Measurement 39 (2006) 8089 www.elsevier.

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A dynamometer design for measurement the cutting forces on turning

Suleyman Yaldz *, Faruk Unsacar
Mechanical Department, Technical Education Faculty, Selcuk University, 42031 Konya, Turkey Received 30 July 2004; received in revised form 12 July 2005; accepted 21 July 2005 Available online 30 September 2005

Abstract The cutting forces generated in metal cutting have a direct inuence on generation heat, tool wear or failure, quality of machined surface and accuracy of the work piece. In this study, a turning dynamometer that can measure static and dynamic cutting forces by using strain gauge and piezo-electric accelerometer respectively has been designed and constructed. The orientation of octagonal rings and strain gauge locations has been determined to maximize sensitivity and to minimize cross-sensitivity. The force signals were captured and processed using proper data acquisition system. The dynamometer has been subjected to a series of tests to determine its static and dynamic characteristics. The results obtained showed that the dynamometer could be used reliably to measure static and dynamic cutting forces. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Dynamometer; Strain gauge; Data acquisition; Turning

1. Introduction Force measurement in metal cutting is essential requirement as it is related to machine part design, tool design, power consumptions, vibrations, part accuracy, etc. It is the purpose of the measurement of cutting force to be able to understand the cutting mechanism such as the eects of cutting variables on the cutting force, the machinability of the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 332 223 2347; fax: +90 332 2410185. E-mail address: syaldiz@selcuk.edu.tr (S. Yaldz).
*

work piece, the process of chip formation, chatter and tool wear [1]. It has been observed that the force values obtained by engineering calculations contain some errors when compared with experimental measurements. The cutting force even in steady state conditions is aected by many parameters and the variation of cutting force with time has a peculiar characteristic [2]. The need for measurement of all cutting force component arises from many factors, but probably the most important is the need for correlation with the progress of tool wear [3]. If this can be obtained, it will be possible to achieve tool wear monitoring in turning

0263-2241/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.measurement.2005.07.008

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based on force variation. The reason for the cutting force measurement is that it is a good indicator in detecting tool wear. It is well known that during the cutting process, the cutting parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut often present a deviation from the calculated values. For this purpose, many dynamometers have been developed [4]. In these dynamometers, cutting force measurement is mainly based on elastic deformation of the materials. Various studies concerning dynamometer design and construction can be found in the published Ref. [5,6]. Force components in turning are often measured using either an octagonal-ring dynamometer type or a tool shank type. The toolshank type is always characterized by its inaccuracy and insensitivity in measuring either one or two components [7]. The strain gauge produces a clear relation between the measured quantity and the strain on a suitable spot on the spring element [8]. In most cases, the static force is obtained by a strain gauge type sensor which produces an output voltage proportional to elastic deformation. The cutting force dynamometers must be manufactured at sucient accuracy and high rigidity, and particularly suitable for dynamic loads [9]. Ito et al. [10] designed some strain gauge based

dynamometers that can be adapted to some machine tools and dened the criterions of their rigidity and sensitivity. In designing dynamometer, some principles such as parallel beam type [1,11], circular hole [7,6], piezo-electric [12,13], etc., have been used widely. This study outlines a strain gauge based octagonal-ring type analogue dynamometer design and prototyping. This dynamometer is capable of measuring three-force components. As the reading of analogue values manually is a dicult and tedious job, a computer connection for data acquisition has been realized.

2. Experimental set-up 2.1. Dynamometer A three-force component analogue dynamometer capable of measuring cutting forces during turning was designed, developed and tested. A computer connection for data acquisition was also made and calibrated. The analogue data can be evaluated numerically on a computer and when required can be converted back to analogue. The schematic representation of the cutting force measurement system is capable of measuring feed force

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of experimental set-up.

