Modular Add-On System for Vibration Control in Gantry Milling Machines

On the part of the manufacturer as well as the user, the notion of modular configurable machine tools gains increasing applause. It is almost evident that the need not only for configurable machine structures but also machining characteristics will be an incisive feature of the future machine tool. In this paper a concept for a modular add-on solution for active vibration damping of characteristic mode shapes of a three-axis milling machine is introduced. Although the developed concept was tailored to a specific case, it is generally valid for small to medium size gantry style machines. Furthermore, the paper discusses the realization of the concept and the actuator integration into the machine structure. Also, a pragmatic controller design is proposed using a modal formulation of the machine dynamics. The results of the FEM analysis and simulation will be presented. Experimental validation of the system is underway at the time and is not included in the paper. A major advantage of the presented study is its suitability for direct application in the industry.