Calculation of machine tools and machining robots deformations caused by cutting force under conditions of manufacturing process design

The calculation of deformations of non-rigid technological equipment: special machine tools and processing robots is necessary to predict the achievability of the required machining accuracy. At present, this problem is theoretically solvable using numerical methods of calculation, in particular, the finite element method, for which machine tool CAD models are used. Such calculations require multi-million finite element meshes and are commonly performed using supercomputers of large companies which product this equipment. The application of this approach to solve the same problem by the technological services of machine-building enterprises causes both computational difficulties and difficulties in obtaining CAD models of the equipment, which is the technical secret of its manufacturers. An approach based on three solutions is proposed to overcome these difficulties. The first solution is related to the refusal to use full-featured CAD models of the equipment. Instead, it is proposed to use STL models, which include only triangulated assembly surfaces with equipment parts moving relative to each other. The second solution is related to the use of the voxel approach and the associated calculation of the finite elements models. The third solution is related to the replacement of real models of the contacting pairs on their equivalent models with equivalent rigidity. The results of the equipment modeling and calculations of its displacements caused by cutting forces are presented. It is shown that such calculations can be made using modern personal computers of enterprise technological services and do not require the disclosure of commercial secrets of this technological equipment. This approach is promising for use in advanced CAM systems for calculating control programs of CNC machines considering the influence of such technological factors as equipment deformations.