Diploma thesis deals with the design of a small, computer-controlled machine tool. It is used for gearwheels production and combines the two most used manufacturing methods. The dissertation was dealt with in cooperation with a business subject which focuses on the development of milling machines. The introductory section is discussing research of current state of knowledge and market research focused on gearing machine tools, including patent investigation. The conceptual solution is discussing several variants of the cinematographic arrangement of the axes from which the final design solution was developed. This is described in detail in the second part of the dissertation. It contains description of individual construction complexes, choice of propellant units, modal analysis of sliding systems using the method of finite elements and in the conclusion the electronic part of the machine with its overall shape solution.

The production of faulty parts poses significant challenges for production facilities, as it leads to increased inventory levels, operating costs, and impedes overall productivity. Despite its fundamental nature, this issue remains prevalent in manufacturing operations. To effectively reduce the rate of faulty parts, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of the manufacturing process and exercise control by monitoring various parameters.  The aim of this study is to investigate the right prerequisites which enable quality assurance through in-line failure detection by vibration analysis. The research questions formulated for this thesis are as follows:  RQ1: What are the essential prerequisites for quality assurance through in-line failure detection by vibration analysis in the machining of splines? RQ2: How suitable is the use of vibration measurements in identifying and sorting out poor quality in the specific machining process of splines? The study was conducted through a literature review and a single case study of a gear hobbing process in an industrial manufacturing company.  The collection of data was acquired via interviews, observations, and vibration measurements during the spline manufacturing process. To analyse the collected data several tools got used. Python was used as the tool for performing several operations on the dataset, such as FFT of the vibration signals. To later visualize the results which facilitated the analysis of the entire dataset.  The results of the study indicate several similarities between the documented fault progression in gear systems and the manufacturing of splines. However, further research is needed to identify the core differences between these two fault progressions.  Furthermore, the study identified the essential prerequisites for implementing vibration analysis as an in-line failure detection method in spline manufacturing operations. Additionally, it concluded on the suitability of vibration analysis for identifying faults in this context.

The vision of this thesis is to improve the metal cutting process, with emphasis on the cutting tool, to enable stable and economical industrial production while using expensive tools such as hobs. The aim is to increase the tribological understanding of the mechanisms operating at a cutting edge and of how these can be controlled using different tool parameters. Such understanding will facilitate the development and implementation of future, tribologically designed, cutting tools. Common wear and failure mechanisms in gear hobbing have been identified and focused studies of the material transferred to the tool, in both metal cutting operations and in simplified tribological tests, have been conducted. Interactions between residual stresses in the tool coating and the shape of the cutting edge have also been studied. It was concluded that tool failure is often initiated via small defects in the coated tool system, and it is necessary to eliminate, or minimize, these defects in order to manufacture more reliable and efficient gear cutting tools. Furthermore, the geometry of a cutting edge should be optimized with the residual stress state in the coating, in mind. The interaction between a compressive stress and the geometry of the cutting edge will affect the stress state at the cutting edge and thus affect the practical toughness and the wear resistance of the coating in that area. An intermittent sliding contact test is presented and shown to be of high relevance for studying the interaction between the tool rake face and the chip in milling. It was also demonstrated that material transfer, that can have large effects on the cutting performance, commences already after very short contact times. The nature of the transfer may differ in different areas on the tool. It may include glassy layers, with accumulations of specific elements from the workpiece, and transfer of steel in more or less oxidized form. Both tool coating material, its surface roughness, and the relative speed between the tool surface and the chip, may influence the extent to which the different transfer will occur.

