Study on Life Characteristic of Structural Improvement of Aluminum Power Chuck

Purpose: The CNC lathe uses a power chuck operated by a hydraulic-driven rotating cylinder to grip the lathe stably, which is especially important during high-speed milling. In this paper, we suggest the cause of power chuck failure and then verify its reliability by improving its structure of internal parts. We also perform a life test and a pre/post major performance test on a prototype aluminum chuck, analyze its shape data, and propose shape and scale parameters.BRMethods: We used ANSYS mechanical software to provide a structural analysis of the prototype chuck body. Constraints were set to fixed conditions below the body with a load of 20 kN equivalent applied to the cylinder thrust. The life data analysis was performed using the Minitap program.BRResults: The shape and scale parameters of the prototype power chuck were 2.77 and 4,706,474 cycles, respectively.BRConclusion: The prototype power chuck life span was analyzed as 521,512 cycles at the lower 95% confidence limit, meaning its reliability showed higher than its warranty life.