Handling Metal Cutting Vibrations in Real Time Using Active Vibration Control

Chatter vibrations are causing large monetary losses daily in industry. New materials have increased the challenges with harmful vibration levels. Since the vibrations, when observed as a final result, are chaotic and the vibration process nonlinear, it is a challenging task to deal with it. It is also a common “understanding” in the cutting industry that chatter is RPM (the rotational speed) dependent, since the behavior changes with RPM. Many attempts have been done over many years to mitigate and understand the vibrations. In our vast research on these topics, we have found that it is rewarding to classify the vibrations into categories, enabling a better understanding of its underlying physics and “source of vibrations,” and thus also the formulation of a possible remedy. An analysis approach has been developed where vibrations are analyzed and categorized and a GO/NOGO indicator is telling if the machine has the “right type of vibrations.” The paper includes work outlining a unique solution to inhibit the chatter process and allowing metal cutting without harmful vibrations. This article will discuss how such machine testing can be performed and what solutions are at hand, thus saving important money for the companies and also increases the quality of the workpiece.