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Table 1 Experimental equipments and their technical properties Machine tool Dynamometer Strain gauge Strain ring Strain amplier Data acquisition card Data recording software Piezo-electric accelerometer Coupler/power supply Universal testing machine Harrison Universal Lathe Model M300 Strain gauge based three component cutting force dynamometer HBM: LY11 6/120; eective gauge length 6 mm; gauge factor 2.03 1%; gauge resistance 350 0.35%X; transverse sensitivity of 0.2% Octagonal in shape; made of AISI 4140 steel; b = 20 mm; r = 16 mm; t = 4 mm Advantech: ADAM 3016 Advantech: A/D converter; PCI 1712, 16 single channel (8 dierential), 110 MHz Written in C; capable of recording, simulating and data processing Kistler: 8632C50; sensitivity 100 mV/g; output voltage 5 V; current 2 mA; transverse sensitivity 1%max; power supply 1030 VDC Kistler: 5118B2; bandwidth 0.03, 0.006 Hz; gain 1, 10, 100; output voltage 10 V; operated by internal battery (4 1.5 V) or external voltage 628 VDC LLOYD Instrument T = 50 K

(Ff), thrust force (Ft) and main cutting force (Fc) which occurs during turning operations as seen in Fig. 1. This dynamometer consists of four elastic octagonal rings on which strain gauges were mounted and necessary connections were made to form measuring the Wheatstone bridges. 2.2. Data acquisition On-line and real-time information of the cutting force data are automatically read and stored by a system during metal cutting. Since the output from Wheatstone bridge circuits is very low due to the high stiness requirement of the dynamometer, the analogue signals coming from dynamometer amplied by strain gauge input modules (Advantech ADAM 3016) are then converted to digital signals and captured by PCI-1712 data acquisition card installed in MS-Windows based PC. The stored data can be retrieved and used for analysis when required. The data acquisition software is capable of averaging and graphical simulation of force signals in process. The lists of the experimental equipments used are shown in Table 1.

In addition, the structure of the dynamometer has to meet more strict requirements concerning the natural frequency and wide frequency response and small cross-sensitivity. The ring elements must be machined identical and symmetrical to prevent cross-sensitivity and they should have certain surface quality and high measurement tolerance. The mechanical properties of strain rings must be determined experimentally. A dynamometer essentially consists of an important ring element. The rigidity, high natural frequency, corrosion resistance and high heat conductivity factors were taken into consideration while selecting the ring materials. Also, deformation under the load should conform to that of strain gauges [14]. In this study, AISI 4140 steel, which meets above requirements, was selected as the ring material. 3.2. Determination of dimensions of the octagonal rings The thickness t, radius r, and width of the circular strain ring b are the three basic controllable parameters that aect the rigidity and sensitivity. Since there is no eect of ring width b and modulus of elasticity (E) on the strain per unit deection, bmin can be taken as 20 mm to setup the rings securely [9]. The deformation of circular ring under the effect of thrust force Ft and main cutting force Fc separately is shown in Fig. 2b and c respectively. As long as strain on A and B where the strain

3. Design and construction of a dynamometer for turning 3.1. The criterions for dynamometer design The rigidity and sensitivity are two opposing but basic requirements in dynamometer design.

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Fig. 2. The deformation of circular strain ring under: (a) combined, (b) thrust Ft and (c) main cutting Fc forces.

gauges are going to be xed (Fig. 2a) are within the elastic limits of the ring material, the strain and deection due to the main cutting force should be considered for the purpose of the ring design for maximization of sensitivity (ec/Fc) and stiness (Fc/dc). The strain gauges should be placed where the stress concentration has maximum value. The experiments have shown that good results are obtained for octagonal rings when the inclined gauges are at points 45 from the vertical instead of 39.6 required by the circular ring theory. The strain per unit deection can be expressed as [9] et 1:09t t 0:61 1:8r r dt =r 1

