Sensor ‘99

9th International Conference for Sensors, Transducers & Systems

May 18 – 20, 1999 Nürnberg, Germany

Claudia Scheer, Patrik Hoffmann

ETH Zürich, Institut for Machine Tools and Manufacturing, Zürich
Dr. Andreas Kirchheim, Georges Schaffner
Kistler Instrumente AG Winterthur, Switzerland

Spindle-Integrated Force Sensors for Monitoring

Drilling and Milling Processes
1-3-comp. force sensor
(spindle suspension)
1-3-comp. force sensor
(spindle flange)

cutting process
Fx, Fy, Fz, Mz

tool
motor spindle

1-comp. force sensor

(front bearing)

Kistler Instrumente AG Winterthur Kistler Instrument Corp.

Winterthur, Switzerland Amherst, NY, USA
Tel + 41 - 52 - 224 11 11, Fax 224 14 14 Tel (716) 691 51 00, Fax (716) 691 52 26
sales@kistler.ch kicsales@kistler.com

Kistler Instrumente GmbH Kistler Japan Co., Ltd.

Ostfildern, Germany Tokyo, Japan
Tel (07 11) 34 07-0, Fax (07 11) 34 07-159 Tel (03) 35 78 02 71, Fax (03) 35 78 02 78
info@kistler-deutschland.de sales@kistler.co.jp

Kistler SA Kistler Instruments (Pte) Ltd.

Les Ulis Cédex, France Singapore
Tel 01 69 18 81 81, Fax 01 69 18 81 89 Tel 469 67 73, Fax 469 56 84
info@kistler.fr kiros@singnet.com.sg

Kistler Instruments Ltd. Kistler China Ltd.

Alton, Hampshire, UK North Point, Hong Kong
Tel (0 14 20) 54 44 77, Fax (0 14 20) 54 44 74 Tel 2591 5930, Fax 2591 1885
sales@kistler.co.uk kcnlibin@vol.net

Kistler Italia s.r.l. Kistler-Schmidt Korea Co., Ltd.

Milano, Italy Seoul, ROK
Tel (02) 481 27 51, Fax (02) 481 28 21 Tel (02) 737 26 30, Fax (02) 737 26 32
kistler@tin.it kistler@netsgo.com

20.201e 4.99
 Sensor ‘99, Nürnberg, 18.5 – 20.5.1999

Spindle-Integrated Force Sensors for

Monitoring Drilling and Milling Processing

Patrik Hoffmann, Claudia Scheer

ETH Zürich, Institut for Machine Tools and Manufacturing
Tannenstr. 3, CH-8092 Zürich

Dr. Andreas Kirchheim, Georges Schaffner

Kistler Instrumente AG, Eulachstr. 22, PO Box 304, CH-8408 Winterthur

Introduction

The reliability of process and tool status monitoring is essential for safe automation in mechani-
cal manufacturing, e.g. milling or drilling. Deterioration of the cutting conditions by tool wear or
tool fracture have to be detected online so that the process can be stopped in time in order to
change the tool and to prevent damage to the workpiece or even to the machine itself. A reliable
monitoring system must be able to detect 100 % of broken, missing or terminally worn tools. It is
therefore necessary to develop monitoring strategies as well as appropriate sensor systems
which allow a reliable measurement and classification of the process state.

In today's milling and drilling machines, tool monitoring systems and collision recognition
systems have become standard. Sensors for power measurement, vibration sensors or sensors
for measuring acoustic emission from the process are state of the art. These sensors are easy
to retrofit, but give only reduced information about the process and are difficult to place in the
working space of new, compact built machines. The process forces, being easily and accurate-
ly measured by dynamometers in the laboratory, contain much information relevant to process
monitoring but are too expensive for a widespread application in industry. Today's machine tools
are equipped with direct driven spindles, they are easy to replace and allow the integration of
highly sensitive force sensors.

In this paper, new kinds of force sensors are presented, which are adapted to the requirements
of the industrial machining process. They have been developed within a project funded by the
Commission of Technology and Innovation of Switzerland. The main goal is the development of
force sensors integrated into the machine tool spindles in order to measure process forces and
torques, signals which are straightforward to interpret and give information about the tool or
process state. As the sensors are placed in direct line of force, those sensor signals are much
more sensitive to process changes than for example spindle power or drive current. In the
following, two prototypes of piezoelectric force sensors for integration into a machine spindle are
presented, and first results from in-process measurements are shown.

20.201e Page 1
Spindle-integrated force sensors

At present two different versions of this integrated sensor technology are being tested: The
machine spindle is retrofitted with a flange force ring, which can be placed between spindle
flange and spindle suspension (Fig. 1). This flat ring contains several piezoelectric force sensors
(Fig. 2), which measure the process forces in X-, Y- and Z-direction and the torque in axial
direction.

Spindle
Spindle Spindlsuspension
Spindle esuspension
m achine-lateral
machine-lateral

Flange
Flange force
force ringring
for for
Force measurem ent
Force measurement

Spindle
Spindlflange
eflange

Spindle
Spindle

Tool
Tool

Fig. 1: Position of the flange force ring between spindle suspension and spindle flange

230
→ 110
piezo-electric
force sensors

Fig. 2: Flange force ring with piezoelectric sensors Fig. 3: Spindle ball bearing force ring

20.201e Page 2
The forces measured using this flange sensor have been compared to forces measured with a
highly accurate table dynamometer (Kistler Type 9265B) which was mounted on the machine
tool table, directly beneath the workpiece (Fig. 4). Fig. 5 shows the static force measurements in
X-, Y-, Z-direction for calibration purposes (as indicated in Fig. 4) for both flange ring and table
dynamometer; the measurements are in good agreement. The flange sensor system offers sev-
eral advantages for the use in process monitoring: Tool spindles can be retrofitted easily and
quickly. The force ring is not in direct proximity of the milling or drilling process, the wiring is out-
side of the working space. The ring can be applied to tool monitoring, in particular for tool failure
detection. A first prototype of this new sensor has already been tested successfully on a CNC
machine tool for milling operations.

spindle integrated
bearing force sensor

spindle integrated
spindle flange force ring
rotating dynamometer
Kistler type 9123A
tool
table dynamometer
workpiece Kistler type 9265B

Fig. 4: Schematic view of the sensor positions on the machine tool.

