The heat is on …

The European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (euspen) has announced a joint conference on Thermal Issues in Machine Tools with CRC/TR 96, March 21-23 2018 in Dresden, Germany.

As the scale of manufacturing gets smaller, factors that at the macro scale are of no or limited importance become critical.

One such is the effect of thermal issues when machining, and this is an area that both CRC/TR 96 and euspen have been focused on for many years, with an eye to solving the conflict between reducing energy consumption while increasing accuracy and productivity in machining.

In recent years, advances in electro-mechanical design features have led to enhanced resolution, accuracy, and bandwidth in various precision machining processes.

Use of synthetic materials, low friction guideways, high specific modulus components, high-force/low inertia actuators, and close-coupled linear scales have all been integrated into dynamically stiff structures using modern, multi-loop control strategies.

This has led to finesse replacing the ‘blunt instrument’ and ‘brute force’ solutions of times gone by in precision-engineered motion-control systems.

Such thermal issues in control will be looked at at the conference, as will modelling and model reduction techniques; measurement of thermal influences on machine tools and workpieces; compensation and correction of thermal effects; design principles for thermally robust machine tools (machine tool elements, machine structures); testwork pieces and assessment; and thermo-energetic design.

“The conference is a great opportunity for experts from academia and industry in the field of thermal modeling and optimal thermal design of machine tools to present and discuss their findings on a high scientific level, “ explains euspen Business Development Manager, Dishi Phillips. “The conference intends to stimulate and support  development and knowledge transfer in this field, the purpose of the 2-day conference being to bring together members of companies and researchers for a mutual exchange of experience and knowledge.”

The topics of modelling and simulation, experimental methodology, design, and bench marking were all discussed in five previous CRC/TR 96-workshops. The joint euspen CRC/TR 96 conference follows up on this path and offers parallel sessions concerning these topics.

This year’s event is sponsored by CIRP International Academy for Production Engineering and Deutsche Forschungsgemeneinschaft DFG, with an organising committee consisting of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Steffen Ihlenfeldt (chairman), and co-chairs Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Brecher and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Putz (co-chairman)

To register, contact Dishi Phillips, Business Development Manager at euspen at e. dishi-phillips@euspen.eu.