The application of polymer composites to the table-top machine tool

components for higher stiffness and reduced weight

Sung-Kyum Cho, Hyun-Jun Kim, Seung-Hwan Chang

School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University 221, Huksuk-Dong, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 156-756, Republic of Korea
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Available online 31 August 2010
Keywords:
Machine tools
Compositemetal hybrid structures
Damping capacity
Structural stiffness
a b s t r a c t
Small machine tools have the inevitable drawback of low structural stiffness caused by a low load-carry-
ing capacity of bearing components. Therefore, mass reduction of the components is advantageous to
ensure high performance of the machine tools. In this study, a small table-top machine tool structure
was designed and fabricated by using carbon/epoxy composites and resin concrete to reduce the weight
of the structure, and enhance the structural stiffness and damping capacity. To determine the specica-
tions of the composite materials nite element analyses and vibration tests were carried out. Several
machine tool components were fabricated and assembled using mechanical joining and adhesive bond-
ing. Our results showed that the re-designed structure was 36.8% lighter, and the structural stiffness was
increased by 16% with higher loss factors (2.823.64%).
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The demand for miniaturized machine tools is growing relative
to conventional machine tools because of the need to save space,
and because of the need for low energy consumption when the
overall size of a manufacturing components are a few millimeters
with micro-scale machining precision, such as a camera lens for
mobile phones. Miniaturized machines have other advantages as
well: rapid and precise motion controls are possible due to low
structural inertia, and they produce low levels of vibration and
heat during machining [13]. One of the weak points of miniatur-
ized machines is their low structural stiffness caused by low bear-
ing capacity and their inadequate structural robustness, which
affects machining precision in products. Many efforts have been
made to address these limitations such as raising the spindle speed
with a low level of runout (below 0.1 lm) [4]. Improvements in
microfactory structural damping and stiffness using new materials
have also been tried. Kim et al. [5] designed and fabricated a light-
weight XY stage for a micro-EDM machine system with brous
composites and PVC foam to increase structural stiffness and
damping capacity, thereby improving the load-carrying capacity
of a stage driven by air bearings. Kim et al. [6] tried to replace a
microfactory machine tool column made of steel with a foam-com-
posite sandwich structure by controlling the stacking angle and
composite thickness. They achieved an increase in stiffness of more
than 50% with a 62% weight reduction. Kim and Chang [7] devel-
oped a friction layer using dry fabrics to increase the damping
capacity and structural stiffness of an aluminumcomposite hybrid
structure that had a 530% damping increment, and applied this to
the spindle holder of a micro-milling machine. To enhance struc-
tural robustness, ber-reinforced composites and resin concrete
have been used in conventional machine structures to improve
damping capacity. Lee et al. [8] and Chang et al. [9] applied
glass/epoxy composite plates to a machine column and a head-
stock to improve structural damping by surface damping treat-
ment. Haranath et al. [10] applied viscoelastic damping layers to
various machine tool structures, such as milling machines, for
damping enhancement. Rahman et al. [11] used resin concretes
to design a linear guide system with high damping, and Kim et
al. [12] studied the mechanical properties of resin concrete accord-
ing to aggregate content with applications to a machine bed. As a
part of enhancing damping characteristics of machine tool struc-
tures a new type of composite material was also investigated using
polymeric mortars with various recycled llers [13].
In this study, a table-top machining center made of stainless
steel and aluminum was re-designed by using polymer-based
ber-reinforced composites and resin concrete to improve struc-
tural stiffness and damping capacity with low structural mass.
The static deection and natural frequencies of the existing metal
system were investigated using nite element analysis. The results
were used as the design basis for the new structure. Two types of
carbon/epoxy composites were used, and the appropriate stacking
angles and thicknesses of the composites were determined by
parametric study and nite element analysis. The damping
capacity of compositeresin concrete hybrid specimens according
0263-8223/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2010.08.030

Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 820 5354; fax: +82 2 814 9476.
E-mail address: phigs4@cau.ac.kr (S.-H. Chang).
Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501
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to the thickness ratio was measured by vibration testing. The com-
positemetal hybrid structures were fabricated and assembled by
adhesive bonding and bolting. A vibration test was carried out to
determine the systems performance, and the results were com-
pared to the existing metal structure.
2. Conguration and materials of the table-top machine
structure
2.1. Components of the existing structure
The table-top machining center considered in this study was
composed of a machine base, a machine back plate, a Z stage,
and an XY stage as shown in Fig. 1a. For high structural stiffness,
the machine base and the back plate were made of stainless steel.
The moving parts, such as the XY and Z stages, were made of alu-
minum. A rotary table for the work-piece was installed in the XY
stage, and another rotary table for the spindle system was installed
in the Z stage. The shape and overall dimensions of the original me-
tal structure are shown in Fig. 1a.
2.2. Composite materials used for re-design of the machine structures
To enhance the structural stiffness and damping capacity of the
existing machining center, ber-reinforced composites and resin
concrete were applied to the original metal components. The de-
tails of design modication are summarized in Fig. 1b. Two differ-
ent types of unidirectional carbon/epoxy prepregs (USN125 and
UPN139, SK Chemical, Korea) were used to re-design the machine
back plate and the XY base of the machining center. High modulus
carbon/epoxy prepreg (UPN139), whose maximum modulus is
250 GPa along the ber direction, was applied to the back plate.
The other prepreg (USN125) was applied to the XY base and the
Z-base, replacing an aluminum structure. This increased the stiff-
ness and decreased the weight of the structures. The modulus vari-
ations of the carbon/epoxy prepregs (USN125 and UPN139)
according to the stacking angle were calculated using classical
laminate plate theory (CLPT [14]) for the determination of stacking
angles. For the machine base and the Z-base, resin concrete was ap-
plied to reduce the machine weight and increase the damping
capacity of the structure. The optimal composition of different
types of aggregates for the best mechanical properties (e.g., the
modulus) was proposed in [12]. In our study, only #2 and #3 sand
grit sizes were used, considering the small size of the structures.
The weight ratio between the sand and the epoxy resin was
92.5:7.5 following the research results in [12]. The main material
properties used in this study are summarized in Table 1.
3. Design modication with composite materials
3.1. Structural performance of the existing metal structure
To investigate the structural performance of the existing metal
structure, nite element analyses were carried out to calculate the
maximum static deection due to deadweight, and the natural fre-
quencies and corresponding mode shapes. The commercial nite
element code ANSYS 9.0 was used for the analysis. A xed bound-
ary condition in the Y-direction at the bottom of the machine
structure was imposed on the nite element model as shown in
Fig. 2a. Several other boundary conditions (such as xed in all
directions) were tried, but it was proved using vibration tests that
this condition best simulated the actual behavior of the machine
structure as described in Section 5. We used 19,209 SOLID45 ele-
ments and 30,404 nodes in the model. Because the goal of the anal-
ysis was to determine the exural deformation of the solid parts of
the structure, the air bearings and linear motors of the moving
parts, which were expected to generate rigid body motion of the
structure, were not modeled. Thus, all the moving parts were
merged with the mating stationary parts. Our results showed that
the maximum static deection due to deadweight was 0.465 lm at
the end of the rotary table in the XY stage, as shown in Fig. 2b. The
rst natural frequency was found to be 476.72 Hz (the spindle
bending mode). Two more exural modes were found at the 3rd
mode (596.78 Hz, bending mode of the XY base) and the 5th mode
(1031.70 Hz, twisting mode of the XY base) as shown in Fig. 2c.
The 2nd and 4th modes were found to be due to rigid body motion
caused by X and Z direction free body motion. These results were
used as a basis for the criterion of the re-design using composite
materials.
3.2. Structural design with brous composites and resin concrete
The machine back plate (360 mm 360 mm 35 mm) needs
high stiffness to resist bending and the twisting moments gener-
ated by the load from the XY stage under working conditions,
and also needs high specic stiffness (EI/q) to increase natural fre-
quencies so as to avoid resonance at low frequencies. The machine
base and the Z-base support the compressive forces of the Z-table
and the spindle system generating vibration during machining;
therefore, the Young modulus and damping capacity of the struc-
ture should be considered. By considering these structural require-
ments, a machine back plate was designed using a sandwich
structure composed of a high modulus carbon/epoxy composite
(UPN139) and a stainless steel core to increase structural stiffness
and damping capacity. The aluminum XY base was replaced by
another type of carbon/epoxy composite (USN125) that is lighter
Nomenclature
E Youngs modulus (GPa)
I 2nd moment of inertia of back plate section (m
4
)
b width of back plate cross section (m)
h height of back plate cross section (m)
h stacking angle of composite ()
t thickness of composites (m)
x distance from neutral axis (m)
q mass density (kg/m
3
)
m mass (kg)
V back plate volume (m
3
)
l back plate length (m)
n the number of the composite ply
g loss factor
f frequency (Hz)
H height of beam type specimen (m)
Subscripts
S stainless steel
C composites
R resin concrete
r resonance
1 left-hand half power point
2 right-hand half power point
x longitudinal direction of ber
y transverse direction of ber
S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501 493
and stiffer, because the original base moves during machining. The
aluminum Z-base was re-designed as a sandwich structure com-
posed of a resin concrete core and a carbon/epoxy composite
(USN125) skin for high damping capacity and light weight. Finally,
the center part of the machine base was dug out and lled with re-
sin concrete for a lighter weight and higher damping structure. The
nal design specication for each component was determined by
evaluation of structural performance using parametric studies
and nite element analyses. The ANSYS SOLID45 and SOLID46 ele-
ments were used for isotropic (stainless steel, aluminum, and resin
concrete) and anisotropic (carbon/epoxy composites) materials,
respectively.
3.3. Machine back plate and XY base applied by composites
The overall dimensions of the composite hybrid components
were the same as those of the metal component dimensions, which
means that as the composite thickness increased, the stainless
steel thickness decreased, thereby keeping the total thickness
constant (see Fig. 3). The stacking angle h, number of ply n, and
the location of composites of the compositestainless steel hybrid
machine back plates (e.g., sandwich or a one-side reinforcement)
were determined by calculating the bending stiffness and specic
bending stiffness according to the composite thickness and stack-
ing angle using the following equations. Eqs. (1) and (2) represent
Fig. 1. System congurations; (a) the components of the table-top machining center, (b) design modication of the structure with composites.
494 S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501
bending stiffnesses of a sandwich structure and a one-side rein-
forcement, respectively, and Eqs. (3) and (4) are specic bending
stiffnesses for the sandwich structure and the one-side reinforce-
ment case, respectively.
EI
sandwich

