Heliyon (Feb 2024)
Development and design of intelligent lubricating equipment for feed systems
Abstract
Recently, the lubricating devices for the feed systems of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools supply oil periodically because programmable logic controller and macro are adopted for designing oil supply for the present CNC machine tools, causing lack or overdose lubrication. This study attempts to discuss and design the optimum lubrication cycle timing for the feed system under the experimental conditions of different loads and feed rates. The parameters of the servomotor are monitored by utilizing an intelligent module, the changes in the current and torque of the servomotor are obtained, and then a lubrication module is created with the Stribeck friction model, a modeling that utilizes response surface methodology. The increase in feed rate will cause increasing current and torque, and the current and torque for the load 35 kg were 11 and 13%, respectively. Finally, different loads and feed rates are imported to determine optimal lubrication timing. According to a long-term validation, the oil supply frequency is improved by over 80% without influencing the feed system accuracy, and the traditional lubrication module is compared with the lubrication module. Long time test is 8 h, and the rate of improvement is 87.5%, the cost of lubricating oil is reduced, and green manufacturing is met. An appropriate oil supply system is provided for the circle.