The invention concerns a method and a system for reducing milling failure in a machining tool.
Milling failure in a machining tool may be due to coincidence between vibrations (v1) substantially caused by mutually exerted forces between the machining tool and an object being machined, and vibrations (v2) which are substantially caused by mechanical resonance by or in the machining tool itself and/or subsystems of the machining tool.
In
In the milling process, the static chip thickness is periodic, with a period time
Here, τ is the delay as mentioned in the block Delay (due to the regenerative effect), Nz is the number of teeth on the cutter, and Ω the spindle speed in rpm. The block Delay is a perturbation on that periodic movement is denoted by su(t). If no chatter occurs, the periodic movement sp(t) is stable, and the perturbation motion su(t) tends to zero asymptotically. When the periodic movement sp(t) becomes unstable (i.e. with an increasing axial depth-of-cut), the perturbation su(t) with a different frequency fc is superimposed on the original movement sp(t). This perturbation motion su(t) is strongly correlated with the dynamic chip thickness Rdyn(t) and can be used as a measure for Rdyn(t). Here fc is referred to as the basic chatter frequency.
The unstable perturbation movement is referred to as ‘chatter’. The change from stable to unstable movement is general referred to as the onset to ‘chatter’.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,358 a method to control reduction of chatter is known. Chatter is detected by calculating the frequency spectrum of relative vibrations between the tool and the workpiece and the identification of peaks in the spectrum that represent chatter. Information from the peaks is then used to change the rotation speed of the tool. In order to do this, the feed of the cutting tool relative to the workpiece is interrupted and during the interruption the speed of rotation is changed. The interruption makes it possible to open up the servo control loops that control the tool, to avoid damage due to the change of rotation speed.
Various measures have been proposed earlier to reduce chatter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,469 discloses that chatter can be reduced by using an auxiliary tool holder to change the natural frequency of the tool. U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,426 discloses control of tool stiffness for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,515 discloses use of a compensatory force actuator to offset measured vibrational chatter. EP 1288745 discloses the adjustment of speed loop gain to mitigate the effect of chatter on the speed control loop.
It is an object to reduce milling failure in a machining tool due to chatter.
Effectively milling failure may be due to coincidence between the fundamental frequency and/or at least one harmonic frequency of first vibrations v1 substantially caused by mutually exerted forces between the machining tool and an object being machined, and the fundamental frequency and/or at least one harmonic frequency of second vibrations v2 substantially caused by mechanical resonance by or in the machining tool itself and/or one or more subsystems of the machining tool.
Hereinafter the vibrations v1 may be called “machining vibrations”, while the vibrations v2 may be called “tool vibrations” or “machine vibrations”.
According to the invention, next steps are preferred to reach its aim:
In many cases it may be preferred to counteract said coincidence between the fundamental frequency and/or harmonic frequencies of the vibrations v1 and at least one of any of the fundamental frequency and/or harmonic frequencies of the vibrations v2—which may form a threat for mechanical resonant rise and/or system instabilities—by changing one or more machining parameters, like speed, material supply etc., thus influencing the machining vibrations v1 and take away the threat. At least some machining parameters could be changed by using passive or active components (e.g. actuators).
Said coincidence, however, may additionally or instead, be counteracted by changing the (vibrational) characteristics of the milling machine itself, e.g. by means of passive or active components (e.g. actuators), thus influencing the machine vibrations v2 and take away the threat that way.
The invention includes a system which is arranged to perform the method as outlined hereinabove under control of control means, the system comprising relevant detection means for vibration detection, determination means for determining possible mechanical resonance threat, and counteracting means, e.g. comprising passive or active components, for counteracting the resonance threat.
Advantageous of the preferred method and system presented here is the avoidance of chatter and suppression of vibration during machining (in process), aiming at combined efficiency and accuracy improvements. This approach is very applicable to processes with e.g. very varying machining conditions as well for machining with constant machining conditions.
Turning to
From the figure it can be seen that the system is configured as a ‘regenerative vibrations process’, and is therefore inherent unstable.
One aspect to prevent chatter is to maintain the synchronization of succeeding wavy surfaces, keeping dynamic chip thickness Rdyn(t) constant. Machine designers use passive strategies to prevent regenerative vibrations by absorbing the vibration energy, or by redirecting the vibration energy [Semercigil and Chen, 2002; Tarng et al, 2000]. A new trend in the design approach to control chatter behaviour, is to optimize the machine's dynamic behaviour at the design process, maximizing stiffness and optimizing damping of the entire cutting system [Zhang and Sims, 2005; Kyung and Lee, 2003].
The objective of the abovementioned strategies is to minimize the energy feedback of the unwanted regenerative vibrations to the cutting process for a vast range of machining parameters. From a control-engineering viewpoint, these design strategies focus on a control (indirectly) of the properties of the regenerative vibration process, by ‘tuning’ the machine dynamics at the design process [Altintas and Cao, 2005].
