别辨识出各典型特征对应的关键几何误差;最后,分特征地进行误差补偿。在AC双转台五轴数控机床上进行了实验验证,实验结果表明,辨识得到的关键几何误差灵敏度系数之和占比均大于90%,补偿后工件四个典型特征的加工精度提高了20%~30%。研究结果表明,所提方法能有效辨识不同工件分特征下的关键几何误差,从而提高复杂工件的加工精度。     

Study on the influence of geometric errors in rotary axes on cubic-machining test considering the workpiece coordinate system

Evaluating the influence of geometric errors in rotary axes is a common method used by a five-axis machine tool for improving the machining accuracy. In conventional geometric error models, the table coordinate system is considered as the final workpiece coordinate system. In this study, an additional workpiece coordinate transformation was proposed to identify the influence of geometric error. First, a cubic machining test was conducted. Second, the necessity of workpiece coordinate transformation was analyzed, and a method for coordinate transformation was proposed. In addition, both machining simulation and an actual machining experiment of the cubic machining test were conducted to verify the efficiency of the proposed method. The results indicate that the workpiece coordinate transformation is an essential part of the geometric error model for accurately simulating the geometric error influence. The method for identifying the geometric error influence considering the workpiece coordinate transformation is applicable in manufacturing.     

考虑热误差的双转台机床工艺误差谱预测方法

五轴数控机床的几何误差和热误差是影响工件加工精度的两个重要因素,对这些误差因素进行分析可以有效提高薄壁件工件的加工精度。本文首先基于齐次坐标变换法,建立了双转台五轴数控机床的旋转轴几何误差模型;然后基于对标准球进行在机接触测量,辩识得出两旋转轴的12项几何误差,这些误差考虑了两旋转轴之间的相互影响和其热误差的影响;最后分析五轴数控机床加工空间的几何误差场,在该加工空间内几何误差从中心到外侧逐渐增加,当A轴旋转角度增加时,误差的最大值也随之增加。与其它位置误差辨识方法相比,本方法的测量精度符合加工要求,测量时间只需要30 min。     

Mapping and compensation of geometric errors of a machine tool at different constant ambient temperatures

Thermo-mechanical effects due to changes in the ambient temperature on the shop floor and internal heat sources caused by the manufacturing process significantly contribute to the geometric deviations of a machine tool and therefore, the geometric deviations of the manufactured workpiece. Minimizing these thermally induced geometric deviations is worthwhile since the requested tolerances of machined workpieces become continually smaller nowadays. To investigate the overall deformations of a machine tool structure due to variations in ambient temperature the geometric errors of a five-axis machine tool at different ambient temperatures by means of a portable climate simulation chamber are systematically mapped. While positioning and squareness errors of the linear axes are significantly influenced by the ambient temperature, straightness as well as rotational errors were less sensitive to temperature effects. For the investigated machine tool errors of the two rotational axes are negligible due to an active cooling of these axes. Through numerical error compensation of the linear axes, the geometric errors of the investigated machine tool can be reduced up to 80%. Finally, an outlook how a temperature-dependent compensation could be derived from previously measured compensation fields at discrete temperatures and afterwards applied on-the-fly during manufacturing is given.     

Axis geometrical errors analysis through a performance test to evaluate kinematic error in a five axis tilting-rotary table machine tool

Geometrical work piece errors in milling process are commonly generated by different error sources. Axis geometrical errors, such as the straightness error for linear axis and the offset location error of the origin of rotary axis, introduce kinematic error in the tool path. Direct measurement of kinematic error requires special devices such as laser interferometers, grid plate encoders or double ball bars, which impose production stop and specialized staff. These problems could be analyzed using indirect measurements obtained by means of a cutting performance test that is already a standard for three axis machine tools. Because of the different architectures of five-axis milling machines these tests are hardly standardizable, therefore this paper proposes a devised easy-to-use and time efficient cutting performance test to identify and quantify axis geometrical errors for a five axis tilting-rotary table machine tool. This test can be performed as a periodical checkup or, in case of production, as a re-start test. The main goal of this study is to develop a kinematic analytical model capable of correlating the work-piece geometrical errors to the axis geometrical errors of the machine tool. The model has been implemented on a multi-body software in order to simulate the axes motion sequence of the performance test and validated to decouple the kinematic error into the geometrical axis errors. The developed models have demonstrated to be capable of correcting a generic five axis tool path by predicting the tool-path error displacement. The overall validation of this approach has been carried out by comparing the simulated and experimentally measured profile of the NAS 979 standard five axis contouring cone frustum profile.     

