Production Testing of Dynamic Systems
A. E. Slater · 1977
In the area of machine tool design and operation there has been, for some time, a recognized need for readily acceptable, easily applied testing procedures, which can be carried out by both equipment manufacturer as a production test and by equipment user as an acceptance and field test. The need is highlighted by the increasing usage of numerical control (N.C.), computerized numerical control (C.N.C.) and direct numerical control (D.N.C.). Ideally these manufacturing systems require testing as a whole rather than as a series of sub-systems. The work reported here examines the possibility of using the root-mean-square value of the error signal as a measuring criterion for such dynamic systems; Psuedo-random signals have been used in the input test signal to minimize testing time. Such a criterion offers the advantage of simplicity of understanding, ease of generation and speed of testing. Graphs of root-mean-square-error-ratio values are plotted. These indicate the way in which changes in damping, natural frequency and signal break frequency effect their sensitivity and show that RMSER values can provide a means of gauging the condition of dynamic systems.