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Small-modulus gears, which are essential for motion transmission in precision instruments, present a measurement challenge due to their minuscule gear gaps. A high-precision measurement method under the influence of positioning errors is proposed, enabling precise evaluation of the machining quality of small-modulus gears. Firstly, a compound measurement platform for small-modulus gears is developed. Using a 3D model of the measurement system, the mathematical relationships governing motion transmission between various components are analyzed. Secondly, the formation mechanism of gear positioning error is revealed and its important influence on measurement accuracy is discussed. An optimization method for spatial coordinate transformation matrices under positioning errors of gears is proposed. Thirdly, the study focuses on small-sized gears with a modulus of 0.1 mm and a six-level accuracy. Based on the aforementioned measurement system, the tooth profile measurement points are collected in the actual workpiece coordinate system. Then, gear error parameters are extracted based on the established models for tooth profile deviation and pitch deviation. Finally, the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed measurement method are verified by comparing the measurement results of the P26 gear measuring center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact stiffness and backlash in the harmonic drive significantly impact a robot's positioning accuracy and vibration characteristics. The height of the harmonic drive tooth pair is typically less than 1 mm, making the measurement and modeling of backlash and contact stiffness inherently complex. This paper proposes a contact stiffness and backlash model by establishing a correlation between fractal parameters and tooth contact load. To obtain the fractal roughness parameters of the real machined tooth surface, a combination of a noncontact optical profiler and the RMS method is employed. Subsequently, the study explores the influence of rough tooth surface and contact force fractal parameters on contact stiffness and gear backlash. The results demonstrate the substantial impact of surface topography parameters and contact force on contact stiffness and backlash. Specifically, an increase in the fractal dimension correlates with a reduction in gear backlash and contact stiffness. Conversely, the fractal roughness parameter exhibits the opposite effect. Notably, an increase in contact force enhances contact stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the impact of uniform and eccentric load conditions on the performance of internal feedback hydrostatic thrust and journal bearing. Two distinct models are established: a three-degrees-of-freedom uniform load model and a five-degrees-of-freedom eccentric load model. The support stiffness, overturning stiffness, and flow rate for both thrust and journal bearings are calculated. Additionally, numerical analysis is conducted to examine the influence of oil film thickness, inlet pressure, and restrictor size on the operational characteristics of the bearings, revealing the interplay between an eccentric load and journal bearing speed. The validity of the theoretical algorithm is verified through finite element simulation. The research outcomes hold significant guiding implications for the design and application of internal feedback hydrostatic bearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the operational mechanism of an internal feedback hydrostatic turntable. It employs a self‐compensating gap restrictor mechanism, resulting in heightened load capacity and stiffness. In this paper, the concept of internal flow is innovatively introduced. Subsequently, the Reynolds equation is solved using the finite difference method. This methodology offers a more precise and efficient assessment of the load‐bearing performance of the oil pad within the turntable. Then this paper further investigates the influence of the internal flow coefficient and pressure ratio on oil pad performance, encompassing aspects like load capacity, stiffness, and flow rate. Ultimately, optimal parameters are selected to improve the structure of the gap restrictor, considering various operational scenarios. In conclusion, the method adopted in this study not only improves the calculation accuracy and efficiency but also improves the structure and performance of the oil pad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrostatic turntable is a critical component of numerous CNC machine tools, as it performs a supporting function and enables precise rotary motion. To ensure that high-precision CNC machines can operate under heavy loads, it is imperative to minimize power consumption. The power consumption of a hydrostatic turntable is affected by various factors, such as oil viscosity, initial oil film thickness, and oil pad structure. This study focuses on investigating a hydrostatic turntable with internal feedback. The Reynolds equation of the sector oil pad is solved using the finite difference method to establish the pressure distribution model. Subsequently, the study examines the power consumed by the axial oil pad at different initial oil film thickness, lubricating oil viscosity, and sealing edge width. To minimize power consumption caused by the axial oil pad, this paper employs the genetic algorithm to identify optimal design parameters within specified constraints. Additionally, the