Adaptive measurement solution for the dynamic flexibility of machine tools

Self-excited and forced vibrations of machine tools limit the quality of produced parts, the material removal rates and the tool life. Especially when the causing effects of self-excited vibrations are under consideration, the knowledge of the dynamic flexibility behavior at the tool center point is important. Usually the dynamic flexibility is expressed by Frequency Response Functions (FRFs), containing information about the frequency dependent flexibility. Conventional FRF measurements require expert knowledge in setup and execution, take considerable time and its repeatability can be low because of setup changes. This paper presents an adaptive solution consisting of two measuring heads and one user friendly software which are designed for improving the simplicity, speed and repeatability of FRF measurements. In the first part technical details of the measuring heads and the functionalities of the FRF measurement software are given. The second part deals with exemplary measurements using the adaptive measurement solution and finally its performance is benchmarked against conventional FRF measurements.