Control of Machine Tools

Production Automation

International Islamic University

Islamabad
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 DEFINITION
 Computer Numerical Control (CNC) - A
numerical control system in which the
data handling, control sequences, and
response to input is determined by an on-
board computer system at the machine
tool.

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 HISTORY
 US Air Force commissioned MIT to
develop the first "numerically controlled"
machine in 1949.
 In 1970-1972 numerical control (NC)
machines are found almost everywhere,
from small job shops in rural communities
to companies in large urban areas.

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 WHY WE NEED CNC’S
EFFICIENCY OF MANUFACTURING

COST = COST OF
MANUFACTURING AND
COST OF MATERIAL
HANDLING

PRODUCTIVITY =
AVERAGE OUTPUT
PER MAN-HOUR

PROFIT = INCOME - COST

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PROFIT increases as COST decreases
and as PRODUCTIVITY increases.

PRODUCTIVITY through AUTOMATION

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 any means of helping
the workers to perform
their tasks more
efficiently
AUTOMATION

transfer of the skill of

the operator to the
machine

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 Primary motion Secondary motion

Relative motion
between tool and Feed motion
workpiece

Cutting motion
Feed rate

Cutting speed

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 NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED
MACHINE TOOLS
A NC machine tool is functionally the same
as a conventional machine tool. The
technological capabilities of NC machine
tools in terms of machining are no different
from those of conventional ones. The
difference is in the way in which the various
machine functions and slide movements are
controlled.
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The functions and motions such as;

turning the spindle on and off

setting cutting speeds
setting feed rate
turning coolant on and off
moving tool with respect to workpiece

are performed by Machine Control Unit

(MCU) in NC machine tools.

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CNC SYSTEM ELEMENTS

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 CNC SYSTEM ELEMENTS
A typical CNC system consists of the
following six elements
 Part program
 Program input device
 Machine control unit
 Drive system
 Machine tool
 Feedback system

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NC SYSTEM ELEMENTS

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OPERATIONAL FEATURES of CNC
MACHINES

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 PART PROGRAM
 A part program is a series of coded instructions required
to produce a part. It controls the movement of the
machine tool and the on/off control of auxiliary functions
such as spindle rotation and coolant. The coded
instructions are composed of letters, numbers and
symbols and are arranged in a format of functional
blocks as in the following example
N10 G01 X5.0 Y2.5 F15.0
| | | | |
| | | | Feed rate (15 in/min)
| | | Y-coordinate (2.5")
| | X-coordinate (5.0")
| Linear interpolation mode
Sequence number

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 PROGRAM INPUT DEVICE
 The program input device is the
mechanism for part programs to be
entered into the CNC control. The most
commonly used program input devices are
keyboards, punched tape reader, diskette
drivers, through RS 232 serial ports and
networks.

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 MACHINE CONTROL UNIT
The machine control unit (MCU) is the heart of a CNC
system. It is used to perform the following functions:
 Read coded instructions
 Decode coded instructions
 Implement interpolations (linear, circular, and helical) to
generate axis motion commands
 Feed axis motion commands to the amplifier circuits for
driving the axis mechanisms
 Receive the feedback signals of position and speed for
each drive axis
 Implement auxiliary control functions such as coolant or
spindle on/off, and tool change

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 TYPES of CNC CONTROL
SYSTEMS

 Open-loop control
 Closed-loop control

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OPEN-LOOP CONTROL SYSTEM
 In open-loop control system step motors are
used
 Stepper motors are driven by electric pulses
 Every pulse rotates the motor spindle through a
certain amount
 By counting the pulses, the amount of motion
can be controlled
 No feedback signal for error correction
 Lower positioning accuracy

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 CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL
SYSTEMS
 In closed-loop control systems DC or AC
motors are used
 Position transducers are used to generate
position feedback signals for error
correction
 Better accuracy can be achieved
 More expensive
 Suitable for large size machine tools

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 DRIVE SYSTEM
 A drive system consists of amplifier
circuits, stepping motors or servomotors
and ball lead-screws. The MCU feeds
control signals (position and speed) of
each axis to the amplifier circuits. The
control signals are augmented to actuate
stepping motors which in turn rotate the
ball lead-screws to position the machine
table.
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 STEPPING MOTORS
 A stepping motor provides open-loop, digital
control of the position of a work piece in a
numerical control machine. The drive unit
receives a direction input (cw or ccw) and pulse
inputs. For each pulse it receives, the drive unit
manipulates the motor voltage and current,
causing the motor shaft to rotate by fixed angle
(one step). The lead screw converts the rotary
motion of the motor shaft into linear motion of
the work piece .

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STEPPING MOTORS

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RECIRCULATING BALL SCREWS
Transform rotational motion of the motor into
translational motion of the nut attached to the
machine table.

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RECIRCULATING BALL SCREWS
 Accuracy of CNC
machines depends on
their rigid
construction, care in
manufacturing, and
the use of ball screws
to almost eliminate
slip in the screws
used to move portions
of the machine.

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 POSITIONING
 The positioning resolution of a ball screw drive
mechanism is directly proportional to the
smallest angle that the motor can turn.
 The smallest angle is controlled by the motor
step size.
 Microsteps can be used to decrease the motor
step size.
 CNC machines typically have resolutions of
0.0025 mm or better.

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 MACHINE TOOL
 CNC controls are used to control various
types of machine tools. Regardless of
which type of machine tool is controlled, it
always has a slide table and a spindle to
control of position and speed. The
machine table is controlled in the X and Y
axes, while the spindle runs along the Z
axis.
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 FEEDBACK SYSTEM
 The feedback system is also referred to as
the measuring system. It uses position
and speed transducers to continuously
monitor the position at which the cutting
tool is located at any particular time. The
MCU uses the difference between
reference signals and feedback signals to
generate the control signals for correcting
position and speed errors.
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CNC MACHINES FEEDBACK
DEVICES

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POTENTIOMETERS

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POTENTIOMETERS

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 ENCODERS

 A device used to convert linear or

rotational position information into an
electrical output signal.

