Evaluation of modelling approaches for machine tool design

In order to evaluate the configuration of machine tools, the IWF Axis Construction Kit (ACK) has been developed. This paper describes the evaluation of this approach. The ACK supports rigid body simulations and simple elastic body simulations. The ACK is compared with commercial FEM software to investigate its usability and reliability. Required time was compared in modelling of a machine tool. The ACK needed 30% of the total required time for the FEM because of its modularity in machine modelling. Then, in order to investigate the reliability of the ACK, static and dynamic simulations of both approaches were compared with each other and with analytical calculations on basic beam models. The result showed that the ACK provided equivalent results to the FEM. Static and dynamic simulations were also compared with measurements on an actual machine tool. The ACK obtained almost equivalent results to the FEM. Almost all lower structural mode shapes and their natural frequencies could be reproduced with the ACK when crucial parts were modelled using elastic bodies.