Cutting Force Measurement in Production Machining via Instrumented Toolholders

摘要

This report describes the development of a low-cost metal cutting force transducer which accurately predicts the magnitude of strain signals on an instrumental standard lathe toolholder. This innovative approach to the measurement of cutting tool forces is critical to developing adaptive control machining capable of dramatically improving national productivity and conserving energy and materials. A gage mounting design model with three prototype configurations was proposed and validated by computer analysis. The prototype constructed followed the analytical model within size constraints. The initial model tested acceptably for the measurement of vertical and horizontal force components, but the axial measurement showed considerable thermal instability. Accordingly, the gage monitoring scheme was modified to reduce thermal drift. A series of calibration tests established system sensitivity and linearity, and a series of lathe cutting tests validated the functionality of the instrumented toolholder system. Several options for systems application were defined including force monitoring and input to a computer-numeric-controlled system.