Condition monitoring of machine tools and machining processes using internal sensor signals

Abstract: Condition monitoring of critical machine tool components and machining processes is a key factor to increase the availability of the machine tool and achieving a more robust machining process. Failures in the machining process and machine tool components may also have negative effects on the final produced part. Instabilities in machining processes also shortens the life time of the cutting edges and machine tool.The condition monitoring system may utilise information from several sources to facilitate the detection of instabilities in the machining process. To avoid additional complexity to the machining system the use of internal sensors is considered. The focus in this thesis has been to investigate if information related to the machining process can be extracted directly from the internal sensors of the machine tool.The main contibutions of this work is a further understanding of the direct response from both linear and angular position encoders due the variations in the machining process. The analysis of the response from unbalance testing of turn tables and two types of milling processes, i.e. disc-milling and slot-milling, is presented. It is shown that operational frequencies, such as cutter frequency and tooth-passing frequency, can be extracted from both active and inactive machine axes, but the response from an active machine axis involves a more complex analysis. Various methods for the analysis of the responses in time domain, frequency domain and phase space are presented.