Machine Tool Design – Mechanical

Design of CNC Axis/Slides

By:
HV RajaShekara
SR. DIRECTOR - Design Institute,
IMTMA
SLIDE ASSEMBLY
 Machine tool Axes
• Slide assembly is a VERY IMPORTANT assembly of CNC
machines which provide the necessary constrained
movement to the tool or work piece to maintain the
relative position.
• Machine tool slides form major structural components
of the machine which are moving such as table, saddle,
column, headstock, carriage, cross slide etc.
• They should be highly rigid, accurately machined,
assembled and aligned.
• They should have certain geometric relationship with
each other and with the spindle.
• They must perform very important characteristics like
rapid speed, feed, position control, high acceleration,
deceleration and high axial stiffness.
 LATHE SPECIFICATION
MACHINE SPECIFICATION
Machine Capacity
Swing over Saddle mm 350
Swing over Cross Slide mm 220
Chuck Size mm 165
Distance b/w Centres mm 380
400
Turning Diameter max. mm 165
Turning Length max. mm 350
Spindle
Nose A2-5
Bore taper MT-4
Power kW 5.5
Maximum Speed rpm 3500
4000
Speed range at constant power rpm 1000-3500
Spindle Bore mm 40
Standard Bar Capacity mm 26
Travels & Feedrates
Stroke X-Axis mm 130
Stroke Z-Axis mm 350
Feed rate mm/min 0-5000
Rapid Traverse Rate m/min 24
Bed slant angle deg 45
AXIS SPECIFICATION
SPINDLE AXIS
CNC LATHE X AXIS

Z AXIS
CNC LATHE
CNC VMC
CNC VMC
HORIZONTAL MACHINING CENTER
DOUBLE COLUMN VERTICAL MACHINE
Slides - Example
Slides - Characteristics

• The slides and guide ways used in machine tools should

have the following characteristics:
• High rigidity, less weight, high accuracy, smoothness and ease of
operation.
• Low coefficient of friction.
• Required velocity
• Required thrust force
• Necessary damping.
• The difference in coefficient of friction between static and
dynamic conditions should be as small as possible to avoid
the stick slip phenomenon.
• Low noise and vibration
• No jerky movements
• Ease of manufacturing, assembly, alignment and
maintenance.
Drive mechanisms

The slides are commonly driven by one of the following

mechanisms:
• Trapezoidal screw and nut mechanism actuated by an
electric motor through direct drive or a belt or a gear
box.
• Rack and pinion mechanism.
• Hydraulic powered slides.
• Pneumatic powered slide mechanism.
• Cam mechanisms.
 Drive mechanisms

• Cam mechanism actuated by an electric motor through

direct drive or a belt or a gear box.
• One motor may actuate several slides one at a time or
several at a time the selection being made by selection of
gears or clutches.
Hydraulic cylinder drives

• The slide is actuated by a hydraulic cylinder.

• One or several slides may be actuated one at a time or
several at a time or in any required sequence.
• Each slide is operated by a separate cylinder.
• The necessary sequence is usually achieved by a suitable
electrical logic operating the required valves in proper
sequence.
Pneumatic drives

• The slide is actuated by a pneumatic cylinder operated

by pneumatic pressure.
• This type of slide also has limitation on the maximum
thrust that can be generated as the maximum
available pressure is only 5 atmospheres.
• Also this type of drive does not have proper speed
regulation.
RACK AND PINION

TIMER BELT DRIVE

Servo motor drives
• The slide is actuated by a preloaded re-circulating ball
screw and nut mechanism driven by a servo motor.
• High positioning accuracy and step less variation of feed
rates is possible by fine regulation of motor and step less
variation of motor speeds.
• Efficiency of this type of drives is very high- 90 – 95 %.
• Double nuts used are pre loaded to eliminate back lash.
Feed rates
• During metal cutting operation, it is necessary to move
the slides at different velocities to meet the technological
parameters.
• Feed rates should be step less variable and precisely
regulated to get satisfactory machining results.
• They should also have precise position control to get the
desired accuracies.
• These requirements can be easily achieved by using A C
servo drives to drive the slides.
• Machine tool feed rates are normally specified in terms
of:
• Feed in mm / minute
• Feed in mm / revolution of the cutter or mm / revolution of the
work piece.
• Feed rate is also expressed as mm per tooth of the cutter.
Rapid traverses

