Development of a polymer impregnated concrete damping carriage for linear guideways for machine tools

Abstract

Linear guideway systems of CNC machine tools are replacing the conventional slideways to achieve higher machining speed which has resulted in lower damping capacity. Damping carriages made of steel have been introduced to improve damping, however, that did not render significant improvement. Consequently, an attempt has been made in this study to improve damping in a CNC machine table by replacing the current steel damping carriage with one made of concrete since it has much higher internal damping. To select a suitable material for the carriage, the damping characteristics and strength of normal concrete, cellular concrete and polymer impregnated normal and cellular concrete have been investigated. It has been found that polymer impregnated cellular concrete (PC) is the most suitable material for the purpose. Consequently, a new damping carriage has been designed and fabricated using PC and has been incorporated into the table of a CNC machine table. This damping carriage has been found to improve the damping capacity and dynamic characteristics of the CNC table system equivalent of the slideway system.