Teachless Process Monitoring for Single Part Production

For automated batch production with machine tools process monitoring is essential to secure process stability and quality of the product. Referencing the monitoring usually happens during ramp-up of the process by measuring different signals of the machine. In order to provide process monitoring for single part production, reference data has to be generated without having a chance to teach the monitoring with real process data. A way to circumvent this is to use a process simulation of material removal to reference process monitoring. This approach enables calculation of signal-alike reference data based on the NC-path for a workpiece. Hence an autonomous control for manufacturing single parts is possible.

This paper describes a concept to generate reference data for process monitoring via a way-based simulation of the process. For this purpose a method to use a control and machine-based simulation coupled with a dexel-based simulation of material removal is described. The comparison of results of the simulation with measured signals of a real process gives a first validation of the basic concept.