THERMAL STRUCTURE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A MACHINE TOOL HEADSTOCK

In this study, it used a vertical machining center as the study object, conducted finite-element simulations and experimental research on its thermal performance, analyzed the weaknesses affecting the thermal performance of the machine tool, and proposed a machine tool thermal performance analysis method by combining structure optimization based on the headstock thermal characteristics and the temperature field control. Without changing the machine tool’s heating power and static and dynamic stiffness, on the one hand, the design theory of the thermal plane of symmetry was used to reconstruct the headstock into a symmetrical structure such that the thermal deformations could be mutually coupled and offset each other. On the other hand, cooling troughs were designed on both sides and the front of the headstock so that cooling control could be arranged for the headstock by optimizing the layout and the width/depth of the cooling troughs. Therefore, the whole-machine temperature elevation and thermal deformation can be reduced. Based on the heat transfer analysis of the cooling troughs, it constructed a thermal performance finite-element simulation model and compared the temperature and whole-machine thermal deformation on several critical points before and after the reconstruction. Finally, the experimental measurements of the thermal performance were obtained using the prototype designed and manufactured based on the optimization results. It was verified that the thermal performance of the vertical machining center was greatly improved by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.19.4.5044