Optimization of Planar Honing Process for Surface Finish of Machine Tool Sliding Guideways

Sliding guideways are often used as the foundation for linear motion in computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools due to their high damping capabilities especially for heavy duty machining applications. However, the traditional manufacturing process with grinding is time-consuming, and the product’s sliding performance has not been optimized nor clearly understood. In order to increase productivity, a machining center based manufacturing method with cubic boron nitride (CBN) milling tools was introduced and tested by researchers. While greatly reducing manufacturing time and cost, a rougher milled surface, in comparison to traditional grinding, is a possible concern for the performance as well as the life of sliding guideways. In this study, a novel planar honing process was proposed as a postprocess of CBN milling to create a finish surface on hardened cast iron sliding guideways used for CNC machine tools. A design of experiment (DOE) was conducted to statistically understand significant factors in the machining process and their relationship with surface topography. Effective planar honing conditions were discovered and analyzed with three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional surface parameters.

Dynamics Simulation on Rigid-Flexible Coupled Sliding Guideways in Powered Tool Turret of NC Lathe

A rigid-flexible coupling model of sliding guideway working in powered turret for a new developed multifunction NC lathe is built up based on Solidworks, ANSYS and ADAMS. A solid model of is built up by the 3d-Modeling software Solidworks, and then the built model of sliding guideway is imported into finite element analysis software ANSYS to analyze elastic deformation. A mnf file of model generated by ANSYS which is a flexible body is fed into ADAMS to replace the rigid body of assembly. A dynamics simulation is conducted by considering a typical cutting processing like milling on lathe, the deformation of fixed guideway in working condition is checked. The analyzed results show that it is more rational and accurate to apply rigid-flexible coupling dynamic simulation for analyzing such mechanical system and this type of sliding guideway used in powered tool turret can stand up with cutting load and can meet the requirement.