A Study of Linear Joint and Tool Models in Spindle-Holder-Tool Receptance Coupling

The dynamics of a spindle-holder-tool (SHT) system during high-speed machining is sensitive to changes in tool overhang length. A well-known method for predicting the limiting depth of cut for avoidance of tool chatter requires a good estimate of the tool-point frequency response (FRF) of the combined system, which depends upon the tool length. In earlier work, a combined analytical and experimental method has been discussed, that uses receptance coupling substructure analysis (RCSA) for the rapid prediction of the combined spindle-holder-tool FRF. The basic idea of the method is to combine the measured direct displacement vs. force receptance (i.e., frequency response) at the free end of the spindle-holder (SH) system with calculated expressions for the tool receptances based on analytical models. The tool was modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli (EB) beam, the other three spindle-holder receptances were set equal to zero, and the model for the connection with the tool led to a diagonal matrix. The main conclusion of the earlier work was that there was an exponential trend in the dominant connection parameter, which enabled interpolation between tip receptance data for the longest and shortest tools in the combined SHT system. Thus, a considerable savings in time and effort could be realized for the particular SHT system. A question left open in the earlier work was: how general is this observed exponential trend? Here, to explore this question further, an analytical EB model is used for the SH system, so that all four of its end receptances are available, and the tool is again modeled as a free-free EB beam that is connected to the SH by a specified connection matrix, that includes nonzero off-diagonal terms. This serves as the “exact” solution. The approximate solution is once again formed by setting all but one SH receptance equal to zero, and the connection parameters are determined using nonlinear least squares software. Both diagonal and full connection matrices are investigated. The main result is that, for this system, in the case of a diagonal connecting matrix, there is no apparent trend in the dominant connecting spring stiffness with tool overhang length. However, in the full connecting matrix case, a general constant trend is observed, with some interesting exceptions.© 2005 ASME