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 ENCODERS
 Magnetic
 Optical
 Capacitive
 Contacting

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INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF
ENCODERS

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 RESOLVERS

 A resolver is a rotary
transformer that
produces an output signal
that is a function of the
rotor position.

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SERVO MOTOR with RESOLVER

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 VELOCITY FEEDBACK
 Tachometers:
Electrical output is proportional to rate of
angular rotation.
 Encoders, Resolvers, Potentiometers:
Number of pulses per time is proportional
to rate of change of position.

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CNC PROGRAMMING

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 Import / export capabilities to other
systems

 Examples:

 Drawing Exchange Format (DXF)

 Initial Graphics Exchange Standard (IGES)

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 CAD to NC Code
Import DXF Geometry
File IGES Direct input

Tool Path Generation

What you want to cut
How you want to cut
Tool Type
CL Rpm’s – Feeds
Post Process
File Method
Canned cycles
Cut direction

NC Code
N1 G80 G90
N3 G0 T01 M06
N5 G0 X0 Y0

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 INFORMATION NEEDED BY A CNC
1. Preparatory Information: units, incremental or absolute
positioning
2. Coordinates: X,Y,Z, RX,RY,RZ
3. Machining Parameters: Feed rate and spindle speed
4. Coolant Control: On/Off, Flood, Mist
5. Tool Control: Tool and tool parameters
6. Cycle Functions: Type of action required
7. Miscellaneous Control: Spindle on/off, direction of
rotation, stops for part movement
This information is conveyed to the machine through a set
of instructions arranged in a desired sequence – Program.

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 Program Loading
 Through keyboard
 Through punched tape reader
 Through diskette drive
 Through RS 232 serial port
 Through network interface card

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 Direct Numerical Control (DNC)

 A system in which a central computer

downloads the NC programs block by block
to many NC machine tools simultaneously is
called Direct Numerical Control (DNC)
system.

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 Direct Numerical Control (DNC):

 This system used to work with the early NC

machine tools which can not read more than a
block of information at a time. The central
computer feed the program information one
block at a time. When the machine execute the
information, the next block of information
would be fed.

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 Distributed Numerical Control (DNC):

 Distributed NC is known by the same acronym

as Direct Numerical Control (DNC). After the
introduction of CNC, the machine tools have
had the capability of storing large amount of
information. Therefore, there have been no
need to have drip feed information system,
like, Direct Numerical Control. Instead,
Distributed Numerical Control is introduced. In
such a system, a host computer communicate
with many CNC machine tools via networks and
download or upload programs.

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 Distributed Numerical Control (DNC):

 With Distributed Numerical Control systems, it

is possible to monitor the activities in individual
CNC machine tools on host computer.
 Therefore, better shop floor control can be
achieved.

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 Computer Aided Part Programming:

 NC program preparation may be tedious and

difficult if the part to be machined has a
complex geometry. The main difficulty is to find
out the cutter locations during the machining.
Computers may be used to assist the
programmers in preparing the NC codes.

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 Advantages of applying computer-aided part
programming include the following:

 It reduces the manual calculations involves in

determining the geometric characteristics of
the part.
 It provides the cutter path simulation.
 It provides tool collision checking.
 It shortens the program preparation time.
 It makes the program preparation easier.

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 CAD/CAM Based Part Programming:

 The output of any CAD package include the

geometric data of the part to be machined.
Therefore, many CAD/CAM package can
produce cutter location (CL) data to be used
for NC code generation.
 There is still to be a process planning module
for a workable NC code generation.
 Some of the CAD/CAM packages that have the
NC code generation capabilities are
Computervision, CATIA, CADAM, ProEngineer,
MechanicalDesktop (Auto Desk).
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 SAMPLE
CNC MACHINES

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CNC TURNING

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CNC MILLING

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CNC LASER CUTTING

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CNC PLASMA CUTTING

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CNC PRESS

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CNC RAPID PROTOTYPING

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 INDUSTRIES MOST AFFECTED
BY CNC
 Aerospace
 Machinery
 Electrical
 Fabrication
 Automotive
 Instrumentation
 Mold making
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 SAMPLE PRODUCTS
OF
CNC MANUFACTURING

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AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Engine Block

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AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY(Cont’d)

Different Products

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 AEROSPACE INDUSTRY
Aircraft Turbine Machined by
5-Axis CNC Milling Machine

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CNC MOLD MAKING

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ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY

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RAPID PROTOTYPING
PRODUCTS

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 ADVANTAGES of CNC
 Productivity
Machine utilization is increased because
more time is spent in cutting and less time
is taken by positioning.
Reduced setup time increases utilization
too.

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 ADVANTAGES of CNC
 Quality
Parts are more accurate.
Parts are more repeatable.
Less waste

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 ADVANTAGES of CNC

Reduced inventory
Reduced setup time permits smaller
economic batch quantities.
Lower lead time allows lower stock levels.
Lower stock levels reduce interest charges
and working capital requirements.

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 DRAWBACKS of CNC
 High capital cost
Machine tools cost $30,000 - $1,500,000
 Training and recruitment of staff
 New support facilities
 High maintenance requirements
 Not cost-effective for low-level production on
simple parts
 As geometric complexity or volume increases
CNC becomes more economical
 Maintenance personnel must have both
mechanical and electronics expertise

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End of Lecture

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