TOWARDS VIRTUAL MACHINE TOOL ENGINEERING: MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF COMPLEX CNC-FEED DRIVE ARCHITECTURES FOR HIGH SPEED MILLING (HSM)

The paper presents some results of a research finalized to optimize the dynamic performances of a machining centre for HSM, in a virtual design approach. CNC software and the feedback chains to/from machine tool actuators and transducers are nowadays highly sophisticated. It is necessary to analyse, model and simulate the real complex algorithms for motion control, in order to define a true, realistic model of the functions of the CNC and interfaced digital modules mastering the machine tool dynamics. An in-depth study of their architecture and functions led to the development of a simulation module now operating inside the whole Mechatronic model of the machine tool. The analyses performed, the bottlenecks encountered and some simulation results, together with their experimental validation, are presented and discussed.