Semi-Solid Metal Freeform Fabrication

Not Available Machine tool vibrations induce a number of difficulties including poor surface finish, reduced dimensional accuracy, and damage to the machine itself. Present day production machine tools control vibrations by optimizing characteristics of the structure and by adjusting process throughput. Unfortunately, the latter tends to result in overly conservative metal removal rates. A2Z Technologies Corporation proposes a Laser Vibrometer for optimizing machine tool feed rates. Our approach specifically solves the complex issues of 1) providing vibration amplitude measurements to an accuracy of 0.0001, 2) operating in the harsh oil/coolant environment of most machine shops, 3) providing up to 10 vibration sensors operating on a single network, and 4) providing means to operate under the wide range of surface conditions typically encountered in the machining environment. During Phase I, a prototype system will be designed, fabricated and tested. Testing will be performed both in the laboratory and in an operating machine shop. The Phase I prototype design and the testing activities will provide a low-risk, rapid transition into pre-production prototype to be developed in Phase II.