3.3. Verifying the dimensions of octagonal rings The maximum expected force, which the rings may face in each direction, is assumed as 3500 N. If the cross-sectional dimensions of a curved bar is smaller than the radius of the centre line, it is considered to be thin ring [15]. Taking into account dimensions as; width (b) = 20 mm; radius (r) = 16 mm; thickness (t) = 4 mm, elastic strains et and ec due to forces Ft and Fc are calculated according to ring theory by using the following equations [7,9]: 1:09F t r 9:1 104 2 et Ebt2 2:18F c r ec 1:82 103 3 Ebt2 The stress occurring on rings caused by thrust and main cutting forces can be calculated by placing elastic strain ratio values in Eq. (4) and (5) as follows: rt Eet 190:8 N=mm2 rc Eec 381:5 N=mm
2

where dt is the deection in a radial direction and et is the strain due to thrust force Ft. It is clear that for maximum sensitivity and rigidity et/dt should be as large as possible. This requires that r should be as small as possible and t as large as possible. But small r brings some diculties in mounting the internal strain gauges accurately. Therefore, for a given size of r and b, t should be large enough to be consistent with the desired sensitivity. Ito et al. [10] performed a nite element analysis for the elastic behaviour of octagonal rings. They expressed that the octagonal ring is substantially stiffer than the circular ring when t/r equals 0.05 or less, the dierence in displacement of circular ring and octagonal ring is less than 10% if t/r equals 0.25 or greater. In order to be consistent with this expression, the ring thickness and ring radius were taken as 4 and 16 mm respectively. Thus, the rate of t/r (4/16 = 0.25) provides corresponding sensitivity to stiness ratio e/(d/r) for octagonal ring.

4 5

As the yield strength of AISI 4140 steel is 550 900 N/mm2, the calculated stress values (rt and rc) occurring on the rings are within safety limits for this material. 3.4. Dynamic properties of dynamometer Vibration frequency of the machine tool, to which the dynamometer is mounted for cutting force measurement, should conform to the natural frequency of the dynamometer. A dynamometers natural frequency should be as high as possible.

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As placing the related values in Eq. (6), the ring constant of the dynamometer is computed as; Kt = 36,458 N/mm. The natural frequency of dynamometer, which is assumed to be a small mass supported by ring elements, can be obtained from the following relation [9]: 1 p K=m 7 fd 2p
Fig. 3. Free-body diagram of the developed dynamometer.

Vibration frequency of the machine tool is related to the spindle speed of the machine tool. The dynamometer should have natural frequency of at least four times the vibration frequency of the machine tool [9]. The dynamometer is considered to be a small mass supported by ring elements for analytical purpose as shown in Fig. 3. In order to determine the natural frequency of the dynamometer, the ring constant of dynamometer should be determined rst. The stiness value for a thin circular ring is given as in the following equation [9]: Kt Ft Ebt3 dt 1:8r3 6

where; K dynamometer ring constant (N/mm), m dynamometer mass (kg), fd dynamometer natural frequency (rev/s). The ring mass is 36.43 kg. As placing the related values in Eq. (7), the natural frequency of dynamometer is computed as fd = 159.2 rev/s. To full the requirement as stated above fd > 4fm, the maximum spindle speed of the lathe should be 200 rev/s or 12,000 rpm. 3.5. The orientation of the strain gauges and the rings on the dynamometer The proper selection of the points where the strain gauges are mounted is essential for achieving high accuracy in the Wheatstone bridge circuits. The orientation of the strain gauges on the

Ft 1 3 4
2

Section L- L 5
C

Section W-W 9 11 12 B 10 13
D16

6 8
7

14 15

Strain guages
C Y Ff A Fc

X D

L W

Fig. 4. The strain gauges and ring orientation on the dynamometer.

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rings and the position of the rings on the dynamometer are given in Fig. 4. The thrust force Ft are supported by A, B, C and D rings of the dynamometer as shown in Fig. 4. The strain gauges 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15 and 16 are aected by the thrust force Ft. Among these strain gauges, 3, 7, 11 and 15 are subject to tensile stress while 4, 8, 12 and 16 are subject to compressive stress. The feed force Ff is supported by A and C rings of the dynamometer as shown in Fig. 4. The strain gauges to measure the feed force Ff should be mounted on the outer surfaces of A and C rings with 45 inclination angle. As shown in Fig. 4, the strain gauges 1, 2, 5 and 6 are aected by the feed force Ff. Among these strain gauges, 1 and 5 are subject to tensile stress while 2 and 6 are subject to compressive stress. The main cutting force Fc is supported by B and D rings as seen in Fig. 4. The strain gauges for measuring the main cutting force Fc are mounted on rings B and D with 45 inclination angle with respect to the vertical plane. As shown in Fig. 4, the strain gauges 9, 10, 13 and 14 are aected by the main cutting force Fc. 3.6. Dynamometer construction 3.6.1. Mounting of strain gauges on the rings The rings of dynamometer were manufactured at CNC machine tools as seen in Fig. 5. The surfaces of the rings were ground for better strain gauge application. Totally 16, strain gauges were

