MACHINING CENTERS FOR HIGH SPEED MACHINING: A NEW DESIGN APPROACH

A machining center is nowadays a complex mechanical, electronic, electrical system that needs integrated design capabilities which very often require a high time-consuming effort. Numerical techniques for designing and dimensioning the machine structure and components usually requires different knowledge according to the system that have to be designed. The paper refers about the efforts of the authors to develop an innovative designing platform that allows to perform the complete project of a new machine optimized in its dynamic behaviour. An integration of the different systems developed, each of which respond to specific necessities of designer, is here presented. In particular a dynamic analysis system (pre-project simulation system), based on a lumped mass approach, that rapidly allows to setup the drives of the machine and an integrated dynamic simulation system, based on a fem approach, that permit a dynamic optimization, are shown. Inside the two systems specific cnc models have been developed. A multilevel data base, and an operator interface module provide to complete the designing platform. The proposed approach represents a significant step toward the virtual machining for the prediction of the quality of the worked surface.