load-bearing performance of the optimized axial oil pad is checked to ensure that the load-bearing capacity and stiffness meet the requirements. Finally, the use of simulation software for oil pads in finite element simulation can preliminarily demonstrate the reliability of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the reliability optimization design field of CNC machine tools, reliability allocation plays a significant part, which has the characteristics of high complexity and strong uncertainty. Traditionally, reliability allocation methods have the disadvantages of a single allocation influence factor, too subjective or too objective, not flexible enough, etc. To solve the related problems, a novel reliability allocation method for machine tools is proposed, which combines subjective and objective weightings, and a variety of influencing factors are considered comprehensively. To deal with the characteristic of uncertainty and fuzziness in machine tool reliability analysis, different intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (ITrFNs) are allocated according to the importance of influencing factors. As the subjective method, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) can reflect the decision maker's subjective preferences of machine tool influence factors, while the grey relational method (GRA) can analyze the relationship between data which is adopted as an objective weighting method. The reliability of each subsystem is obtained by combining the two methods. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is proved by an illustration analyzing and comparing it with the traditional AHP method and fuzzy allocation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the state of machining service, to evaluate the machining accuracy reliability of multi-axis CNC machine tools, analyze the accuracy failure mode and the reliability sensitivity under the failure mode, this paper proposes a research method by the cross-correlation studies of geometric error parameters to improve and promote the accuracy reliability of CNC machine tools. Firstly, by multi-body system theory, the homogeneous coordinate transformation matrix between each body of the machine tool is established, and the spatial machining accuracy model is constructed. At the same time, considering the time series problem in the measurement process of geometric error parameters, this paper studies the correlation between the error parameters for reliability analysis and proposes a novel reliability analysis index for each measurement point in the machine tool workspace. To validation of the method, the analysis results of this paper are compared with those by Monte Carlo simulation. In addition, the accuracy failure conditions of the machine tool are studied, the failure state function of machine tool accuracy is established, and the accuracy failure modes that may occur are analyzed from this, to carry out the accuracy failure sensitivity analysis under the failure mode, and to identify key geometric errors which have a great impact on the machining accuracy reliability of machine tool in the failure mode. Finally, taking a 3-axis machine tool as an example, according to the analysis results, this paper puts forward measures to improve the accuracy reliability and verifies the feasibility of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FMS reliability cannot be accurately evaluated without considering coupling relations between system elements. This paper presented a hierarchical and quantitative evaluation index system for FMS based on Petri net models and judgment matrix construction. In the proposed system, influencing factors and their coupling relations related to system elements including human, control systems, and mechanical equipment are analyzed. Based on the above analysis, FMS is described as a hierarchical system composed of the whole-level system, processing system, and transfer system. Petri net for the running process of each system is modelled for reliability simulation analysis. And judgment matrices of indexes are constructed and combined with simulation of Petri net models to determine weighted values for influencing factors. Finally, an application example is completed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system. Results indicate that the system can help to quantitatively evaluate the reliability of FMS based on availability indexes of elements and clearly show weaknesses of the system from element level, which is a significant basis for the FMS reliability improvement during the design stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bolted connections are widely used in the machine tool manufacturing and equipment. As it is well known, bolt preload will be attenuated by the vibration of machine tools, which will degenerate the working life of machine tools. In this paper, a new experimental design method is introduced into the study on bolt preload attenuation: the quadratic general rotary unitized design. The dynamic analysis of the bolted connection is carried out based on a finely fragmented numerical model to interpret the generation of fretting slip and the reason for the loosening of bolts. The alternating load cyclic vibration test, implemented on the bolted joints, can provide the vibration response under the influence of different working factors. Statistical test and analysis are performed on the quadratic regression mathematical model of the bolt preload