Le travail de recherche réalisé dans le cadre de cette thèse introduit une nouvelle approche thermomécanique pour la modélisation du procédé de taillage à la fraise-mère et la maitrise de la précision géométrique et la qualité des pièces fabriquées. Le processus de coupe de la génération des dentures des couronnes de grandes dimensions a été simulé pour la prédiction des efforts de coupe. Le calcul de ces efforts s’est basé sur trois phases : une phase de simulation de l’'intersection géométrique entre l'outil et la pièce moyennant une simulation de la cinématique du procédé par le logiciel CATIA, une phase de simulation numérique ALE (Approche Eulérienne-Lagrangienne) 2D de la coupe orthogonale, et une dernière phase dite ‘simulation mécanistique’ qui utilise les résultats des deux premières phases pour la prédiction des efforts de coupe. La présente approche conduit à un modèle de prédiction des efforts de coupe 3D pour le processus de taillage et apparaît comme une alternative intéressante à l'approche classique de la littérature qui nécessite beaucoup d’essais expérimentaux pour déterminer les coefficients spécifiques de coupe caractéristique du matériau usiné. Nous avons également proposé une approche prédictive basée sur une modélisation analytique de l’interaction arête-copeau lors d’une opération de taillage en finition. La démarche proposée présente l'intérêt de s'affranchir des essais d'usinage, souvent longs et couteux, dans le cas de cette opération complexe (gabarit et géométrie des pièces, cinématique, formation de copeau, etc.). Enfin, le modèle proposé a été appliqué pour analyser le taillage des grandes couronnes (plusieurs mètres) en phase de finition / This work introduces a novel approach for a predictive model for hobbing process in order to improve the geometrical accuracy and quality of the manufactured part. An industrial case study of the generation of the teeth was simulated for prediction of effort. The calculation of the cutting forces is based on several steps: tool/part intersection step by means of a kinematic simulation of the process by CATIA, 2D numerical simulation of the process of the orthogonal cutting and finally the last step called ‘mechanistic simulation’ which uses the results of the other two steps for the prediction of cutting forces. This approach leads to model the 3D cutting force for hobbing process and appears as an interesting alternative to traditional mechanistic approach which requires a lot of experimental tests to determine the cutting force coefficients. Besides, we have proposed a predictive approach based on an analytical modeling of chip formation in finishing hobbing operation. The interest of the suggested approach is to be able to avoid machining tests in the case of this very complicated operation (huge dimensional parts, kinematic, chip formation process, etc...). Finally, the proposed model was applied to analyze the hobbing of larges parts (several meters) during finishing stage

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The industrial development of metal cutting processes in gear manufacturing aims at continuously increasing productivity, including increased tool reliability. Basically, the parameters that have an influence on the cutting processes should be known and possible to control. Gear manufacturing is highly important for the automotive industry. The prevalent manufacturing method is gear hobbing with hobs consisting of solid Powder Metallurgical High Speed Steel (PM HSS) with Physical Vapor Deposited (PVD) coatings. The hob teeth have to be reconditioned before wear reaches such levels that the gear quality becomes impaired. Such wear often results in a total breakdown of the tool. One crucial reason for this is that hobbing processes for the present often lack reliability; which makes it difficult for the gear manufacturers to predict the tool wear on the hob teeth and decide when the tool should be replaced in order to avoid severe damages. A consequence of catastrophic tool wear is that it leads to an instantaneously changed geometry of the cutting edge, which in turn implies that the machined gears do not comply with the stipulated properties on the machined gear products. A single tooth milling test (STMT) with tools of PM-HSS in a conventional milling machine has been developed in this research project, aiming at characterizing the effect of tool preparation on the type of wear mechanism. The experience and conclusions from these tests may probably be transferred to real PM-HSS hob tooling (HT). The advantages of such a test, compared to a real gear hob test, are primarily the cost reductions and time saving aspects with respect to both the design and the manufacturing of the cutting teeth The research presented in this thesis is based on experimental investigations and theoretical studies of significant parameters, i.e. the surface roughness and edge rounding, contributing to the robust and reliable design of a PM-HSS cutting tool. The research work has in addition to, the development of the milling test method, also comprised development of measuring methods and a simulation model based on the Finite Element Model (FEM). / <p>QC 20121105</p>

Last years, lead time, flexibility, cost, and quality have become significant factors for the manufacturing industry. This also applies to gears, which could be manufactured using hobbing and grinding. Fixing systems are used to precisely center and fully fix gears to reach high quality. These are expensive and not flexible which requires a new one for each gear dimension. This limits the production of prototypes and so new product for the market. Developing a 3D concept for affordable and flexible fixing is the purpose. Through literature research, analyzing the current process, discussions with the company, desk research, and benchmarking, requirements are made for the new concept. Then brainstorming sessions are done to come up with new concepts. The concepts are analyzed, discussed with the company, and combined into two better concepts. Even though the higher flexibility of the other concept, the robustness of the winning concept “CoNut”. The principle is that only a few parts have to be changed instead of the whole system. The concept is further developed in 3D, where design for cost and manufacturing are applied. Finally, test procedures are drafted to validate the concept against therequirements. While some require a prototype, others are already validated by using the 3D model. Ultimately, an affordable and more flexible fixing system is developed as a 3D concept, by using a structural design process, which is likely to meet all the requirements. Since the model is cheaper and easier to change within meeting the other requirements, the purpose is reached.

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