• The machine tool slides are moved at rapid traverse rates to

reduce the idle time of the machine and hence reduce the
cycle times.
• Higher the rapid traverse rates the lesser will be the cycle
time.
• However high inertia of the slides, high acceleration and
deceleration rates limit the rapid traverse rates.
• Rapid rates are represented in m/min
Box ways
Sliding friction guide ways
• Guide ways with sliding friction
• Guide ways with metal to metal contact
• Common materials used are cast iron and steel.
• Some times Cast iron to cast iron materials are also
used.
• Adequate lubrication facilities have to be made.
• Flat type, Prismatic type and Dovetail type guide ways
are commonly used.
Non metallic liners
• Sliding guide ways with non metallic liners.
• Some times the slides are provided with non-metallic
liners such as PTFE (Poly Tetra Fluro Ethelene), Rulon,
SKC3 etc.,
• Non metallic liners have the advantage of negligible
difference in the coefficient of friction between static
condition and dynamic conditions. Hence they
minimize the stick slip.
L M Guide ways
Guide ways - Types
Machine tool application – features :
1. Precision assembly practices adopted. Ground mounting surfaces, scraping to
get higher contact and checking using dial indicators etc,.
2. Requirement of rigidity and damping of prime importance to achieve higher
accuracy’s and superior surface finish on machined components.
3. Requirement of pre-load to ensure precision in motion and prevention of
chatter during metal cutting.
4. Ability to perform satisfactorily in harsh working environment due to presence
of coolant and metal chips/powder etc,.
5. Ability to withstand high forces generated during metal cutting, high levels
of vibration, shock loads and accidental impact etc,. All these to be handled
without loosing the accuracy’s.

General engineering applications :

Usually most of the above aspects are not required in general engineering
applications
 L M Guide ways

• Balls re-circulating in L M Blocks and running on

tracks on the hardened and ground L M rails provide
the necessary guidance.
• The rails and the blocks are available in standard
sizes.
• Sizes of rails and blocks are selected based on load
capacity and traverse lengths.
• This type of guide ways provide smooth movement
and can go up to very high rapid traverse rates.
 L M Guide ways

Advantages
• Light and smooth motion with out any clearance
• Easy to achieve high running accuracy.
• High permissible load rating
• High accuracy over a long period
• Excellent high-speed performance
PRECISION MACHINE TOOLS --- WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS ?

• Geometric accuracy’s,
• Spindle accuracy,
• Structural design aspects ,
• Thermal considerations,
• Axis feedback system and servo performance

GUIDEWAYS AND DRIVE SYSTEM :

• Motion accuracy’s
• Positioning accuracy and repeatability accuracy
• Machining performance – surface finish and geometric accuracy’s
• of machined work-piece.
Why use L M Guides in Machine Tools ?

Due to functional aspects :

Ready preloaded guides, rolling friction &
Hence no stick-slip, good damping,
high rigidity, high rapid traverse speeds

Due to ease of manufacture :

No hardening facility required, extremely
Precise grinding not required, no precision
Scraping, lesser skill in assembly, faster
turn-around time in assembly, ease of
Replacement in field.
 Selection of Type of LM Guide :
SHS / HSR type Ball guides :
Normal performance Machine Tools performing drilling,
Non-critical milling, normal turning etc.

SVR/SVS type Ball guides :

High performance Machine Tools which carryout heavy
metal removal operations apart from precision

SPR/SPS type Ball guides :

Superior performance Machine Tools like in machines
using Hydro static guides

SRG type Roller guides :

High precision Machine Tools which carryout mainly
Precision machining like profile / contours but not
heavy metal removal
 SELECTING THE NUMBER OF RAILS :
Case 1 :
where the table width is less than 1500 mm. Normally 2 rails are
sufficient.
Case 2 :
where the table width is more than 2500 mm. It is necessary to
provide 3 rails or more.
Case 3 :
where the width is in between 1500 mm and 2500 mm – if the
number of rails is to be kept at two, then the height of the table and
the number of blocks per rail are to be properly taken care Of.

