Introduction
Numerical control machine tools are widely used in industry and many fields, as they are highly accurate and efficient in production. However, every machine will eventually experience faults and malfunctions due to a variety of reasons, such as wear and tear, electrical faults, programming errors and so on. To ensure a stable operation of the machine and further improve its performance, these faults should be found and removed in time. This article will discuss the general methods for troubleshooting numerical control machine tools.
Classification of Numerical Control Machine Tool Faults
Numerical control machine tool faults can be classified into two types: mechanical faults and electrical faults.
Mechanical Faults
Mechanical faults refer to the failure of the mechanical system, including bearing wear, spindle bearing wear, shaft breakage, feed system driven vibration and etc. These faults mainly show as abnormal noise and vibration, poor mechanical accuracy, poor synchronization degree of multiple axes and etc. To troubleshoot these faults, firstly the abnormal noise and vibration should be identified and then related mechanical components should be inspected, repaired or replaced according to the fault symptoms.
Electrical Faults
Electrical faults refer to the failure of the CNC machine’s electrical system, including drive board damage, wiring failure, circuit board burning, overvoltage and etc. The electrical faults usually lead to motor running without starting, large current, small current or no current. To troubleshoot the electrical faults, firstly the working conditions of the electrical components and peripheral devices should be inspected. Then the source of fault should be identified and repaired or replaced according to the fault symptoms.
General Methods for Troubleshooting Numerical Control Machine Tool Faults
The troubleshooting procedures for numerical control machine tool faults can be divided into three steps: inspection, fault analysis and fault elimination.
Inspection
Inspection is the basic step for troubleshooting numerical control machine tools, including working environment inspection and machine fault symptom inspection. The environments should be inspected for contaminants, such as dust and water, that could lead to faults. Then the fault symptoms should be identified to find out the location and type of fault.
Fault Analysis
Fault analysis is an important step to further clarify the fault type, so as to guide the further elimination of the fault. At this step,the possible fault area and type should be analyzed and evaluated and then the test procedure should be designed based on the result.
Fault Elimination
Fault elimination refers to taking method to eliminate the fault based on the test result. In general, the troubleshooting process mainly include inspection, checking and replacing of the related hardware components, adjustment and calibration of the parameters, repairing and replacing the related circuit boards and etc.
Conclusion
Numerical control machine tools are widely used in many fields and have shown great achievements. However, faults and malfunctions on them may have a certain impact on its performance. In order to eliminate the faults effectively and timely, we should take the three-step troubleshooting procedure and find out the root cause according to the fault symptoms, so as to take appropriate measures for the fault eliminating.
