Title: Design and manufacture of high-speed spindles for dry micromachining applications

Authors: Mark J. Jackson, Grant M. Robinson, Luke J. Hyde, Kalyana Kanjarkar, Jie Cui

Addresses: Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Birck Nanotechnology Center, College of Technology, Purdue University, 401 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2021, USA. ' Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Birck Nanotechnology Center, College of Technology, Purdue University, 401 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2021, USA. ' Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Birck Nanotechnology Center, College of Technology, Purdue University, 401 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2021, USA. ' Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Birck Nanotechnology Center, College of Technology, Purdue University, 401 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2021, USA. ' Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Birck Nanotechnology Center, College of Technology, Purdue University, 401 North Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2021, USA

Abstract: The efficiency of microcutting tools that are used in high-speed air turbine spindles depends on the rotational speed of the rotor. A high-pressure variation on the surface of the rotor causes the rotor to retard and this severely limits the reliability and durability of High-Speed Spindles (HSSs) to support new developments in the developing area of micromachining. A variety of spindle designs were proposed and numerical simulations were carried out for each design using CFX software. The results revealed that changes in the rotor, inlet and outlet geometries affect the pressure distribution on the rotor significantly. The optimum design was identified based on the lowest pressure variation on the rotor surface obtained from the CFX results. Spinning the rotor at very high speeds provides a new direction in the development of mechanical micromachining.

Keywords: high speed spindles; HSSs; micromachining; computational fluid dynamics; CFD; microcutting tools; dry machining; air turbines; nanomanufacturing; pressure distribution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2007.014616

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2007 Vol.1 No.5, pp.641 - 656

Published online: 21 Jul 2007 *

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