Experimental analysis and FEM calculation of the thermal deformation for the spindle system of machining center

In this study, the chief heat sources of the spindle system for the TH6350 Machining Center are analyzed, and an experimental system based on the virtual instruments technology is presented, thirty-two thermocouple sensors are set at the spindle system of the machining center to measure the thermal field, and five electric vortex sensors are used to measure the thermal error of the spindle by five-point method. The FEM modeling of the thermal deformation of the spindle system is built up by based of I-DEAS, the temperature field and the thermal deformation of it are calculated, and the calculated values of the model tallies with the experimental values. The researching results provide a theoretical foundation for the improving design, temperature controlling and the error compensation to the machining center.