attenuation, and the principal working factor that affecting the bolt preload attenuation under vibration can be obtained. Based on the analytical result, the combination of the working factors at the lowest bolt preload attenuation rate, which can effectively slow the bolt looseness, is investigated. The results of this study can provide an experimental basis for improving the machining stiffness of machine tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meshing backlash mainly determines the transmission accuracy of harmonic drive, which is an important index in design. In this paper, a design method for short tooth involute profile is proposed. By intercepting part of the tooth profile, meshing interference of the addendum can be effectively avoided. Based on the dimensions of over pins of circular spline and flexspline, a calculation method of tooth thickness deviation is proposed, and the positive and negative tooth thickness deviation are defined. Involute functions need not be calculated by this method, which simplifies the solution process. By discretizing the teeth profile points of circular spline and flexspline, a calculation method of time-varying backlash is proposed, the variation of backlash in meshing in and out is analyzed, and the influence law of tooth thickness deviation on backlash is studied. On this basis, an algorithm for adjusting the radial deformation to compensate for the backlash is proposed. The results show that the excessive backlash in the meshing area can be reduced by increasing the radial deformation. When meshing interference occurs, the interference-free meshing can be realized by decreasing the radial deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superior performance of machining large parts with the free-form surface is demonstrated by a five-axis gantry machine tool composed of a gantry mainframe and a milling head. A turntable is used to adjust the position of the workpiece rather than a linear guideway when machining impellers or integral turbines. Furthermore, collisions between adjacent blades are almost unavoidable in the machining region, which is relatively narrow for milling heads. The majority of existing methods attempt to solve the problem by changing the tool's tilt angle. However, when an end-mill cutter is employed, this method will deteriorate surface quality and reduce efficiency. On the condition that the milling head has three rotary axes (TRA), a novel NC code generation method with a fixed tool orientation vector for narrow space surfaces is proposed in this paper. When the geometrical model, considered a supplementary condition, is combined with the kinematics model, an inverse kinematics solution to a general multi-axis gantry machine tool with a TRA milling head is obtained. The problem of multi-axis coupling in the inverse kinematics model is solved by combining the iteration method and geometrical model. In the narrow space for a milling head, the redundant degree of freedom, provided by a machine tool equipped with a TRA milling head, enables adjusting the posture of the milling head without changing the tool orientation vector. Feature points are extracted by preprocessing points selected from machined parts and the TRA milling head to choose the feasible posture and simulate the machining process. Collisions in the narrow space are successfully avoided throughout the cutting process. The NC code generation method is verified on CAM software and cut experiments, proven effective in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flange connections are widely used in various mechanical components. The most important purpose of tightening for flanged bolts is to achieve designed clamping force for the maintenance of overall performance. In this work, a multi-bolt tightening algorithm is proposed based on elastic interaction coefficient and gasket creep relaxation. Firstly, dispersion of the individual bolt clamping forces for torque control method is considered in the algorithm. Relationship between the nut factors of the flange bolts in multi-pass tightening is established through experiment. Subsequently, the elastic interaction coefficient matrix was updated during the multi-pass tightening process to reduce the error. Two cases, without gasket and silicone gasket, are considered in the multi-bolt tightening experiment. Without gasket, the elastoplastic deformation at the initial stage after tightening will also cause a loss of clamping force. When using gasket, the clamping force loss due to gasket creep relaxation is more pronounced. Through experimental verification, the proposed multi-bolt tightening algorithm are able to achieve the target range of designed clamping forces and reduce its dispersion. Finally, the main influencing factors of the multi-bolt tightening are analyzed to provide a reference for the design of flange connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of the milling head is affected by the machining and assembly process of the parts. The key to improving machining accuracy and reliability of swing angle milling head is to establish the precision prediction model. Therefore, a precision prediction model of swing angle milling head under the influence of multiple errors' sources is built. The transmission and accumulation of machining and assembly errors along the assembly sequence path for the transmission system are carried out. All essential components on the assembly sequence path are considered. In