E
S
12
fb h 2t
3
g
E
C
12
fb h
3
b h 2t
3
g
1
EI
one-side
E
S
b h t
3
_ _
12
b h t f g x
h t
2
_ _ _ _
2
_
_
_
_
E
C
b t
3
_ _
12
b t h t
t
2
_ _
2
_ _
2
EI
q
_ _
sandwich

E
S
fbh2t
3
gE
C
fbh
3
bh2t
3
g
12

V
fbh2t l q
S
gbh fbh2tg l q
C
3
Table 1
Material properties.
Material Density
(kg/m
3
)
Youngs
modulus
(GPa)
Ply
thickness
(mm)
Loss
factor
(%)
USN125 1550 E
x
= 130 0.125 3.2 (max)
E
y
= 10
UPN139 1620 E
x
= 250 0.132 3.2 (max)
E
y
= 10
Resin concrete [12] 2207 25 2.8
Aluminum 2800 70 0.27
Stainless steel 7750 193 0.16
Fig. 2. Finite element analysis of the existing metal machine tool structure; (a) nite element mesh, (b) maximum deection due to deadweight, (c) exural mode shapes.
S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501 495
EI
q
_ _
one-side
E
S
b h t
3
12
b h t f g x
h t
2
_ _ _ _
2
_ _
E
C
b t
3
12
b t h t
t
2
_ _
2
_ _