Five axis machine tool volumetric error prediction through an indirect estimation of intra- and inter-axis error parameters by probing facets on a scale enriched uncalibrated indigenous artefact

The volumetric accuracy of five-axis machine tools is affected by intra-axis geometric errors (error motions) and inter-axis geometric errors (axes relative position and orientation errors). Self-probing of uncalibrated facets on the existing machine tool table is proposed to provide the necessary data for the self-calibration of the machine error parameters and of the artefact geometry using an indirect approach. A set of 86 non-confounded coefficients are selected from the ordinary cubic polynomials used to model both the intra- and inter-axis errors. A scale bar is added to provide the isotropic scale factor. The estimated model is then used to predict the actual tool to workpiece position. Experimental trials are conducted on a five-axis horizontal machining centre using its original unmodified machine table as an artefact. For validation purposes only, the estimated artefact geometry is compared to accurate coordinate measuring machine (CMM) measurements. A study of the volumetric error predictive capability of the model for selected subsets of estimated error coefficients is also conducted.     

On the workpiece setup optimization for five-axis machining with RTCP function

Nonlinear errors in five-axis machining process are caused due to the nonlinear motions of the rotational axes, which are inevitable. For the RT-type machine tool, the workpiece setup location on the working table has a direct effect on the nonlinear errors, thus there must be an optimal setup position which can reduce the nonlinear errors. Today’s five-axis machine tools are mostly equipped the with the RTCP (rotational tool center point) function, with which the NC program becomes independent from the workpiece setup. In this paper, we have focused on finding the optimal workpiece setup for the RT-type machine tool with RTCP function, more specifically, the Mikron UCP 600 five-axis machine tool in our lab. The kinematics of the machine tool is briefly analyzed. Based on that, the nonlinear error evaluation method with RTCP interpolation is derived. With this method, nonlinear errors can actually be considered as a function of the workpiece setup position. Then, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) is applied to find the optimal workpiece setup, in which a mutation operation is used since PSO traps into local optimum easily. The proposed optimal workpiece setup method is implemented and tested. Example results show that the optimal setup with least nonlinear errors can be found. Some interesting results also show that the nonlinear errors are not sensitive with the z component of the workpiece setup vector. The proposed optimization is nearly zero-cost and easy to both understand and implement, yet has a potential to reduce the nonlinear errors and thus to improve the accuracy of five-axis machining.     

Geometric error compensation for five-axis ball-end milling by considering machined surface textures

Arbitrarily adjusting tool poses during error compensation may affect the quality of surface textures. This paper presents one tool center limitation-based geometric error compensation for five-axis ball-end milling to avoid the unexpected machined textures. Firstly, the mechanism of cutter location generation with cuter contact (CC) trajectory is analyzed. Due to zero bottom radius of ball-end cutter, CC points of the surface are only related to the tool center of the cutter. Realizing that, tool center limitation method of ball-end milling is established based on the generation of movements of all axes in order to ensure the machined textures. Then, geometric error compensation of ball-end milling is expressed as optimizing rotation angles of rotary axes by limiting tool centers of cutter locations. Next, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is intergraded into the geometric error compensation to obtain the compensated numerical control (NC) code. The limited region for particles of rotation angles is established, and moving criterion with a mutation operation is presented. With the help of the tool center limitation method, fitnesses of all particles are calculated with the integrated geometric error model. In this way, surface textures are considered and geometric errors of the machine tool are reduced. At last, cutting experiments on five-axis ball-end milling are carried out to testify the effectiveness of the proposed geometric error compensation.     

Modeling and compensation of geometric errors in simultaneous cutting using a multi-spindle machine tool

A volumetric error compensation method for a machining center that has multiple cutting tools operating simultaneously has been developed. Due to axis sharing, the geometric errors of multi-spindle, concurrent cutting processes are characterized by a significant coupling of error components in each cutting tool. As a result, it is not possible to achieve exact volumetric error compensation for all axes. To minimize the overall volumetric error in simultaneous cutting, a method to determine compensation amount using weighted least squares has been proposed. This method also allows tolerance distribution of machining accuracy for different surfaces of a workpiece. A geometric error model has been developed using an arch-type, multi-spindle machine tool, and the error compensation simulation results based on this model are presented. The simulation results demonstrated effectiveness of the proposed error compensation algorithm for use with multi-spindle simultaneous cutting applications.     