addition, the secondary impact of the bearing seat hole is also taken into account. The source of the gear assembly errors is explained. The predicted range of transmission error based on the coupling relationship between assembly errors and transmission error is obtained. A precision experiment is carried out, and the result is within the predicted range. This research demonstrates that the errors' coupling relationship considered in this paper does exist and has an effect on transmission error, which provides a new idea for calculating transmission error of other gear systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adjustable lubrication aims to achieve active control of the relative motion of the friction interface, providing a new idea for intelligent operation. A new phenomenon of sudden changes of friction coefficient (COF) in the poly(vinylphosphoric acid) (PVPA) superlubricity system by mixing different lubricants, was found in this study. It was found that anions were the critical factor for the COF change. The change degrees of the COF were investigated by a universal micro tribometer (UMT). A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-D was used to analyze the adsorption quantity of anions on the PVPA surface. The hydratability of the PVPA interface was controlled by changing the anionic properties (the amount of charge and structure), thus regulating the COF. The adsorption difference of anions is an important reasoning of how anionic properties can regulate the hydratability. It was analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation. For anions carrying different numbers of charges or double bonds, the adsorption quantity of anions was mainly affected by the adsorption degree on the PVPA surface, while the adsorption quantity of anions with different molecular configuration was synergistically regulated by the adsorption degree and adsorption area of anions on the PVPA surface. This work can be used to develop smart surfaces for applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two main failure modes of harmonic reducers are wear and contact friction between the tooth profile of the circular spline (CS) and the flexible spline (FS). The sliding speed of the meshing point is a key factor affecting friction and wear processes of the CS and FS and should therefore be accurately determined. Herein, envelope theory is used to deduce the FS trajectory and the envelope track is divided into two segments according to whether or not the meshing point is outside the top circle of the CS. The velocity of the meshing point in the second meshing stage is essentially the vector sum of the FS velocity in three directions. When the CS is fixed, the relative sliding velocity is the instantaneous velocity of the FS along the tangential direction of the enveloped tooth profile. To verify the proposed model, the finite element method (FEM) and laser sensor experiments were performed and a relationship between the angle of rotation of the wave generator (WG) and the velocity of the FS was established. The results show that the sliding speed is sensitive to the radial displacement coefficient and has a linear relationship with the rotational speed of the WG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the flat plastic parts with the size range of 200 to 1300 mm, the structural parameters decision model of injection mold gating system is established in this paper. Firstly, the relationship between the warpage and the structural parameters of gating system is fitted by Kriging model, and the minimum warpage is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain the best structural parameters. Secondly, the best structural parameters of gating system corresponding to 16 groups of plastic parts are taken as samples, and the relationship between the structural parameters of gating system and the size parameters of plastic parts is established by Kriging model. In addition, K-means is used to reduce the number of the structural parameters of gating system from 5 to 2, in order to improve the accuracy of decision model. Finally, the size parameters of plastic parts are input to the decision model to obtain the structural parameters of gating system. Through the verification of mold flow analysis experiment, the structural parameters of gating system obtained by this method meet the design requirements and can effectively shorten the structural design cycle of injection mold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic drive (HD) is one of the core components of the robot joint. Studies show that tooth shape design and meshing characteristics of the HD directly affect the motion control accuracy and vibration characteristics of the robot. In the present study, common coordinate systems are established for three tooth profiles to analyze the differences between them. To this end, expressions for the double circular arc common-tangent tooth profile (DCTP), cycloid common tangent tooth profile (CCTP), and the involute tooth profile (ITP) are established in the same coordinate system. By applying the envelope conjugate theory, the conjugate existent domain (CED) and conjugate tooth profile (CTP) of the HD transmission are solved independently for each profile. Furthermore, the influences of tooth profile parameters on both the CTP and CED are analyzed. Obtained results show that both the DCTP and CCTP have more robust envelope processes when compared with the ITP. Moreover, it is found