A new measurement system to determine stiffness distribution in machine tool workspace

This paper presents an innovative system determining machine tool quasi-static stiffness in machining space, so-called Stiffness Workspace System (SWS). The system allows for the assessment of the accuracy of a machine which has become a vital aspect over past years for machine tool manufacturers and users. Since machine tools static stiffness is one of the main criteria using to evaluate the machines' quality, it is crucial to highlight the relevance of experimental and analytical stiffness determination methods. Therefore, the proposed method is applied to estimate the spatial variation of static stiffness in the machine tool workspace. This paper describes the SWS system-its design, working principle, mounting conditions and signal processing. The major advantage of the system is the capability to apply forces of controlled magnitude and orientation as well as simultaneously measure the resulting displacements. The obtained results give possibility to estimate and evaluate static stiffness coefficients depending on the position and direction under loaded conditions. The results confirm the validity of the analyses of spatial stiffness distribution in the machine workspace.