V
fb h t l q
S
g fb h t l q
S
g
4
Based on the plate shape of the machine back plate, it seemed
that bending was the easiest deformation pattern (static deection
and bending vibration mode) of the structure. Thus, the bending
stiffness and specic bending stiffness of the hybrid machine back
plates for several stacking angles and thickness of composite skins
were calculated as shown in Fig. 3cf. Regarding the specic bend-
ing stiffness, because of the nature of brous composites (low den-
sity and high modulus), the specic bending stiffness increased as
Thickness [mm]
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
E
I

[
N
m
2
]
1.2e+5
1.5e+5
1.8e+5
2.1e+5
2.4e+5
2.7e+5
3.0e+5
3.3e+5
3.6e+5
3.9e+5
Thickness [mm]
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
E
I

[
N
m
2
]
1.2e+5
1.5e+5
1.8e+5
2.1e+5
2.4e+5
2.7e+5
3.0e+5
3.3e+5
3.6e+5
3.9e+5
Thickness [mm]
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
E
I
/

[
N
k
g
/
m
]
E
I
/

[
N
k
g
/
m
]
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
Thickness [mm]
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
a
c
e
b
d
f
Fig. 3. The compositestainless steel hybrid machine back plate; (a) sandwich structure, (b) one-side reinforcement structure, (c) bending stiffness of sandwich structure
w.r.t. stacking angle and thickness of the composite, (d) bending stiffness of one-side reinforcement structure w.r.t. stacking angle and thickness of the composite, (e) specic
bending stiffness of sandwich structure w.r.t. stacking angle and thickness of the composite, (f) specic bending stiffness of one-side reinforcement structure w.r.t. stacking
angle and thickness of the composite.
496 S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501
the stacking angle decreased, and the thickness increased for both
of the hybrid structures. However, for the bending stiffness (EI), the
stacking angles below 15, which have a higher Youngs modulus
than that of stainless steel, ensured better results. According to
the calculation results it was found that the sandwich machine
back plate with a [5]
n
stacking sequence had the most effective
performance even though [0]
2n
had the best result with a view-
point of Youngs modulus itself. The stacking sequence of [0]
2n
is
vulnerable to transverse fracture under impact conditions and
the machining process because it is very brittle in the transverse
direction (90). The required thickness of the composite was deter-
mined to be 10 mm, which means the number of ply, n, was 39 be-
cause the bending stiffness saturated near this value (Fig. 3c).
Using these results ([5]
39
), a nite element analysis was carried
out to determine the maximum static deection of the newly de-
signed structure with the same model as the metal structure, as
shown in Fig. 2a. From the analysis results, it was found that the
maximum deection due to deadweight was 0.419 lm, which
was 9.9% lower than that of the metal structure.
To determine the stacking sequence of the composite XY base
made of carbon/epoxy composite (USN 125), a nite element anal-
ysis was carried out according to the stacking angle, keeping the
same specication for the sandwich machine back plate ([5]
39
)
as previously determined. The analysis results showed that the
maximum static deection was 0.393 lm (15.5% lower than that
of the metal structure) when the stacking sequence of the compos-
ite XY base was [5]
80
(20 mm thick). From a modal analysis of
the new structure, it was found that the compositemetal hybrid
machine back plate and composite XY base had the same exural
vibration modes (1st, 3rd, and 5th modes) as the metal structures
with frequencies of 499.61 Hz, 672.86 Hz, and 1065.5 Hz, which
were 5%, 13%, and 3.2% higher than the frequencies of the metal
structure, respectively.
3.4. Z-base and machine base
The aluminum Z-base was re-designed using resin concrete and
a carbon/epoxy composite (USN125) to enhance damping capacity
with light weight, as shown in Fig. 4a. A pair of 10 mm-thick alu-
minum plates was applied at the top of the Z-base to assemble a
linear motion guide. The overall size of the composite Z-base was
the same as the aluminumZ-base. The stacking angle and the num-
ber of ply of composite prepregs were determined through nite
element analysis by checking the maximum deection due to the
weight of the Z-table and the spindle system, and the damping
capacity. The stacking sequences of the skin composites were
examined for [0/90]
n
and [h]
n
where h varied from 0 to 90 at
15 intervals, and the thickness of the composite skin ranged from
1 mm to 8 mm. The nite element analysis showed that even the
most effective composite Z-base applied by the composite with
[90]
48
(composite thickness was 6 mm) had a higher maximum
deection (0.0478 lm) than that of the aluminum Z-base
(0.020 lm) as shown in Fig. 4b. However, this level of deection
seemed too small to affect system performance to an appreciable
Thickness [mm]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D
e
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
m