that both profiles can achieve the second conjugate and two-point conjugate engagement through applying variations in the tooth shape design parameters. It is concluded that meshing performances of the DCTP and CCTP are better than that of the ITP, providing guidelines for the future development of the harmonic reducer tooth shape design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the printing quality, this study focused on the thermo-fluid-solid coupling process of ink roller-ink. One of the highlights of this study is to consider the influence of temperature on the rubber hyperelastic parameters, viscoelastic parameters, and ink viscosity. The other highlight is to improve the elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory and Hertz contact theory through the rubber elastic modulus, which is determined by the relaxation curve considering the temperature and working conditions. Furthermore, based on the improved theory, the thermo-fluid-solid coupling model of ink roller-ink was established. Finally, the effect of temperature on the coupling process was analyzed. The results show that under the working conditions, with increasing temperature from 20 °C to 40 °C, the contact half-width increases from 4.2335 mm to 4.4701 mm, and the minimum ink film thickness decreases from 0.5097 mm to 0.1410 mm, and the maximum ink pressure decreases from 0.6802 MPa to 0.6618 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In actual engineering, material properties, load effects, and other factors of mechanical structures change due to long‐term use. In order to understand the operation of a mechanical structure in real time, it is crucial to obtain the dynamic trajectory of its reliability. Considering the time variability of a mechanical structure over time, uncertain random variables are introduced to express the uncertainty of various parameters of structures, and the Wiener process is used to describe the strength degradation process of structures so as to solve the calculation problem of time‐varying reliability of mechanical structures. Based on the advanced first‐order and second moment method (AFOSM), the proposed linearized Nataf change is used to complete the transformation from related nonnormal variables to independent standard normal variables in order to simplify the calculation process of reliability solution and solve the reliability calculation problem of random parameters subjected to arbitrary distribution. The deduced random variable sensitivity factor indicates the degree of influence of different random variables on the reliability of the mechanical structure, providing a theoretical basis for the optimal design and maintenance of a mechanical structure. The proposed method is analyzed using the cantilever beam and compared with the nonlinear Nataf transform and verified by the Monte Carlo simulation results. The results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the reliability sensitivity problem of structural system strength degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stiffness and damping modeling of joint surfaces are important for analyzing the dynamic characteristics of bolted joints, which has a great influence on the working precision of the machine tool. In this paper, a damping model is presented to predict the tangential damping of the joint accurately. The fractal theory is introduced to characterize the rough contact surface by using fractal dimension D and fractal roughness parameter G. For each micro-contact, the contact region can be divided into stick section and slip one. The energy dissipation of the micro-contact, which can be described as the tangential damping of bolted joint, emerges in the slip section. The physics-based friction coefficient is introduced to define the energy dissipation function based on the relationship between the deformation of micro-contact and the normal pressure. The energy dissipation factor and the proportional damping of the micro-contact can be obtained. The total tangential damping of bolted joint can be obtained by integrating the whole contact surfaces. Experimental set-up is designed to verify the proposed model. Compared with the constant friction coefficient damping model, the results show that the proposed model can more accurately describe the tangential damping of bolted joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ball screw mechanisms (BSMs) are used as accuracy transmission components in a wide range of industries and are characterized by their high accuracy. More specifically, the positioning accuracy of BSM has a significant effect on the accuracy of machine tool. Based on the macro-micro multiscale method, an exponential prediction model for the BSM positioning accuracy was developed considering time-varying working conditions (load and rotational speed) and feed modes. Since the accuracy degradation is mainly caused by wear, a microscopic approach was proposed to describe the positioning accuracy retention and the microscopic wear process was investigated. The sliding contact of the asperities between the ball and raceway was analyzed, and the microscopic wear behavior of the asperities was determined. Considering the time-varying working conditions, the BSM positioning accuracy characteristics were obtained under the normal feed mode by conducting suitable tests. The exponential wear model used the wear index to describe the wear status based on the positioning accuracy measurement. The accuracy