Machining process analysis of multi-tasking machine tools based on form-shaping motions

Abstract

With the increase in machine tool types, it becomes difficult to select an appropriate machine tool to achieve high-efficiency and high-quality machining. This study aims to automate the selection of machine tools by evaluating and comparing machining processes for the machining of targeted parts. A fundamental method for analyzing machining processes is proposed by introducing the functional description of machine tools in the previous study. However, a simple machine tool structure is supposed as a first step in the proposed method. Therefore, in this study, the machining process analysis method is reconstructed to handle complex machine tool structure such as that of a multi-tasking machine tool. The functional description of machine tools is expanded to represent form-shaping motions of a multi-tasking machine tool by adding new suffixes that indicate the orientation of plural spindles and the posture of non-rotational specific functions. Additionally, evaluation indexes of rationality and similarity of machining operations to exclude unsuitable machining operation candidates are proposed. Case studies are conducted and confirmed that the system developed based on the novel proposed method can derive accountable machining processes according to a multi-tasking machine tool. The results of the machining process analysis may thus support the machine tool selections.