Tuned Mass Dampers Help FORTiS™ Encoders Achieve Class-Leading Vibration Resistance

Despite the advances made over more than a century and development of the modern high-quality, high-speed CNC machine tools available today, vibration can and does occur. Typical applications that may cause it include heavy roughing cuts, intermittent cutting, thin-walled components, and the machining of especially hard and exotic materials.

Correct tool selection and the optimization of feeds and speeds are essential measures to help reduce or dampen vibration. To ensure optimum performance of the machine’s motion control system and therefore its output, the need to balance cycle time with accuracy and quality of finish is ever present.

High levels of machine vibration can adversely affect the enclosed position encoders installed on these machines, leading to measurement inaccuracies. The quality of axis position measurement can directly impact aspects of process quality, such as feature accuracy and surface finish. Position measurement improvements that reduce the influence of vibration can significantly improve the quality of production.

Renishaw’s FORTiS™ enclosed encoder was conceived to address known issues with machine tool vibration and its effects on position measurement. This white paper shows how FORTiS encoders provide good positional stability for improved process control in machine tool applications and reliable operation, whilst being exposed to a wide range of vibration amplitudes, across the full frequency spectrum from 50 Hz to 2000 Hz.

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