Piecewise model and experiment of power chuck’s gripping force loss during high speed turning

High speed power chucks are important function units in high speed turning. The gripping force loss is the primary factor limiting the rotational speed of high-speed power chucks. This paper proposes a piecewise model considering the difference of wedge transmission’s radial deformation between low-speed stage and medium-to-high-speed stage, the friction forces of chuck transmission, and the compressibility of hydraulic oil in rotary hydraulic cylinders. A corrected model of gripping force loss is also established for power chucks with asymmetric stiffness. The model is verified by experiment results. It is helpful to use the piecewise model to explain the experimental phenomenon that the overall loss coefficient of gripping force increases with the rotational speed increasing at medium and high speed stages. Besides, the loss coefficients of gripping force at each stage during speeding up and the critical rotational speed between two adjacent stages are discussed. For wedge power chucks with small wedge angel (α<20°) and ordinary lubrication (µ0>0.06), the local loss coefficient of gripping force at the low speed stage is about 70% of that at the medium to high speed stage. For wedge power chucks with larger wedge angel (α>20°) or low friction coefficient (µ0<0.06), the wedge transmissions cannot self-lock at high speed stage, and the gripping force loss at the high speed stage is related to the hydraulic lock and hydraulic oil in the rotary hydraulic cylinder; the local loss coefficients of gripping force at the third stage is about 1.75 to 2.13 times that at the second stage. This work is helpful to understand the mechanism of the gripping force loss thoroughly and to optimize power chucks.