loss value and the prediction index of positioning accuracy were determined based on an exponential model, and the effective lifetime of the BSM was predicted. Finally, the exponential prediction model was used in negative/positive skew feed distribution, and the effective lifetime determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the hybrid reliability modeling of structures in which the inputs contain both random variables and interval variables. Hybrid uncertainty is divided into three categories, including random variables mixed with random variables, interval variables mixed with interval variable, and random variables mixed with interval variables. In order to perform the reliability analysis of structural systems, first, the Bayes method is proposed in the present study to obtain distribution parameters of random variables. Moreover, the self‐sample method is introduced to obtain the interval boundaries based on the least available measuring data. Then, the reliability models are established for three situations and the reliability indices are defined and derived accordingly. The abovementioned three types of reliability indices outline the general situation of structural systems. Finally, the specific calculation process is described in details through different examples. Furthermore, the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method is discussed by comparing the results obtained from the Monte Carlo simulation and those of other methods. The obtained results indicate that the performance of the proposed model in solving reliability modeling problems is better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic drives are the core components to enable movement in industrial robots. Unfortunately, the deformation of flexspline causes obvious partial axial load on gear engagement. This synthetic error leads to a series of additional problems, such as the deterioration of transmission quality, and the reduction of both precision and fatigue life. This study focuses on a harmonic drive with a double circular-arc tooth profile. A coordinate transformation is carried out based on the kinematics of harmonic drives. On this basis, the conjugate tooth profile of a circular spline is derived. A simulation model is developed based on the motion relationship for harmonic transmission. The effect of inhomogeneity of the load distribution on the surface of the gear teeth was investigated using the partial axial-load index. The effect of different factors on the partial axial load is analyzed. To reduce the effect of partial axial load of flexspline, we select a suitable material and wall thickness. For a certain practical range, both tooth width and chamfering of the flexspline teeth help reduce the partial axial load and increase the flexspline length. These conclusions enable improvements of future designs of reliable flexspline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grinding force is an important factor to consider in the field of precision manufacturing. In this study, a model of the thread grinding force in inner thread grinding that takes into account the thread helix angle and effect of grains overlapping is presented. The average undeformed chip thickness of a single abrasive grain can be obtained based on the Rayleigh probability density function. The contact length is assumed to be the arc contact length and is calculated based on the movement of an active grain. In addition, the effective grain overlap coefficient can be defined as the ratio of the effective area removed by a single grain to the cutting area without overlapping grains. The normal force is generated by material deformation and friction. Similarly, the tangential force is produced by material deformation and tangential friction. The normal and tangential forces can be calculated by considering a micro abrasive grain. Experiments were conducted to calculate the coefficients of the grinding force model in order to validate the model. Scanning electron microscopy was performed to determine the relationship between the normal force and the largest pit on the inner thread surface. Normal and tangential forces were analyzed under different spindle speeds, workpiece speeds, grinding depths, and thread helix angles. The numerical results suggest that grinding force is affected by the thread helix angle and friction forces; moreover, grain overlap cannot be ignored. Finally, a linear relationship between the normal force and the largest pit diameter was derived and used to determine the optimal normal force for generating improved inner thread surfaces. The proposed model provides a theoretical basis for the optimization of high-speed high-precision inner thread grinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motion accuracy of hydrostatic turntable is the key in improving the machining accuracy of heavy-duty machine tool. However, the motion accuracy of hydrostatic turntable depends not only on the offset load but also on the rotating speed of the turntable as well as the profile errors of the guide rails. In this paper, a simulation model is developed to analyze the effect of guide rail profile errors on the motion accuracy of hydrostatic turntable. The reaction forces of preload thrust bearing and hydrostatic circular oil pads are obtained based on the Reynolds equation of the lubricant film. The motion equations of hydrostatic turntable are derived in which the profile errors of two guide rails are considered. The