A Dedicated Design Strategy for Active Boring Bar

Unstable vibrations (i.e., chatter) onset is one of the main limits to productivity in deep boring bar processes. Active damping systems allow to increase machining stability in different configurations (i.e., tool setup), without requiring cutting system dynamic characterization. Design of an active boring bar involves the development of monitoring system (sensors), actuation system and control logic. While several control logics were evaluated and discussed, few design solutions were presented in the literature, focusing only on building prototypes to demonstrate control logic effectiveness. In the presented work, a deep analysis of the main issues and requirements related to active boring design was carried out and a systematic approach to tackle all the critical aspects was developed. The results of the proposed method are: (i) optimal actuators positioning able to damp vibration along two directions; (ii) preload system design guaranteeing the correct actuator preloading for the operating conditions; (iii) covers design to protect actuators and ensure the dynamic and static equivalence between active and standard boring bar. Following this approach, an active boring bar was designed, realized and tested. The results prove the required equivalence between active and original boring bar and assess the damping effect.