Machine tool spindle design

In modern machine tool applications the performance of a machine tool is judged by its ability to produce work-pieces accurately and efficiently. The stiffness of the machine tool spindle has a profound impact on the overall machine performance. The work presented here provides a tool for machine tool spindle designers to develop spindles that are sufficiently stiff to meet their needs. The analysis presented here is divided into three main sections. The first portion is a static analysis. The static analysis calculates the lateral deflection of the spindle-bearing system. AMatlab program was developed that aiiows the user to enter the spindle parameters into a batch file and obtain the plots of the deformed shape of the spindle. The next portion is a dynamic analysis of the spindle. This portion includes both the modes of vibration and the forced response. The modal analysis treats the spindle as a continuous Euier-Bernouiii beam. A numerical method for handling the steps in the shaft and applied boundary conditions was developed that could be extended to many other applications in rotor dynamics. AMatlab program was developed for the dynamic analysis. This program provides a designer with plots of the mode shapes and forced response given the spindle design parameters. The final section is an optimization of the spindle design. Given constraints on the location and stiffness of the support bearings, aMatlab program will return values for these parameters resulting in the spindle configuration that presents the minimum deflection at the spindle\u27s gauge line