A method to apply Topology Optimization to the machine tool field for contemplating various restraint conditions

Topology optimization is used to determine the best material distribution of structural components in order to achieve established performances. Existing methods allow considering different load conditions, but they are not able to work in variable restraint configurations. This is a big limit in the use of these methods in the machine tool fields, in which the carriages have to move in order to cover all the workspace. A new methodology that allows carrying out topology optimization considering various restraint conditions is proposed. This method has been applied to the project of a spindle carriage of a COMAU machine tool. Examining the critic machining and the carriage positions in which they are executed, load and restraint conditions have been reduced by this method to a few boundary conditions cases. Subsequently, by constructing an objective function that takes into account the boundary conditions previously selected, the topology optimization has been carried out.