Sensitivity-based multidisciplinary optimal design of a hydrostatic rotary table with particle swarm optimization

Abstract

In five-axis machine tools, a rotary table is often used as a means for providing rotational motion and supporting the workpiece. Its rigidity, precision and carrying capacity is directly related to the machining ability and the accuracy of the NC machine tool. Traditional rotary table design is normally performed by teams, each with expertise in a specific discipline, which causes excessive iterations and cannot provide users with products of reliable working performance and bearing capacity. To achieve an optimal design with less cost and better performance, this paper considers the mutual interaction of hydrostatics and structure disciplines involved in the design of hydrostatic rotary tables, and a sensitivity-based multidisciplinary optimal design procedure of a hydrostatic rotary table is proposed. Sensitivity analysis is adopted to identify the key design parameters that have a major influence on the performance of rotary tables to improve the convergence of optimization process. The constrained multi-objective optimization problem is solved by using a particle swarm optimization approach. A hydrostatic rotary table of a five-axis heavy duty machine tool is selected as an illustration example. The results show that the proposed method can realize the multidisciplinary optimization resulting in a rotary table of good rigidity and bearing capacity.