Int. J. Maeh. Tools Manufact. Vol. 37, No. 12, pp.

1715-1719, 1997

~ Pergamon © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Printed in Great Britain
0890-6955/97517.00 + ,00

PII: S0890-6955(97)00032-1

A STUDY OF PRE-COMPENSATIONFOR THERMALERRORS OF

NC MACHINE TOOLS

SHUHE LI,t~: YIQUN ZHANG:~ and GUOXIONG ZHANG~

(Received 13 November 1996)

Abstract--Thermally-induced errors are major contributors to the overall accuracy of machine tools. In this
paper, an error pre-compensation system is developed to correct the thermal errors of the spindle and lead screws.
A simple gauge 1-D bali array is used to accelerate and simplify the error measurement. An auto-regressive
model based on spindle rotation speed is then developed to describe the thermal errors. Using the model, the
thermal errors can be predicted without measuring the temperature field of the machine tool as soon as the
workpiece NC machining program is made. By correcting the program, the errors can be pre-compensated before
machining. Thus the plvcess of compensation is greatly simplified and the cost is reduced. The test results on
a vertical machining center show that a 70% reduction of thermal errors has been gained after compensation.
© 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

1. INTRODUCTION

Thermally-induced errors arise from thermal deformations of the machine elements caused
by internal/external heat sources. They have been recognized as one of the most significant
errors of machine tools [1]. There are several methods to solve the problem, including
temperature control, thermal stable design and error compensation.
In the past several years, the error compensation technique has received wide attention
for its ability to correct machine errors cost effectively beyond the capabilities of careful
machine design and manufacturing. Significant amounts of research have been devoted to
real-time error compensation [2-6]. The typical method is to measure the thermal errors
and temperature of several representative points on the machine tools simultaneously in
some experiments, then build an empirical model which correlates thermal errors with
temperature states through curve fitting of the data obtained. During machining, the errors
are predicted on-line by the measured temperature and corrected by the CNC controller
in real time using additional signals to the feed--drive servo-loop. However, no application
has been reported 1:o establish on commercial machine tools. There are several difficulties
which hinder its widespread application. First, it is tedious to obtain thermal errors and
temperatures of many points on the machine tools. Second, the wires of thermal sensors
influence the operation of the machine more or less. Third, the real-time error compen-
sation capability is not available on most machine tools.
Under this background, a novel method of pre-compensation for thermal errors is
developed. The objective of the research is to enhance the accuracy of production-class
NC machine tools. In this paper, the friction of spindle bearings is regarded as the main
heat source. The thermal errors were measured by a simple gauge 1-D ball array. An auto-
regressive model based on spindle rotation speed was developed to describe the time-
variant thermal error. Using this model, the thermal errors can be predicted without meas-
uring the temperature. By correcting the NC part machining program, the thermal errors
are compensated before machining.
The work was implemented on a vertical machining center and a series of tests was
conducted to verify the effectiveness of this compensation method.

tAuthor to whom correspondence should be addressed.

~Department of Precision Instrument Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of
China.
m 31-12-c 1715
1716 Shuhe Li et al.

2. EXPERIMENTAL WORK
In the vertical machining center, the thermally-induced positioning error of the tool with
respect to the workpiece is the combination of the expansion of spindle, the distortion of
the spindle box, the expansion of three axes and the distortion of the column as shown
in Fig. 1. The thermal errors are not only time-variant in the time span but also spatial-
variant over the entire machine working volume due to the expansion of lead screw and
bending of the column.
In order to measure the thermal errors quickly, a simple gauge 1-D ball array is involved.
The 1-D ball array has been used to measure 21 geometric errors of machines [7]. It can
also be used to measure thermal errors. The construction design of the 1-D ball array is
schematically shown in Fig. 2. A series of balls with the same diameter and small spher-
icity errors is fixed on a rigid base. The manufacturing process of a 1-D ball array is very
simple. Several cone holes are bored by a jig boring machine. Then the balls are glued
in these holes. The ball array is used as the reference for machine thermal errors measure-
ment.
A lot of pre-experiments show that the thermal errors in the z-axis are very large com-
pared with those in the x-axis and y-axis in the machine under investigation, therefore
only the thermal errors in the z-axis are discussed here. The methods of studying the other
two axes are the same.
The measuring principle is shown in Fig. 3. The probe was mounted on the spindle
box and a 1-D ball array was fixed on the working table. Initially, the coordinates of the
balls were measured under cold-start conditions. Then the spindle was run at a testing
condition over a period of time to make the machine thermal status change. The thermal
drifts of the tool are obtained by subtracting the ball coordinates under the new thermal
status from the referenced coordinates under cold-start conditions. Because it only takes

