Tuned damping system for suppressing vibrations during machining

A method for tuning a tunable damping system comprising the steps of:

• a) selecting a form of vibration;
• b) locking a damper mass;
• c) determining a the most flexible mode of vibration within the chosen form of vibration;
• d) unlocking said damper mass;
• e) recording vibrational response measurements in the form of a transfer function versus frequency to locate dominant mode peaks;
• and
• f) adjusting a tuning device so as to make dominant mode peak heights equal in order to obtain an optimum tuning for the selected form of vibration.

A tuner aid assembly including a microprocessor, an A/D converter electrically coupled to said microprocessor, a vibration sensor adapted to be mounted on a cutting tool holder assembly, said sensor being electrically coupled to said A/D converter, and an impact device for vibrating said cutting tool holder assembly, said impact device being electrically coupled to said A/D converter, and programming means;

• said programming means causing said microprocessor to evaluate the relationship between the force delivered to said cutting tool holder by said impact device and the signals from the A/D converter representing the vibrations of said cutting tool holder caused by said impact device when said damper mass is locked, and based on that evaluation to determine the most dynamically flexible mode of vibration of said cutting tool assembly;
• said programming means further causing said microprocessor to evaluate the relationship between the force delivered to said cutting tool holder by said impact device and the signals from the A/D converter representing the vibrations of said cutting tool holder caused by said impact device when said damper mass is unlocked, and based on both said evaluations to determine what corrective tuning adjustment is required to minimize vibration of said cutting tool holder assembly, whereby said tuner assembly facilitates the control of a cutting tool tuning procedure.