Multiphysics-based design and analysis of the high-speed aerostatic spindle with application to micro-milling

High-speed aerostatic spindles are essential for ultra-precision micro-milling machine tools. The distinguishing functional characteristics of the spindle system are achieved through innovative design and integration of thermal, fluidic, and electromagnetic physics on the spindle structure and system. These physics, together with the shaft dynamics, interact dynamically and collectively to determine the spindle's performance. It is thus required to have a comprehensive analysis and scientific understanding on the multiple physics interactions within the spindle, which is essential for design of the spindle working at much higher speeds and accuracy under various increasingly stringent engineering conditions. This paper presents an integrated multiphysics simulation approach to design and analysis of high-speed aerostatic spindles. Based on the proposed approach, an integrated multiphysics simulation platform is developed with application to micro-milling machines. Experiments have been designed and carried out to validate the integrated multiphysics simulation method and evaluate the simulation results, which show that the integrated multiphysics model is able to predict and analyze the performance characteristics of the high-speed aerostatic spindle. The integrated multiphysics model and the corresponding virtual spindle simulation can be used as a powerful design aid for supporting the design and analysis of next generation high-speed aerostatic spindles at nanometric precision.