Stability analysis of multi-insert rotating boring bar with stiffness variation

Abstract

Manufacturing faces challenges in boring processes, critical for hole enlargement and finishing, due to low stiffness leading to static deflection and regenerative chatter. Stiffness variation has emerged as a promising solution for effectively suppressing chatter, while multi-insert rotating boring bars offer a viable approach to addressing static deflection in long and slender boring bars, enabling better tolerance with a large operational length-to-diameter ratio. However, integrating technological innovations to suppress chatter and prevent static deflection complicates the problem from a modeling and stability analysis perspective, making it challenging to find a comprehensive solution in the existing literature. This study explores the stability of multi-insert rotating boring bars with stiffness variation, providing insights into selecting optimal stiffness variation parameters. It introduces a novel extension of the multi-dimensional cutting force model to rotating boring tools with multiple inserts, employing the zero-order harmonic solution to analyze the stability of boring processes with time-varying dynamics. Experimental validation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, achieving 5 out of 6 matches in stability lobe diagrams for multi-insert rotating boring bars without stiffness variation. The model’s comprehensiveness is further demonstrated by comparing the results with those of existing studies in the literature for single-insert stationary boring bars. In the case without stiffness variation, the model successfully reproduces 4 out of 5 operating points, and with stiffness variation, it accurately predicts all 5 operating points. Sensitivity analyses guide the selection of optimal stiffness variation parameters for effective chatter suppression, favoring moderate frequencies and up to a 30% amplitude ratio.