20.201e Page 3
 Static calibration in x-direction
70
60
50
Force in [N]

40
30
20
10
0
-10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Static calibration in y-direction

70
60 Table dynamometer
50 Flange force ring
Force in [N]

40
30
20
10
0
-10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Static calibration in z-direction

250

200
Force in [N]

150

100

50

-50
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time in [sec]

Fig. 5: Comparison of signals measured with a table dynamometer and the flange force ring

20.201e Page 4
Since the ring is mounted on the flange however, process forces and -torques as well as dynamic
effects due to inertia of the spindle are measured. By compensating the measured signals for the
inertial forces by subtracting the product of the spindle mass and the (axial) acceleration (which
can be calculated as the second derivative of the tools z-position, extracted from the CNC as
described in [1]), the process forces without inertial forces of the spindle can be calculated. An
example will be shown below.
Another sensor prototype for process monitoring has been tested, which is mounted as spacer
between the two spindle ball bearings of the fixed bearing (see Fig. 3). It is basically a hollow
cylinder likewise equipped with piezoelectric force sensor elements. It permits force measure-
ments in axial direction and is therefore especially useful for monitoring drilling processes. In the
further this spacer can also be used to output on-line the preloading while installing the bearing
in the spindle in order to ensure a safe assembly of the ball bearing. It also allows dynamic
monitoring of the ball bearing preloading during operation.

Force measurement with a flange force ring sensor during a drilling cycle

As an example for the application of the force sensor, a measurement made during a drilling
cycle is shown. The drilling was conducted in two steps with an intermediate depth of 10 mm and
a final depth of 20 mm. Fig. 6 shows the axial position of the tool centre point versus time, which
was measured during the drilling cycle. The fast feed of the spindle causes forces of inertia,
being measured by the flange ring sensor (grey zones in Fig. 6). In Fig. 7, the light grey line
shows the process force in axial direction, measured by a rotating cutting dynamometer (Kistler
Type 9123A), which was used as a reference. The broken line shows the axial process force
measured by the flange ring sensor, compensated for inertial forces due to fast feed rate. In
order to compensate the inertial forces, the second derivative of the axial tool position was
multiplied by the spindle mass and the result subtracted from the measured force signal of the
flange ring sensor. The measured and corrected force signal of the flange ring is of similar quality
as the axial force measured by the rotating cutting dynamometer, as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 6: Process force (axial) measured by the flange force ring during a two-step drilling cycle

20.201e Page 5
Fig. 7: Flange ring measured axial force corrected for inertial effects and compared to force mea-
sured using a commercially available table dynamometer

The axial force gives a very good indication of the tool wear state. With increasing tool wear the
average force during tool engagement (the plateaux in Fig. 7) increases. If the z-position is
known, the height of these plateaux can be calculated automatically, and thus be used for tool
monitoring.

Dynamic measurements during a rough-milling process

Another application is to measure the cutting force components during a roughmilling process.
As can be seen in Fig. 8, the measured force components in x- and y-direction of the flange ring
sensor are in good agreement with the signals measured by the table dynamometer. Since in
this case only the workpiece is moved, there is no vertical acceleration of the spindle, and since
the spindle speed remains constant during the milling process, compensation of inertial forces is
not necessary.

20.201e Page 6
Fig. 8: Comparison of force signals measured by the flange force ring and the table dynamome-
ter during downcut milling along the x-axis (for co-ordinate system see Fig. 4).

The force signals in Fig. 8 show every single tooth engagement. A missing or broken tooth would
immediately change the periodicity of the signals. In an automated monitoring system, these
signals can therefore be used for the supervision of the tool state.

Monitoring the preloading of the spindle ball bearing during assembly

A third application is to monitor preloading of the spindle ball bearing during assembly, an oppor-
tunity which is offered by the newly developed spacer between the ball bearings of the fixed
bearing. With this option, it is possible to have accurate control of the preloading of the inner and
the outer ball bearing ring during installation of the bearing. Furthermore, the loading onto the
bearing in process may be monitored, and even damage of the bearing can be recognised.

Conclusion

The sensor systems presented herein are suitable for process and tool monitoring in milling and
drilling. As the presented sensors are placed in direct line of force, they measure changing of the
tool or process state more sensitively than power or current signals from the drives. The signal
quality is good enough for use in an automated process monitoring system. Disturbing effects
due to inertial forces and torques can be compensated by using machine control information. In
addition, the preloading during assembly of the bearing may be monitored by the bearing force
ring, as well as the loading onto the bearing during operation.

Acknowledgements

This research was carried out under a grant by the Swiss Commission for Technology and
Innovation (KTI), Bern. The authors would like to thank the other firms participating in this pro-
ject, namely Mikron SA Agno, Starrag and Step-Tec AG.

Reference
[1] Margot R., Hoffmann P., Scheer C., Rehsteiner F., Using Machine Control Information For
Reliable Process Monitoring, ICME 98 CIRP International Seminar on Intelligent Computation
in Manufacturing Engineering, Capri, July 1-3 1998 (523-530).

20.201e Page 7