results show that the motion accuracy of hydrostatic turntable can be affected by wavelength, amplitude of profile errors and speed, and offset load of turntable. Finally, the motion accuracy of heavy-duty hydrostatic turntable used in XCKA28105 type turning and milling composite machine tool is obtained by using the presented method. Comparing with the experimental results, the proposed model can be used to predict the machining accuracy caused by the profile errors of guide rails for any heavy-duty hydrostatic turntable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the torsional stiffness has always been the primary issue in analyzing the dynamic characteristics of cycloid gears. The traditional method of obtaining torsional rigidity involves calculating the ratio of the input torque and rotation angle, treating the deformation of cycloid gear as a black box. In order to thoroughly understand the rotation angle caused by the local contact deformation of each cycloid pin gear, a Majumdar–Bhushan contact model and the finite element method are combined to express the normal contact stiffness. By multiplying the normal contact stiffness of each pin gear and the arm of normal contact force, the torsional stiffness of the cycloidal pin wheel system can be calculated. Experiments are conducted to establish the relationship between the torsional stiffness and roughness parameters of the machined tooth surface. The effect of input torque on the torsional stiffness has also been analyzed. This study formulates a relationship between the torsional stiffness and surface characteristics of cycloid gears, which can help improve their design and manufacture in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heavy-duty machine tool is usually assumed in the concrete foundation, in which the machine tool-foundation joints have a critical effect on the working accuracy and life of heavy-duty machine tool. This paper proposed a novel contact stiffness model of concrete-steel joint based on the fractal theory. The topography of contact surface exist in concrete-steel joint has a fractal feature and can be described by fractal parameters. Asperities are considered as elastic, plastic deformation in micro-scale. However, the asperities of concrete surface will be crushed when the stress is larger than their yield limit. Then, the force balance of contact surfaces will be broken. Here, an iteration model is proposed to describe the contact state of concrete-steel joint. Because the contact asperities cover a very small proportion (less than 1%), the load on crushed asperities is assumed carried by other no contact asperities. This process will be repeated again and again until the crushed asperities are not being produced under external load. After that, the real contact area, contact stiffness of the concrete-steel joint can be calculated by integrating the asperities of contact surfaces. Nonlinear relationships between contact stiffness and load, fractal roughness parameter G, fractal dimension D can be revealed based on the presented model. An experimental setup with concrete-steel test-specimens is designed to validate the proposed model. Results indicate that the theoretical vibration mode shapes agree well with the experimental variation mode shapes. The errors between theoretical and experimental natural frequencies are less than 4.18%. The presented model can be used to predict the contact stiffness of concrete-steel joint, which will provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the connection characteristic of machine tool-concrete foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the previous study, the minimum time and energy have been both considered to improve the efficiency and reliability of the manipulator operations. For further guaranteeing the tracking precision of end effector, a TE-E optimal planning technique is presented in this paper to optimize the trajectory of end effector. TE-E means two optimization objectives and one constraint condition: T is the total motion time, the first E is the total kinetic energy consumption and the second E is the motion error due to trajectory planning. In this technique, a local optimization process is completed to find a time-energy optimal trajectory, which could improve the movement efficiency and reliability. In this local process, the screw theory is used to obtain the forward and inverse kinematic models for simplifying the computation. The multi-solution situation in inverse kinematic is considered. The modified cubic spline interpolation is applied in the joint space to obtain the good motion stability. The objective function is defined as the weighted sum of two optimization objectives. The local optimal trajectory is obtained by using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Finally, the motion errors are considered as a condition to determine the number of the path points and obtain the final optimal trajectory that has good tracking precision. The simulation experiment for QJ-1 welding manipulator is completed to verify the reliability and validity of this technique. In the optimal trajectory, the relationships between the motion time and parameters for each joint show a good performance in the motion. The comparison of motion errors obtained by using the previous and presented methods proves the validity of this presented technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solvent-shift method was used to identify appropriate