Investigation of End Milling Process by Machine Tool Equipped with an Idling-Stop Function in a Feed Driving System

Abstract

In recent years, as global environmental problems have become more serious, the concept of sustainable development, such as the 3Rs, has become increasingly important. Against this backdrop, machinery and equipment are becoming smaller, lighter, and more sophisticated and multifunctional, and highly integrated products increasingly require the machining and assembly of minute mechanical parts. However, the fact that small machine tools generate relatively large amounts of servo standby power during operation calls for proposals for machining methods that reduce power consumption. In this paper, we have developed a novel 5-axes controlled machine tool equipped with an idling-stop function in a feed driving system to reduce the power consumption of machining processes. A problem has been emerged that start-up power increased as the velocity increased. In the present report, we therefore investigate the influence of various programing paths on the power consumption using an idling-stop function when the end milling process is operated in the X-Y plane. As a result, it can be seen that a suitable programing route is occurs for each feed velocity to reduce the power consumption with a developed machine tool.