Parametric Study on Design of Composite-Foam Sandwich Structures for Micro EDM Machine tool structures

In this paper, parametric study was carried out to design sandwich structures for EDM machines controlling stacking sequence, stacking thickness of composites and rib configuration. Sandwich structures which are dealt with in this paper are composed of fibre reinforced composite for skin material and foam or resin concrete for core materials. The sandwich column has cruciform rib to enhance bending stiffness of the structure and the bed has several vertical ribs to resist the normal forces and vibration. The design parameters such as rib thickness and stacking sequence were controlled to enhance the system robustness. Finite element analysis was also carried out to verify the variation of static and dynamic stiffness of the structures according to the variation of the parameters. Vibration tests were performed to verify the natural frequencies and damping ratios of the manufactured composite structures. The appropriate shape and configuration conditions for micro-EDM machine structures are proposed.