mounted on four octagonal rings. Two strain gauges were mounted horizontally on to outsides of each ring at 45 angles. Two more strain gauges, one inside and the other outside were also mounted vertically. See Fig. 4. HBM: LY 11 6/120 type strain gauges recommended for steel specimens and for static or dynamic loading were utilized. To achieve low energy dissipation and hence a stable zero setting for a long time, excitation voltage must be selected carefully. The range of excitation voltage for a thick steel mounting surface may be obtained from the relation [16] q V in 2 RP 0g Ag in which R is the gauge resistance in ohms, P 0g is the power density in the gauge grid (between 2 and 5 kW/m2), and Ag is the active grid area (6 2.8). For convenience, an excitation voltage of 10 V (calculated between 8 and 12.7 V) was employed. 3.6.2. Mounting of the dynamometer The rings of dynamometer were mounted between two plates by using (4 mm.) pins and M5 screws. Pins were used in order to prevent the motion of plates due to clearance, which may cause the cross-sensitivity during measurements. The dimensions of plates were 100 100 12mm. The cutter was placed tightly into the hole of the front plate and tightened with M8 screws to upper plate in order to sustain the perpendicularity to the ring plane (see Fig. 6). The sides of front and rear plates were covered with 5-mm thick transparent plastic material in order to prevent the strain gauges from hot chips and from cutting uid during turning. The dynamometer was xed on to the saddle of lathe in a position where the nose of the cutter tips was on the same line with chuck centre. 3.7. Dynamometer calibration 3.7.1. Static calibration of the dynamometer In order to determine the elastic deection of ring components and consequently the output voltage under static load, the dynamometer was

Fig. 5. Manufactured octagonal dynamometer rings.

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Fig. 8. Calibration curve and cross-sensitivity for thrust force Ft.

Fig. 6. The photo of designed and developed dynamometer.

calibrated. The calibration was made in three directions for Ff, Ft, Fc and the output voltages of millivolt were averaged for each direction. The loads up to 2000 N 50 N intervals were applied and the strain values were recorded for each load intervals. Thus calibration curves were obtained to convert the output readings into cutting force values. Figs. 79 shows the calibration curves for feed force, thrust force and main cutting force respectively. In order to verify the consistency, the measurements were repeated three times and very close values were obtained as seen in Figs. 79. The eect of loading in one direction on the other force components was also examined and minor uctuations were observed. These eects were small enough to be ignored. The dynamometer was run idle for 5 min before each calibration tests as it was ready for measurement in order to determine the consistency.

Fig. 9. Calibration curve and cross-sensitivity for main cutting force Fc.

3.7.2. Dynamic calibration of the dynamometer The natural frequency of the dynamometer determines its general dynamic stiness. In order that the recorded force is not inuenced by the dynamic response of the dynamometer, its natural frequency must be higher than the frequency of exciting vibration [3]. The natural frequency of the dynamometer is determined accurately by setting the dynamometer into vibration and by measuring its response using accelerometer and oscilloscope. So, the developed dynamometer, the dynamic cutting force within the time domain and frequency domain were recorded while the machine was running as idle and during the cutting operation as shown in Fig. 10. 3.8. The dynamometer testing 3.8.1. Linearity test In order to test the dynamometer for linearity, approximately 80% of maximum load (3500 N) was applied on it. The dynamometer outputs and

Fig. 7. Calibration curve and cross-sensitivity for feed force Ff.

