High Speed Dry Machining of Aluminum

High performance machine tools feature rapid traverse rates of 1,200 inches per minute. Linear motor servos and low inertia designs can double or triple those feed rates. Perhaps more important than high feed rate capability is high acceleration and deceleration rates. Conventional machining centers achieve 0.2 g's. High performance systems start around 0.5 g's and go as high as 4.0 g's. At that rate, the forces of acceleration exceed cutting forces. Therefore, design optimization becomes critical. The goal is to achieve maximum stiffness with minimum inertia. Author: Manuel C. Turchan, Turchan Technologies Group, Dearborn, MI.