The general disadvantage of many existing solutions is that all countermeasures to prevent chatter are performed off line, thus not during milling. The main disadvantage is that the existing solutions try to predict (in advance, thus offline) spindle speed regions of stable machining, which are less sensitive to chatter. The set of machining parameters is then determined. The prediction is done only once prior to the machining. Case studies and practical experience have shown that this strategy is limited and only apply to processes with very constant machining conditions (e.g. machining of large aero frame structures of aluminium). In other industrial areas, like mould making and precision part production, this strategy is not possible because of varying process conditions.
A more elegant approach is controlling the regenerative vibration process during milling actively, which means sensing the milling process, detecting and estimating chatter in an early stage and eventually actively control the mechanical feedback path properties to prevent full blown chatter. Two approaches are possible:
I. Changing the dynamic properties of the mechanical feedback path during milling, by exciting the machine dynamics, using actuators (e.g. shakers or piezo stacks), maximizing stiffness and optimizing damping of the entire cutting system. A control system could provide the optimal actuator signals. A drawback of this approach may be that the dynamics of the cutting system has to be accurately modelled in advance to achieve robust performances. Dynamic changes during milling may deteriorate the performance of the control system and the system thus may fail. A need to track model changes would be necessarily to maintain robust performances.
II. Another method is based on eliminating the feedback path to the cutting process, in which case the dynamic chip thickness (Rdyn(t)) would be zero. In practice only partial elimination of the feedback path would be possible for a small selectable frequency region, which coincides with the chatter frequency. This will minimize the energy feedback of the unwanted regenerative vibrations to the cutting process for the selected frequency region. An actuator signal can be extracted from the chatter frequency, the harmonic frequency of the spindle rotation frequency, which coincides with the chatter frequency. The relevant control algorithm is simple and straight forward. The major advantage of this approach is, that there is no need to model the cutting system in advance or keep track of changes in the dynamic behaviour of the system during cutting. In this preferred method according to the invention only the detection and estimation of the chatter frequency has to be performed during the milling process. The preferred control strategy presented here effectively opens a positive feedback loop and cancels out any regenerative mechanism for a selectable frequency region.
To realize this approach a number of properties of the milling process may need to be detected or estimated in the process, e.g.
After this, next actions could be taken:
The relative simple implementation is the use of a one actuator system to excite 1 DOF. The direct drive motor of the spindle system is used as actuator to excite the dynamics of the spindle system. In this case the rotation of the spindle system is changed to minimise the perturbation motion su(t,Ω). The ‘control design’ calculates the optimal spindle speed at which the energy transfer function is minimised. The interface to the controller for this purpose is shown in more detail in
The algorithm is decomposed in 3 functionalities as depicted in
In
A general Parametric model (1) is selected for the detection and estimate the regenerative process (RP) (see
Selecting the order of the filter polynomials A(q) up to F(q) determines the type of model for the RPM periodic components ŝp(n) and the perturbation motion ŝu(n). In a simple model A, C and F may be set to a constant value, such as one, i.e. with an order of zero.
In the model the predicted sensor signal ây is a sum of a predicted vibration ŝp due to cutting forces and a predicted vibration ŝu due to (onset of) chatter. According to the model predicted vibration ŝp due to cutting forces only has frequency components at selected frequencies corresponding integer multiples of the revolution frequency of the tool (including the basic revolution frequency, i.e. a multiple of 1). In contrast the model holds that the predicted vibration ŝu due to (onset of) chatter has frequency components over a (quasi-) continuous frequency range. This makes it possible to identify the different components individually.
The predicted vibration ŝp due to cutting forces is modeled as a filtered version B(q)u(n) of a periodic excitation signal u(n) at a frequency corresponding to the observed rotation frequency. Herein B(q)u(n) represents the result of applying a FIR filter with a predetermined number of adjustable coefficients (twenty coefficients for example, labeled with the index q) to the signal u(n). The predicted vibration ŝu due to (onset of chatter) is modeled as a response to a random signal ξ filtered with a filter function that is symbolically represented as 1/D(q), D(q) may be represented by FIR filter response with a predetermined number of adjustable coefficients, so that 1/D(q) represents a filter with a predetermined number of poles. A function with two poles may be used for example. Putting these terms together:
herein u(n) is a modeled excitation function with, frequency components at integer multiples of the frequency of revolution frpm of the tool:
As the adjustable filter B(q) shapes the response, an arbitrary excitation function with such frequency components may be used. ξ(n), is a white noise signal with, zero mean, and variance
σ2=1. (4)
As the adjustable filter 1/D(q) shapes the noise, the same results may be realized within a range of noise process selections.
From measured cutter movement ay(n), the prediction error becomes:
f
R(n)=ay(n)−(n−1) (5)
The model parameters, that is, the adjustable coefficients of B and D, may be adapted dynamically as a function of time, using Kalman estimator techniques for example, so that the prediction error is minimized. The time update of the model may be performed using the algorithm scheme (6 . . . 9)
{circumflex over (θ)}(n)=[Bn(q)Dn−1(q)] (6)
(a vector having as components the filter B and the filter D−1).