polymers that inhibit the growth of felodipine crystals by monitoring particle size in supersaturated drug solutions in the presence of different polymers. We speculated that there would be an intermolecular interaction between the selected polymer (zein) and felodipine by extrapolating the inhibitory effect on crystal growth and then used the selected polymer as a carrier to prepare solid dispersions. The formulations were characterized by crystalline properties, thermodynamics of mixing, dissolution behavior, and physical stability. Powder x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry experiments indicated that amorphous solid dispersions were formed when the proportion of felodipine was < 30% (w/w). Stability tests showed that a solid dispersion with 20% felodipine remained in an amorphous state and was stable under accelerated storage conditions for 6 months. The dissolution rates of solid dispersions were significantly greater than those of the active pharmaceutical ingredient or physical mixtures. Analysis by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman microspectroscopy indicated the formation of intermolecular interactions between zein and felodipine. The study demonstrates the successful application of the chosen polymer as a carrier in solid dispersions and validates the concept of extrapolating the inhibitory effect on crystal growth to intermolecular interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to propose a trajectory planning technique to minimize the end-effector synthesis error for industrial robots, while obtaining a stable movement. With ER3A-C60 robot as a research subject, the kinematic and dynamic models are established by using screw theory and Kane equations, and based on that, the end-effector synthesis error is modeled by considering the effects of interpolation algorithm and flexibilities of all joints. The septic polynomial is used to interpolate the via points in each joint space to obtain a stable movement. Finally, the PSO algorithm with suitable parameters is applied to find the minimum synthesis error under kinematic and dynamic constraints. The results show that the optimal synthesis error decreases by 88.94% compared with the initial one, the angular parameters are all far less than the limitations of joints and the optimal movement has a high stability, and this optimal trajectory has better overall performance than that based on the previous technique (with the minimum total motion time). The main contribution is that the proposed trajectory planning technique can significantly improve the tracking precision of the end effector while controlling the motion time within a given span under the requirements of continuous path control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of the tribological properties of polymer coatings is vital to ensure their long term use. The superlubricity of the poly(vinylphosphonic acid) (PVPA)-modified Ti6Al4V/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) interface can be obtained when lubricated by phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH = 7.2), but not when lubricated by deionized water and ethanol. Therefore, the mechanisms for the superlubricity of PVPA coatings affected by lubricant were investigated in detail. The stability of the PVPA coatings and their compatibility with the lubricant are critical factors in realizing ideal tribological properties of PVPA coatings. Robust PVPA coatings are stable under a wide range of pH values (6-10) using PBS as the basic solution, and are also characterized by superlubricity. The hydrolysis kinetics of phosphate anhydride is the main reason for the pH responses. In addition, along with stability, PVPA coatings exhibit different friction coefficients in salt solutions which are composed of various ions, which indicates that the compatibility between PVPA coatings and the lubricant can be used to regulate the superlubricity properties. Based on a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of surperlubricity by considering the effects of the lubricant, PVPA coatings with stability and perfect tribological performance are expected to be applied in more aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disassembly plays an important role in the production process. Screw automatic unfastening guided by a robot has been widely used in the fields of industrial manufacturing and maintenance. Different from the previous studies that have used a flexible effector and expensive sensors, this paper presents a novel unfastening strategy based on robot vision for a hexagonal screw with an arbitrary loose state. In a robotic system, an industrial camera and a servo unfastening tool are installed at a robotic end-effector. The main contributions of this work are as follows. A camera pose adjustment method is proposed to obtain high-quality images of a target screw. The hexagonal screw pose calculation method based on the geometric analysis is developed to complete the screw–tool engagement. The cooperated motion of a robot and an unfastening tool is planned for the screw unfastening action. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified by experiments, and the influence of the motion speed on the unfastening quality is analyzed using the torque data collected by the unfastening tool. The analysis results can provide a significant foundation for the motion parameter selection in the proposed strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]