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Fig. 10. Dynamic cutting force within the time domain and frequency domain.

calibration values obtained are shown in Table 2. The percentage error of Ff, Ft and Fc were calculated as 1.3%, 1.4% and 1.2% respectively. These errors seem to be acceptable for the dynamometer that will be used in intermittent cutting operations. 3.8.2. Cross-sensitivity test The cross-sensitivity can be expressed as the strain measured on axes which is normal to the main axes. It is desired that dynamometers must not be completely insensitive to the cross-strain. It is possible to measure the cutting forces independently and accurately as long as the crosssensitivity is small. The strain errors will be less if this eect is within an acceptable range. These errors can arise because the strain gauges are not
Table 2 The results of linearity test Axes Ff Ft Fc Load (N) 2800 2800 3500 Output-e (mV) 149.6 147.9 93.9 Calibration value-e (mV) 151.6 145.8 95.06 Error (%) 1.3 1.4 1.2

tted symmetrically to the ring axes and if the strain rings are not mounted in the direction of measured force axes. When the dynamometer tested in X direction, the cross-sensitivity for Y and Z direction was calculated as 0.18% and 0.7%. While the test were being carried out on Y and Z direction,

Table 3 The results of cross-sensitivity test Axes Load (N) Output-e (digital) X Ff Ft Fc 2000 2000 2000 278 8 16 Y 5 239 3 Z 2 1.3 173 Average error (%) X 0.33 0.92 Y 0.18 0.17 Z 0.7 0.5

Table 4 The results of eccentricity test Axes Ff Ft Fc Load (N) 1000 1000 1000 e = 0 mm (mV) 119 122 82 e = 50 mm (mV) 118 120 81 (%) Output error 0.8 0.16 0.12

88 Table 5 The results of performance test Axes X Y Z e (mV) 19.83 16.20 34.60

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F (N) 300 280 900

F (N) q F F2 F2 F2 x y z F = 989.14 N

% Output error Accuracy = 989.14/1000 = 0.98 Error = 10.86/1000 = 0.02

the cross-sensitivity was calculated as 0.33% and 0.5%, and 0.92% and 0.17% respectively as shown in Table 3. 3.8.3. Eccentricity test In a three-component dynamometer, the applied load within the square outlined by axes of rings must always give same output value. To test this condition, the dynamometer was subject to eccentricity test. In order to test the dependence of outputs of gauges aected by application point of Ff, Ft and Fc forces, the force (1000 N) was applied to the dynamometer at centre and at e = 50 mm distance from the calibration point. The percentage of output errors for Ff, Ft and Fc were found as 0.8%, 0.16% and 0.12% as shown in Table 4. 3.8.4. Performance test For this test, the dynamometer axes were kept neither horizontal nor vertical position, but inclined 5 and 1000 N load was applied from the point of zero eccentricity. The outputs (ex, ey, ez le) were measured and percentage of output error was calculated as 0.2%. The performance test results are given in Table 5.

system is 5 N. In order to determine accuracy, the dynamometer was calibrated statically and dynamically and subjected to linearity test, crosssensitivity test, eccentricity test and performance test. The values of cross-sensitivity of the dynamometer for the three directions were calculated in the range of 0.170.92%. Dynamometer can be assumed as reliable as this small value can be neglected. In turning operations, appropriate results were obtained in cutting force measurements. The obtained results of machining tests performed at dierent cutting parameters shows that the dynamometer can be used reliably to measure cutting forces. Although it was designed primarily for turning, it can be used for milling, drilling, etc.

Acknowledgement This experimental study was supported by Coordination Oce to Scientic Research Projects of Selcuk University. The authors would like to thank to Coordination Oce to Scientic Research Projects of Selcuk University for providing the nancial support to accomplish the project.

References 4. Conclusion In this study, strain gauge based dynamometer has been designed and developed. It has been devised and connected with necessary data acquisition system consisting of hardware and software. Dynamometer can measure three perpendicular cutting force components simultaneously during turning and the measured numerical values can be stored in computer by data acquisition system. This dynamometer was designed to measure up to 3500 N maximum force and the sensitivity of
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