Geometric errors identification considering rigid-body motion constraint for rotary axis of multi-axis machine tool using a tracking interferometer

Abstract

The measurement and identification of the four position-independent geometric errors (PIGEs) and six position-dependent geometric errors (PDGEs) in the rotary axis are necessary to reduce their contributions to the overall machining errors of a multi-axis machine tool. In this paper, a new geometric error identification method using a tracking interferometer is presented by considering the rigid-body motion constraint in multilateration. The rigid-body motion constraint is introduced to establish a new coordinate calculation model for the measurement points, and an identification process is presented to separately identify the PIGEs and PDGEs by deriving identification models based on established geometric error models. The main novelty of the proposed method lies in the consideration of the rigid-body motion constraint, which makes the identification more robust against random factors. Monte Carlo simulations and verifying experiments were performed for validation. The results show that the PIGEs and PDGEs in the rotary axis can be successfully separated and identified by the new method. Improved identification accuracy compared with the traditional method is achieved. The maximum angular positioning error was reduced by 84% after compensation. A lower uncertainty in the identified errors compared with those obtained by the traditional method and instrument software is achieved. The proposed method is validated by comparing the identification results with those obtained by the instrument software and laser interferometers.