[
m
]
0.0
2.0e-8
4.0e-8
6.0e-8
8.0e-8
1.0e-7
1.2e-7
1.4e-7
Thickness ratio [%]
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40
L
o
s
s

f
a
c
t
o
r

[
%
]
0
1
2
3
4
5
a b
c d
Fig. 4. The composite Z-base; (a) conguration of the composite Z-base made of a resin concrete and a carbon/epoxy prepreg and aluminum beam, (b) the maximum
deection due to deadweight of Z-table w.r.t. stacking angle and thickness of composite skin, (c) the compositeresin concrete hybrid specimen for vibration test, (d) the
measured and calculated loss factors of the compositeresin concrete hybrid specimens.
S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501 497
degree. On the other hand, the composite Z-base was able to en-
hance the damping capacity by reducing vibration amplitude (see
Fig. 4d) caused by the spindle operating at high speed.
To investigate the damping capacity of the compositeresin
concrete hybrid structure, vibration tests of the hybrid beam (see
Fig. 4c) were carried out. The stacking angle and thickness ratio
(H
C
/H) shown in Fig. 4c were controlled. Loss factor g was mea-
sured using half-power bandwidth and calculated using Eq. (5)
after applying an impact to the specimen suspended by a string.
g
f
2
f
1
f
r
5
Fromthe test results, it was found that the loss factor of the sand-
wich beamincreased as the stacking angle of the composite skin in-
creased, but it decreased as the thickness ratio increased, as shown
in Fig. 4d. This trend was in good agreement with the theoretical
result (surface damping treatment [15]) expressed in Eq. (6).
g
R
g
C