Depending upon the span between rails there will be a deflection at

the centre of the table when loaded. This deflection means a slope
at the support area of the LM block and this slope will result in
generation of internal forces which may affect the life of the LM
guides.
L M Guide ways

•
 MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT OF LM GUIDES
Different types of mounting, effect on performance and Recommended fields of
application
 SIDE CLAMPING OF BLOCK USING SET SCREWS

• Not rigid enough

• Manufacturing difficult due to small tapped hole
• Assembly not easy to maintain consistency
SIDE CLAMPING OF BLOCKS USING ROLLER WITH C’SUNK HEAD SCREWS

• Better rigidity
• Better manufacturability as compared to previous concept
 SIDE CLAMPING OF BLOCK & RAIL USING CLAMP PLATES

• Good rigidity
• More consistency during assembly
• Manufacturing ease at optimum
SIDE CLAMPING OF BLOCK & RAIL USING SINGLE ANGLE TAPER
WEDGE
• Highest rigidity
• Best consistency in assembly
• Manufacturing – bit more involved
Width of shoulder T should be not less than 0.6 X rail width
To ensure that the butting shoulder does not deform
Under side clamp force.

The wedge profile should be such that height of contact

Surface does not exceed h1 dimension recommended in
Catalogue for the guide under consideration.
 LM GUIDE MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT
BOTH RAILS LATERALLY LOCATED AND ONLY BLOCKS
OF MASTER GUIDE LOCATED LATERALLY
• Most commonly used arrangement in Machine tool design
• Sufficiently rigid for most applications
• Optimum design from both cost and performance
 LM GUIDE MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT
BOTH RAILS LATERALLY LOCATED AND ONLY BLOCKS
OF MASTER GUIDE LOCATED LATERALLY
Highest rigidity possible with LM guides
Used for Very heavy duty Machine tools like plano-milling
machine
LM GUIDE MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT
BOTH RAILS AND BLOCKS NOT LOCATED LATERALLY
• Lowest rigidity
• Likely to provide poor running accuracy
• Not recommended to be used for Machine tool applications
• Mainly for General engineering application not calling for
either running accuracy or performance
BALL SCREWS
Ball screws

 The ball screws used for driving C N C Machine tool

slides have very high efficiency, 90 to 95 %, because
of the very low coefficient of rolling friction
between the screw, nut and the balls.
 The ball screw and nut assemblies are invariably
preloaded to eliminate backlash and associated
errors.
Ball screws

Ball screws have the following advantages:

• Low frictional resistance
• Low drive power requirement
• Low temperature rise
• Low wear
• Longer life
• No stick slip effect
• High traverse speed
• High efficiency
Major parameters to be considered :

• Pitch
• Diameter
• Load carrying capacity
• Accuracy grade
• Preloading method
• Mounting method
Pitch :

• Select the min pitch of 10 mm for metal cutting

machine tool application.
• The smaller or larger pitch selected will not
affect the accuracy significantly.
• Depends upon the rapid travel rate.
Diameter :

Stroke of slide
Slenderness ration – L/D
L/D < 40 upper end machines
L/D >40 <60 precision machines
L/D >60 non critical applications
Accuracy grade :

Precision ground and preloaded ball

screws - C5, C3, C2, C1 or C0 both in
double nut and single nut types used
in precision machine tools.