£
leadscrew

column

L foundation

Fig. 1. Thermal error sources.

ball

base I

Fig. 2. The structure of a 1-D ball array.

spindle m o u n t e d
probe ~

z2

Fig. 3. Measurement set-up.

 P r e - c o m p e n s a t i o n f o r m a c h i n e tool e r r o r 1717

about 1 min to finish the measurement, the thermal drifts of the machine under different
z-coordinates can be evaluated quickly and easily.
The data (spindle rotation speed and thermal error) were obtained every 10 min. Since
only the drifts of coordinates deviated from the cold-start condition but not the absolute
dimensions of the gauge concerned, accuracy and precise set-up are not required. The z-
axis working range is 400 mm, only the thermal errors at four coordinates (zl = - 50,
z2 = - 150, z3 = -- 250, z4 = - 350) were measured. Thermal errors at other coordinates
can be calculated by an interpolating function. In order to identify the relation between
the thermal errors and spindle rotation speed, various loads of the spindle speed were
applied. They can be divided into three types: (1) constant speed, (2) speed spectrum, (3)
speed simulating a cutting process.
3. R E S U L T S A N D A N A L Y S I S

Fig. 4 plots the time-history of the thermal drift Az at different z-coordinates under test.
It shows that the resultant thermal drift of the cutting edge is obviously position-dependent.
The thermal drifts at the zl and z2 levels were initially coincident, but gradually separated
as time passed and temperature increased.
The reason is that initially most of the Az resultant thermal drift was from the position-
independent thermal growth of the spindle box which would rise fast and go to thermal
equilibrium quickly compared to other machine components with longer thermal time
constants. However, as time passed, those position-dependent thermal errors such as the
lead screw and the column contributed to the resultant thermal drifts of the cutting edge
more and more. As a result, the thermal drifts at different z-coordinates had different
magnitude and thermal characteristics.
In this machine, the most significant heat sources are located in the z-axis. Fig. 5 plots
the thermal errors in the z-direction on different x- and y-positions. It implies that the
positions of the x-carriage and y-carriage have no strong influence on the z-axis thermal
errors.
4. A R M O D E L B A S E D O N S P I N D L E R O T A T I O N S P E E D

Precise prediction of thermal errors is an important step for accurate error compensation.
Since thermal errors exhibit highly nonlinear interaction, a precise quantitative prediction
is difficult to achieve by using a theoretical heat transfer analysis. Quantitative prediction
of thermal errors is usually achieved by an empirical model.

"•40
x.J zl
30

20

0 160 200 300 400

Time(rain)

Fig. 4. T h e r m a l drift in z-direction at d i f f e r e n t z-coordinates: zl = - 50, z2 = - 150, z3 = - 250, z4 = - 350.

20 .... - --

....
5~Z'-~': 1 - -

100 200 300

Time(rain)

Fig. 5. T h e r m a l drift in z-direction at d i f f e r e n t x- a n d y - c o o r d i n a t e s . C u r v e 1: x = - 350, y = - 150; c u r v e 2:

x=- 500, y = - 150; c u r v e 3 : x = - 350, y = - 200.
1718 Shuhe Li et aL

Thermal errors are caused by internal and external heat sources. Here we only consider
the influence of the heat caused by the friction of the spindle, which is the most significant
heat source. The influence of external heat source on machining accuracy can be dimin-
ished by environmental temperature control.
From the obtained data, it is found that thermal errors vary continuously with time. The
value of the error at a given moment is influenced by the last moment and the rotation
speed of the spindle. Such a model representing the behavior of the thermal errors is
written in the form

