Abstract
This paper proposes the structural characteristic analysis and evaluation on the hydrostatic guide way and feeding system of a high-precision centerless grinder for machining ferrules. In order to realize the required accuracy of ferrules with sub-micron order, the axial stiffness and motion accuracy of feeding system have to become higher level than those of existing centerless grinders. Under these points of view, the physical prototype of feeding system composed of steel bed, hydrostatic guide way and ballscrew feeding mechanism is designed and manufactured for trial. Experimental results show that the axial and vertical stiffnesses of the physical prototype are very low as compared with those design values. In this paper, to reveal the cause of these stiffness difference, the structural deformations on the virtual prototype of feeding system are analyzed based on the finite element method under experimental conditions. The simulated results illustrate that the deformation of front ballscrew support-bearing bracket is the main cause of reduction in the axial stiffness of feeding system, and the deflection of bed structure and the bending deformation of hydrostatic guide rails are the main causes of reduction in the vertical stiffness of feeding system.