E
C
E
R
8
H
C
H
_ _
3
12
H
C
H
_ _
2
6
H
C
H
_ _
_ _ 1 6
From the preceding analysis and test results, the composite
stacking angle and the thickness were determined to be 90 and
6 mm; therefore, the stacking sequence was [90]
48
.
The stainless steelresin concrete hybrid machine base was also
analyzed to determine the maximum deection due to the weight
of the Z stage and an air spindle. The surface area of the resin con-
crete was the same as the bottom area of the Z-base. The analysis
results revealed that the deection had an almost uniform distri-
bution with a maximum value of 2.93 nm, whereas the stainless
steel machine base had a maximum value of 0.325 nm. Even
though the newly designed machine base had higher static deec-
tion than that of the metal machine base, the level of deection
was quite low so it did not seem to affect much the machine per-
formance because the target machining precision of the machine
tool was level of a few micrometers.
Fig. 5. The fabrication process of composite structures; (a) assembly of the hybrid machine back plate and the XY-base, (b) the compositeresin concrete Z-base, (c) the
metalresin concrete hybrid machine base.
498 S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501
4. Fabrication of metalcomposite hybrid structures
4.1. Machine back plate and XY base made of carbon/epoxy
composites
The hybrid machine back plate was composed of a 15 mm-thick
stainless steel core and 10 mm-thick carbon/epoxy composite
skins ([5]
39
, UPN139), as described in Section 3.3. The cured com-
posite skins and the stainless steel core were treated with abrading
papers and cleaned using acetone. For bonding, epoxy adhesives
(DP460, 3 M) were applied to the surfaces at room temperature
for 24 h. After the bonding process was completed, bolt holes
and tabs were machined to allow assembly with other parts such
as the XY base (see Fig. 5a).
The 20 mm-thick composite XY base was fabricated using a
carbon/epoxy composite ([5]
80
, USN125) with the same shape
and size as the aluminum structure. A central rectangular hole
(170 mm 140 mm) was machined in the composite XY base
by water jet cutting (see Fig. 5a). Both of the composite structures
were fabricated by vacuum bag-degassing molding with the rec-
ommended cure cycles, as shown in Fig. 6a and b. The fabricated
machine base and the XY base were assembled by adhesive bond-
ing and mechanical fastening methods with ten bolts, as shown in
Fig. 5a. As a result, the hybrid machine back plate and composite
XY base showed 46.9% and 45.5% weight reductions, respectively.
4.2. Z-base and the machine base made of resin concrete
By considering previous research results [12], sands with #2
and #3 grit sizes were used to fabricate the resin concrete struc-
ture. The weight ratio between the sand and the epoxy resin for
casting YD-114F epoxy and D-230 hardener with a mixing ratio
of 7:3 was 92.5:7.5. The sands were washed out to eliminate impu-
rities by water and dried well. Four molds for the resin concrete
beams and another mold for the plate were prepared, and the resin
concrete was lled into the mold and rammed for compaction
(Fig. 5b). The materials were cured in an autoclave at 60 C and
0.4 MPa for 6 h as shown in Fig. 6c. The cured resin concrete beams
and plate were wrapped with carbon/epoxy prepregs (USN125)
with the stacking sequence of [90]
48
(6 mm thick). The structures
were put into molds and cured in an autoclave using the cure cycle
shown in Fig. 6b. The cured compositeresin concrete structures
were bonded using an epoxy adhesive (DP 460, 3 M) and nally a
pair of aluminum beams were bonded at the top of the structure
for assembling linear motion guide rails. After the bonding process,
to adjust the atness and the straightness of the composite Z-base,
the aluminum beams were precisely processed using a milling ma-
chine. The mass of the structure was reduced from 7.5 kg to 4.6 kg,
a 38.7% weight reduction.
For a light weight machine base with high damping, the original
stainless steel machine base was machined to make a cavity
(310 250 30 mm
3
) at the center of the structure as shown in
Fig. 5c. The resin concrete was lled into this cavity. The curing
process was the same as that used for the compositeresin con-
crete Z-base. The fabricated hybrid machine base had a 28.4%
weight reduction, reducing the mass from 49.6 kg to 35.5 kg.
All the fabricated machine components and the original compo-
nents, such as the linear motion guide blocks and Z-table, were
assembled using adhesive bonding or mechanical joining with
bolts. The Z-base was bonded to the machine base with epoxy
adhesive (DP 460, 3 M), and other metal components were assem-
bled by bolted joints as shown in Fig. 7a. Metal components includ-
ing the X and Y tables and the Z-table were assembled after the
linear motion guides were mounted (Fig. 1b). The linear motors
and air bearings were not assembled because our research scope
was limited to the re-design of structural components for high
stiffness, high damping, and light weight.
5. Performance evaluation
The existing metal machine tool structure had been assembled
with non-contact driving components such as air bearings and a
linear motion guide attached by linear motors. These driving com-