Az(t) : i - aiAz(t- i)+ i b i n ( t - i)

i= 1 i=0

where Az(t) is the thermal error at time t, n(t - 1) is the spindle speed at time t - 1, a,.
and bi are the coefficients to be identified. The parameters are estimated by the least-
squares method. The orders m and n are determined by the final prediction-error criterion.
Using the data measured (thermal errors and correspondence speed), models for the errors
at zl, z2, z3 and z4 can be established. For example, the model for Azl is

Azl(0) = 0
Azl(kAt) = 0.88Azl((k - 1)At) + O.046n(kAt), k = 1,2 ....

where At is the time interval of data sampling, here At = 10 min.

After the models for zl, z2, z3, z4 are established, thermal errors at positions other than
zl, z2, z3, z4 are calculated by an interpolating function. So the errors at any z-positions
can be obtained.
Fig. 6 plots an example of the fitting result. In order to verify the prediction accuracy
of the model, a new operation condition is used. Fig. 7 shows the predicted result of this
new condition. It shows that the auto-regressive model based on speed can describe thermal
errors well in a stable environment. In modeling the thermal errors, no external heat
sources are considered. So the accuracy is a little lower than for those based on temperature
if the environment changes.

"~ 40[

o ~" .........7 rating ,

100 200 300 400
Time(rain)
Fig. 6. Fitting result of thermal drift in z-direction.

J .....:7° 0 0 4!0
Time(rain)
Fig. 7. Prediction of thermal drift in z-direction.
 Pre-compensation for machine tool error 1719

part NC machining program

-------~ thermal errors ZxZ

time spindle speed n Z

T
error model

Fig. 8. Pre-compensation for thermal errors by correcting NC machining program.

cold
\ 7~tm cold ~ 2,m

after 1 - ~ run
uncompensated compensated

Fig. 9. The result of compensation.

5. PRE-COMPENSATION FOR THERMAL ERRORS

The principle for thermal error pre-compensation is shown in Fig. 8. The spindle rotation
speed and the z-coordinates are known as soon as the NC part machining program is made.
They vary with time. Every 10 min the thermal errors Az were calculated by the pre-
established model. Then the program was corrected by adding Az to the original z. So the
thermal errors were compensated before machining.
The effectiveness of the error compensation is verified by a cutting test. Several surfaces
were milled under cold start and after a 1 h run. As shown in Fig. 9, the depth difference
of the milled surface was used to evaluate the compensation in the thermal errors in the
z-direction. The results show that the difference was reduced from 7 to 2/xm.
6. CONCLUSIONS

Based on the present work we draw the following conclusions.

1. By using a 1-D ball array and spindle mounted probe, thermal errors can be meas-
ured quickly.
2. An auto-regressive model based on spindle rotation speed is able to predict the thermal
errors. There is no need to fix thermal sensors over the machine structure and on-line
measure the temperature field.
3. By correcting lJhe NC part machining program, the thermal errors can be pre-compen-
sated before machining. In a thermal stable environment, we get satisfactory results.
4. When the method described in this paper is used in production-class NC machine tools,
the machining accuracy can be increased without any additional measuring device and
hardware modification.

REFERENCES
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[2] Chen, J. S. and Chiou, G., Quick testing and modeling of thermally-induced errors of CNC machine tools.
International Journal of Machine Tools Manufacture, 1995, 35(7), 1063-1074.
[3] Chen, J. S., Computer-aided accuracy enhancement for multi-axis CNC machine tool. International Journal
of Machine Tools Manufacture, 1995, 35(4), 593-605.
[4] Donmez, M. A., A general methodology for machine tool accuracy enhancement by error compensation.
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[5] Chih-Hao, L., Jingxia, Y. and Jun, N., An application of real-time error compensation on a turning center.
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[6] Yang, S., Yuan, J. and Ni, J., The improvement of thermal error modeling and compensation on machine
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[7] Zhang, G. X., A method for machine geometry calibration using 1-D ball array. Annals of the CIRP, 1991,
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