An adaptive feedrate scheduling method of dual NURBS curve interpolator for precision five-axis CNC machining

Non-uniform rational b-spline (NURBS) tool path is becoming more and more important due to the increasing requirement for machining geometrically complex parts. However, NURBS interpolators, particularly related to five-axis machining, are quite limited and still keep challenging. In this paper, an adaptive feedrate scheduling method of dual NURBS curve interpolator with geometric and kinematic constraints is proposed for precision five-axis machining. A surface expressed by dual NURBS curves, which can continuously and accurately describe cutter tip position and cutter axis orientation, is first used to define five-axis tool path. For the given machine configuration, the calculation formulas of angular feedrate and geometric error aroused by interpolation are given, and then, the adaptive feedrate along the tool path is scheduled with confined nonlinear geometric error and angular feedrate. Combined with the analytical relations of feed acceleration with respect to the arc length parameter and feedrate, the feed profiles of linear and angular feed acceleration sensitive regions are readjusted with corresponding formulas and bi-directional scan algorithm, respectively. Simulations are performed to validate the feasibility of the proposed feed scheduling method of dual NURBS curve interpolator. It shows that the proposed method is able to ensure the geometric accuracy and good machining performances in five-axis machining especially in flank machining.     

五轴数控机床几何误差建模方法研究

五轴数控机床是实现工件复杂表面精密加工的重要设备,而机床本身精度是保证加工精度的重要前提。以一台大型五轴数控加工机床为研究对象,分析各项误差,应用多体系统运动学理论,建立移动轴与旋转轴的几何误差数学模型,推导出刀具相对工件坐标系的位置与姿态误差表达式,为误差补偿提供精确数学模型,提高机床加工精度。     

转台-摆头式五轴机床几何误差测量及辨识

为降低转动轴几何误差对转台-摆头式五轴机床精度的影响,提出了基于球杆仪的位置无关几何误差测量和辨识方法。基于多体系统理论及齐次坐标变换方法建立了转台-摆头式五轴机床位置无关几何误差模型,依据旋转轴不同运动状态下的几何误差影响因素建立基于圆轨迹的四种测量模式,并实现10项位置无关几何误差的辨识。利用所建立的几何误差模型进行数值模拟,确定转动轴的10项位置无关几何误差对测量轨迹的影响。最后,采用误差补偿的形式实验验证所提出的测量及辨识方法的有效性,将位置无关几何误差补偿前后的测量轨迹进行比较。误差补偿后10项位置无关几何误差的平均补偿率为70.4%,最大补偿率达到88.4%,实验结果表明所提出的建模和辨识方法可用于转台-摆头式五轴机床转动轴精度检测,同时可为机床精度评价及几何精度提升提供依据。     

Error analysis and compensation for the volumetric errors of a vertical machining centre using a hemispherical helix ball bar test

Machining accuracy is directly influenced by the quasi-static errors of a machine tool. Since machine errors have a direct effect upon both the surface finish and geometric shape of the finished workpiece, it is imperative to measure the machine errors and to compensate for them. A laser measurement system to identify geometric errors of a machine tool has disadvantages, such as a high cost, a long calibration time and the usage of a volumetric error synthesis model. In this study, we proposed a novel analysis of the geometric errors of a machine tool using a ball bar test without using a complicated error synthesis model. Also, a statistical analysis method was employed to derive geometric errors using a hemispherical helix ball bar test. According to the experimental result, we observed that geometric errors of the vertical machining centre were compensated by 88%.     

立式加工中心空间几何误差辨识解析及定位误差补偿研究

为大幅提升立式加工中心加工精度,满足当代数控机床对高精度的需求,针对立式加工中心3个运动轴,深入分析了其轴向运动空间几何误差,提出了可有效辨识运动轴轴向运动空间6项几何误差的辨识方法.建立了空间6项几何误差辨识模型,并针对关联轴联动垂直度误差进行了有效分析,建立了垂直度误差辨识解析模型.同时,针对3个独立运动轴轴向定位...     