ponents have complex behaviors when they move and vibrate,
which makes the analysis and test results complex. Therefore, in
this study, only the non-moving parts, as shown in Fig. 7a, were
Fig. 6. Cure cycles of composites; (a) carbon/epoxy prepreg (UPN 139), (b) carbon/
epoxy prepreg (USN 125), (c) resin concrete.
S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501 499
considered. The disassembly of the existing metal machine struc-
ture was technically difcult, so an indirect evaluation was carried
out. For the compositemetal hybrid structure (Fig. 7a), nite ele-
ment modal analyses (Fig. 7c) and vibration tests were performed
to nd the resonant frequencies of the structure. The calculated
resonant frequencies were compared with the test results to deter-
mine the accuracy of the nite element analysis (see Fig. 7e). Next,
the metal structure with the same assembly conguration as the
hybrid structure was analyzed using the same nite element mod-
el (Fig. 7c) as the hybrid structure. Finally, the analyzed resonant
frequencies and their mode shapes for the two systems were com-
pared to evaluate the systems performance indirectly.
From the analysis and test results, it was found that the three
main frequencies had slight errors compared with the test results,
as summarized in Table 2. These small errors might be caused by
the simple boundary condition (displacement restriction in Y-
direction at the bottom of the machine) and the assumption of a
perfect bonding condition in the nite elements. The analysis re-
sults revealed that the compositemetal hybrid structure had a
1216% higher structural stiffness.
The loss factor was also evaluated using the vibration test, cal-
culating the half-power bandwidth at the resonant frequencies.
The loss factors ranged from 2.82% to 3.64% (see Fig. 7e and Table
2), which is a higher damping capacity relative to ordinary welded
or bolted metal structures [8]. The vibration test and nite element
analysis of the metal structure with a different system congura-
tion (the Z-table was not able to be disassembled for technical
reasons, see Fig. 7b and d) was also tried, but the amplitude of
the frequency response function (FRF) were quite low (see Fig. 7e
and f) because of the air bearings between the Z-base and the
Fig. 7. The assembled compositesmetal hybrid machine tool structure and its performance; (a) fabricated compositemetal hybrid machine tool structure, (b) metal
machine tool structure, (c) nite element model for compositesmetal hybrid machine tool structure, (d) nite element model for metal machine tool structure, (e) result of
vibration test and modal analysis for the fabricated compositemetal hybrid machine tool structure, (f) result of vibration test and modal analysis for metal structure.
500 S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501
Z-table. The air bearing system seems to have attenuated much of
the system vibration, and the higher mass reduced the natural fre-
quencies. The mode shapes estimated by the nite element model
(Fig. 7d) were the same as the hybrid structure (Fig. 7c), and the
test and analysis resonant frequency values were in relatively good
agreement (Fig. 7f), which shows that the analysis results are rea-
sonable. The system mass was measured for both systems, and the
total compositemetal system showed a 36.8% weight reduction.
6. Conclusion
In this paper, carbon/epoxy composites and resin concrete were
applied to a table-top machine tool structure to enhance structural
stiffness and damping capacity, and reduce weight. A composite
stainless steel hybrid back plate, a carbon/epoxy XY base, a com-
positeresin concrete Z-base, and a resin concrete machine base
were designed and fabricated. The types of composites and stack-
ing sequences for brous composites were determined by nite
element analyses with respect to structural stiffness and damping
capacity. The newly fabricated hybrid structure showed a 36.8%
weight reduction and the structural stiffness was increased by up
to 16% based on our modal analysis results with higher damping
capacity (with a loss factor ranging from 2.82% to 3.64%). However,
system performance needs to be examined more precisely by driv-
ing tests, checking machining quality after installing all the driving
components such as air bearings and linear motors, and mounting
all the related components such as the rotary table and Z-table,
which were not accomplished in this study.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Chung-Ang University Re-
search Grants in 2010. The authors extend special thanks to Dr.
Jong-Kweon Park and Dr. Seung-Kook Ro of the Intelligent Machine
Systems Research Centre, KIMM for their thoughtful help during
this research.
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Table 2
Analysis and test results for the models presented in Fig. 7a and b.
Modes Natural frequency (Hz) Mode shape Loss factor
g (%)
Analysis Experiment
Fig. 7a Fig. 7b Fig. 7a Fig. 7b
Hybrid
structure
Metal
structure
% Hybrid
structure
Metal
structure
% Hybrid
structure
Metal
structure
1 397 342 16" 346 264 31" 354 236 In-plane rotation in Y-dir. 3.64
2 690 595 16" 596 469 27" 658 396 Back plate bending 3.10
3 1169 1049 12" 911 888 3" 1133 826 Back plate twisting 2.82
S.-K. Cho et al. / Composite Structures 93 (2011) 492501 501