{circumflex over (θ)}(n)={circumflex over (θ)}(n−1)+K(n)fR(n) (7)
K(n)=Φ(n)ψ(n) (8)
Herein ψ is a vector with components u (see the preceding) and v=(1/D)ξ:
ψ(n)=[u(n)υ(n)]T (9)
Φ is the vector square ψ
The coefficients of Bn(q) describe the properties of the RPM periodic components sp(n);
The coefficients of Dn(q) describe the properties of the perturbation motion su(n). Dn(q) models the perturbation motion su(n) as a mathematical function and with well known tools the chatter frequency fc(n) and the state space S(n)=Vu(f, n, Ω) can be calculated.
As shown in
Furthermore a threshold may be computed to disable adaptive control of the tool when no reliable estimate of chatter parameters is available, for example from an error function in the adaptation of the coefficients of B and D.
Summarizing, a model is used that makes it possible to identify the components directly due to the tool and component due to chatter. Model parameters of the model are estimated together, by minimizing a prediction error, and the part of the parameters that relates to chatter are used to determine a state of the chatter. More specifically the model defines a signal part with frequency components at integer multiples of the frequency of revolution of the tool and a part with a signal part with a (quasi-) continuous range of frequency components. Parameters of both parts are estimated in combination and the parameters of the latter part are used to determine the state of the chatter. In the specific example of the embodiment the signal part with frequency components at integer multiples of the frequency of revolution of the tool is modeled as the effect B(q)u(n) of a FIR filter with adjustable coefficients B(q) applied to an excitation function u(n). In this example the signal part with a (quasi-) continuous range of frequency components is modeled as the effect 1/(D(q) ξ of a filter 1/D(q) applied to a random signal ξ.
The estimated model parameters are used to adapt actuator signals Y in a direction that reduces the amplitude of estimated chatter su. This amplitude may be derived from the coefficients of D. In an embodiment, this may be done by determining the integer multiple of the rotation frequency of the tool that is closest to the peak of signal part 1/(D(q) ξ and changing the rotation frequency in a direction so that this integer multiple moves away from the position of this peak. In an embodiment where the tool has a cutter with a plurality of Nc teeth that contact the workpiece in turn during a revolution of the cutter, the direction may instead be chosen so that the nearest integer multiple of Nc times the frequency of revolution relative to the peak moves away from the position of the peak. The size of the change of rotation frequency may be varied, dependent on the amplitude of the peak. Alternatively, different directions of adaptation may be tried until a direction is found wherein the chatter component according to the model is reduced and the adaptation may be increased until minimum chatter is reached or adaptation is disabled.
A recursive estimator may adapt the setting of an adaptive controller that determines the actuation signals based on the rotation frequency. The recursive estimator uses information derived from the coefficients of the model (e.g. dynamically estimated coefficients of D) to adapt the adaptive controller.
The adaptation of the actuator signals Y may continue dynamically while the tool is operating on the workpiece. The coefficients of D and B may also be estimated dynamically while the tool is operating on the workpiece. In this way a much faster feedback is obtained than by, say, computing a Fourier transform of a large number of samples, which allows only sparse updates at a periodic interval determined by the number of samples used in the Fourier transform. A closed loop may be used wherein there is no interruption of control of the cutting process to accommodate the adaptation.
Referring to
Yact (n)=RPMeff(n) is the effective spindle speed and calculated using formula (11)
The algorithm
RPMeff(n)=RPMinit(1+c(n)) (10)
The recursive adaptation of RPM is performed by adapting c(n) according to as a function of time n
For Kint see the following. Herein μ(Θ(n)) may be equal to a factor times Θ(n) and α may be a constant of proportionality. The sign of fonset represents the direction of the closest integer multiple of Nc times the rotation frequency frpm of the tool to the position fc of the peak of the signal part 1/(D(q) ξ. This determines the direction of change of the rotation frequency frpm. The amplitude of the change may be made dependent on V(fc,n) is the amplitude of the peak, compared to a threshold value δ0 and normalized by the signal power in the peak.
In addition the amplitude of the change may be limited so that the power rotation of the tool is limited, for example by adding a term proportional to the difference between the current measured power needed for rotation and a nominal value to the expression for Θ(n), for example before taking the absolute value (within the bars ∥).
The frequency terms may be defined as follows.
Herein Nz=number of teeth on the cutter, so that Kint represents the nearest multiple of frpm times Nz (divided by Nz*frpm), near the peak frequency fc. Alternatively, Nz may be replaced by 1, but it has been found that a better effect is obtained when Nz used.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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07103787.3 | Mar 2007 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/NL08/50139 | 3/10/2008 | WO | 00 | 10/1/2009 |