Rolled and non-preloaded ball screws

used in material handling, non-critical
applications.
Ball screws preloading

Preloading:
• Fixed position preloading
• Double nut method – pre loading with a spacer
between two nuts
• Offset preloading – To preload a ball screw the
lead of nut is shifted by the amount of
preloading approximately at the middle of the
nut. This method provides compact design.
Preloading method :
* Axial preload by double nut or offset
threads single nut
* Radial preload by oversize balls – this
is not to be used in precision machines.
Mounting method :

• Will determine the critical speed

• Axial rigidity

• Metal cutting performance

• Thermal stability
LIMITATION OF BALL SCREW ROTATIONAL
SPEED DUE TO CRITICAL SPEED

DEPENDS UPON MOUNTING

ARRANGEMENT
Ball screw Mounting

Fixed-Free
Ball screw Mounting

Fixed - Supported
Ball screw Mounting

Fixed – Fixed
Forces on the ball screw

•
 CHECK FOR FOLLOWING DURING SELECTION :

• L/D should preferably be below 30 for Machine tool

application. L/D could be around 40 for general engineering
applications.
• Check for critical speeds and column load limitations.
• Check for DN values.
• Decide on the number of circuits based on life and static
safety factor.
• Check for the limitation of overall length of screw shaft for
your required accuracy grade.
• Specify wipers for applications where the contamination is
likely to be critical and protective covers are not likely to be
up to satisfactory performance levels.
• Decide on type of lubrication.
• Keep in mind that the initial grease filled at manufacturers is
just about sufficient for about 3 to 4 weeks of operation.
 Thumb rules and suggestions :

• L/D < 30 for superior performance and higher end machines.

• Pitch should be 10 or higher for metal cutting applications.

• Ball screw shaft to be stretched 0.011 mm / meter / deg C

• Try to select the pitch of the ball screw such that the rotational speed of the
screw shaft is as low as possible, preferably below 2000 to 2500 rpm, when
designing slides which have to operate at high linear speeds viz, 60 m/min

• When designing for better dimensional stability arising due to thermal effects, it
may be worthwhile to consider adopting a design where ball screw shaft is
stretched as against a design where the ball screw shaft is cooled using
refrigerated cooling medium.
Ball screw alignment and assembly

•
COUPLING OF BALL SCREW TO
MOTOR SHAFT

• USE FLEXIBLE COUPLING

• USE TIMING BELT TRANSMISSION
• DO NOT USE RIGID COUPLING
• DO NOT DIRECTLY INSERT BALL SCREW SHAFT
INTO A BORE IN A REDUCTION GEAR BOX /
DRIVE
Ball screw mounting

Motor Ball Screw

Timing belt drive
Timing belt
drive
•
Flexible couplings
Flexible couplings

•
Rotary Encoders

•
Linear scale

•
Drag torque
• Drag torque is the minimum torque required to be applied
to the ball screw to effect the movement of the slide
under no load conditions ie., with out any external load.
This is the torque required to overcome internal friction at
the slide ways, BALLSCREWS & at the ball screw support
bearings due to preload of screw and the nut.
Measurement of drag torque
• Torque wrenches are used to measure the drag torque of the axes
and measurements are done at different positions of the slide.
• On C N C Machines, no load torque required for axis feed drive is
measured by measuring the no load armature current drawn by the
axis motor at different feed rates including that during rapid traverse.
• Measurement of no load torque of axis feed motion ensures
correctness of the assembly of the ball screw end bearings, the nut
and slide, and the alignment between the ball screw and the guide
way.
Home position

• Home Position in a C N C Machine is fixed zero

position for each axis with reference to which all
measurements are made.
• Since it is a fixed reference position its position
should not change by more than the specified
value, called drift, over a period of time.
• This is the ability of a slide to hold its commanded
position over a specified period of time.
• Axis home command brings all axes to back to
home position.
Reference position/Home Position

• Reference position is any convenient

floating reference point on the machine
such as tool change position, specified by
the programmer to which the slide is taken
repeatedly while doing machining
operations. This can vary for different
programs.
End of traverse
• End of traverse for each axis in either direction is defined
by a limit switch.
• Normally the slide is not expected to travel beyond this
position.
• If for some reason, the slide travels beyond this limit, then
its position is regulated by a soft ware limit switch in
either direction.
• It is a position defined in the software beyond which the
slide will not be allowed to travel.
Dead stops
• If for some reason the slide tries to travel beyond the
soft ware limit switch, then it is stopped by a dead stop
located in either direction for each axis on the machine.
THANK YOU