An improved feedrate scheduling method for NURBS interpolation in five-axis machining

Five-axis machining plays an important role in manufacturing by dint of its high efficiency and accuracy. While two rotation axes benefit the flexibility of machining, it also brings limitations and challenges. In order to further balance machining precision and efficiency, an improved feedrate scheduling method is presented considering geometric error and kinematic constraints for the Non Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) interpolation in five-axis machining. A simplification method is proposed to calculate the geometric error which describes the deviation between the ideal tool path and the real tool path induced by the non-linear movement. A linear relation between geometric error and feedrate is built to limit the feedrate. The constraints determined by single axis kinematic performance and tangential kinematic performance are also considered. Under these constraints, a constrained feedrate profile is determined. Aiming to get more constant feedrate in the difficult-to-machine areas, this work proposes a scheduling method which combines morphological filtering and S-shape acceleration/deceleration (acc/dec) mode. Simulations and experiments are performed to compare the proposed feedrate scheduling method with two previous feedrate scheduling method and the results prove that the proposed feedrate scheduling method is reliable and effective.     

Reduction of geometry-based errors in five-axis machining through enhanced 5D interpolation

Geometry-based errors constitute a special category of CAM-originated machining inaccuracies that significantly influence the precision of five-axis surface machining operations. Geometry-based errors reflect the inability of the cutter to accurately trace a prescribed 3D tool path in five-axis machining. Their magnitude constitutes an overlapped effect of the adopted interpolation scheme, cutter, and surface geometries, as well as kinematics of the five-axis machine tool, assumed free of errors by the CAM software. Although the presence of these errors is inherent in the current configuration of five-axis computer numerically controlled machining systems, little efforts were made so far towards their reduction. In this regard, the present study has investigated the magnitude of geometry-based errors as generated by various 5D interpolation schemes. These enhanced interpolation functions were determined by enforcing better approximations of the ideal machine control coordinate (MCC) trajectory as calculated in five-axis machine tool’s joint space. By comparing the geometry-based errors generated by the enhanced 5D interpolation schemes with linear interpolation baseline, it was found that significant error reductions will be obtained when synchronized 5D quadratic functions are used to approximate the ideal MCC curve in joint space. Moreover, the parametric synchronization between rotational and translational machine tool motions represents an essential requirement for limitation of the amount of geometry-based errors.     

Volumetric error modeling and sensitivity analysis for designing a five-axis ultra-precision machine tool

The five-axis machine tools are increasingly popular for meeting the demand of machining the workpiece with growing geometric complexity and high accuracy. This paper studies the volumetric error modeling and its sensitivity analysis for the purpose of machine design. The volumetric error model of a five-axis machine tool with the configuration of RTTTR is established based on rigid body kinematics and homogeneous transformation matrix, in which 37 error components are involved. The sensitivity analysis of volumetric error regarding 37 error components is carried out respectively. The analysis results are successfully used for the accuracy design and manufacture of a five-axis ultra-precision machine tool. The preliminary experiment of machining sine grid surface testifies the high accuracy and effectiveness of the designed five-axis machine tool.     

Elasto-geometrical error modeling and compensation of a five-axis parallel machining robot

Parallel manipulators have the potentials of high efficiency and high precision in the field of machining and manufacturing. However, accuracy improvement of the parallel manipulator is still an essential and challenging issue, encountering two important problems. Firstly, the ignorance of elastic deformation caused by gravity or deviations of static stiffness model restricts further improvement of accuracy. To solve this problem, an elasto-geometrical error modeling method is proposed. The comprehensive effects of structural errors, elastic deformation under gravity and compliance parameter errors on pose deviations are disclosed. On this basis, the identification equation of actual structural errors and compliance parameter errors can be established. Secondly, the ill-conditioned identification matrix and the identification equation with anisotropic residual error can lead to inaccurate identification results. To solve this problem, a weighted regularization method is proposed. The identification equation with isotropic residual error is built, and accurate identification can be realized with the regularization method. Based on the proposed methods, the error compensation experiment is conducted on the prototype of a five-axis parallel machining robot using a laser tracker. Experiment results show that the accuracy of the machining robot is significantly improved after compensation. An M1_160 test piece and an S-shaped test piece are machined and measured to further validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. The elasto-geometrical error modeling method and the weighted regularization method can be applied to other parallel manipulators’ accuracy improvement.