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Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288

13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management, GCMM 2016

Structure Analysis of Planetary Pipe Cutting Machine Based on

ANSYS
Ju Yi,Yingping Qian*,Zhiqiang Shang,Zhihong Yan,Yang Jiao
a
The School of Mechanical Engineering of Hubei University of Technology,Wuhan 430000,PR China

Abstract

The thin-walled stainless steel pipe was easy to be deformed in traditional method of cutting process, which can reduce the
dimensional precision and surface quality. Therefore, it was urgent to solve this problem by a pipe cutting machine with high
precision and high efficiency.In the process of stainless steel pipe cutting, the pipe was subjected to bending, shearing, torsion
and other loads. In order to ensure its safety, it was necessary to conduct strength calculation and finite element analysis on the
core components. Three dimensional model of pipe cutting machine was established by 3D software PRO-E and stress analysis
was carried out by ANSYS finite element analysis software. Based on that,the deformation of steel pipe was simulated, the
structure design of pipe cutting machine was guided and the support for further parameter analysis and improvement was
provided in the cutting process.
2016The
© 2017 TheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management
Keywords: ANSYS;Pipe cutting machine;Planetary cutting; Finite element analysis

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of modern machinery manufacturing, the demand for steel pipe is growing and
stainless steel pipe has been widely used. The thin-walled stainless steel pipe is with the characteristics of thin
wall, poor rigidity and and is prone to be clamping deformation [1]. The methods for thin wall steel pipe
cutting in China are mainly wire cutting and grinding wheel cutting, etc. The traditional methods of machining
will cause the processing deformation, which will reduce the outside quality and dimension accuracy. In
addition, the cutting efficiency is lower and the error is bigger. In view of the shortcomings of the existing
cutting process, a method of planetary cutting was presented[2-4].The planetary cutting machine adopted

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: qianyp98@163.com

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 13th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.01.272
1284 Ju Yi et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288

double symmetric arrangement,with the pipe fixed and two rotary cutting tools at the same time, that was, the
main movement and the feed movement were completed by the cutting tool, which was called planetary cutting
operation.This device adopted PLC control system with high degree of automation and can improve the cutting
efficiency efficiently, which was economically feasible. This paper gave a model analysis of the stress of
bearing chock and the steel pipe in the process of cutting through ANSYS finite element software and 3D
software PRO-E.It was observed that whether the deformation was within the allowable error range by the
stress and deformation displacement diagram.

2. Finite element analysis of bearing chock.

As shown in Fig. 1, the motor transmited active power to the hollow shaft through gear pair, furthermore,
passed it to the cutting head.,which completed the cutting movement.The bearing chock is the main bearing
component of pipe cutter, supporting the hollow shaft and cutting head, bearing the positive pressure of the
cutting tool and transmiting the various loads of process. So the quality of its performance will affect the
quality of the steel tube incision directly [5]. The bearing chock is a core important component to guarantee the
normal work of the cutter and avoid damage. So it is very important to carry out the finite element analysis on
the main bearing chock.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the cutting machine

2.1. The process of finite element analysis.

As shown in Fig. 2, it’s the structure view and basic size of bearing chock. The three-dimensional entity
model of main bearing chock was established according to the two-dimensional drawing,which accomplished
the preparatory work for ANSYS modeling.The bearing chock was fixed on the mounting base by six threaded
holes with rigid constraint.It can be seen that small fillets were on the base,which just affected the local stress
without affecting the overall stress changes according to the Saint-Venant theorem. Therefore, they can be
simplified into right angles to simplify the three-dimensional model, which was conducive to the finite element
analysis [6].
 Ju Yi et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288 1285

Fig.2 Structure view of bearing chock

The 45 steel was used as the material of bearing chock with the material properties of the elastic modulus
EX = 210GPa, poisson ratio PRXY = 0.3 and the density of 7.85 × 103kg / m3. The choice of element type
was of great importance for finite element analysis [7], which determined additional degree of freedom.The
main bearing chock was mainly subjected to the feed force and positive pressure transmitted in the cutting
process,so the stress and strain should be analyzed emphatically.So the form of higher order element Solid95
unit with 20 nodes was select,which can be used for irregular shape,do not reduce the accuracy and with good
compatibility. This unit has the ability of plasticity, large deformation and strain. Each node is with three
degrees of freedom: X, Y, Z direction. And different output items were provided.
The radial force of the bearing chock is 6123N through calculation, which is vertical upward.The pressure
of right bearing chock is 3272N, which is straight down. The radius of the bearing chock is r = 155 mm. The
pressure of the left side is P1= 967.74 MPa, the right side is P2 = 517.14 MPa by the pressure formula.
The pressure load was applied to bearing chock on the basis of the bearing characteristics with the
appropriate mesh generation. And then click on the "run". The corresponding results will come out after the
automatic operation. The displacement deformation is shown in Figure 3.

(a) Displacement deformation of X-axis (b) Displacement deformation of Y-axis

1286 Ju Yi et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288

(c) Displacement deformation of Z-axis (d) Displacement deformation of synthesis

Fig.3 Displacement deformation of bearing chock

2.2. Analysis of Simulation results

The red part of Fig. 3 is the deformation area. Based on the analysis of the figure, the maximum
deformation of X, Y and Z direction are 2.316μm, 27.525μm and 8.744μm respectively, and the
comprehensive deformation is 28.784μm.It can be obtained from the four figures above: the Y axis (left-right
direction) is of maximum deformation, the X and Z axis (anterior/posterio and superiorinferior direction) is of
minimum deformation. In the process of cutting, the force on both ends of the bearing chock are unbalanced,
the force close to the side of the cutting tool will be larger. So the deformation of Y direction the will be larger.
The research object of this paper is 409 ferrite stainless steel with wall thickness of 1.0 - 1.5(mm) and diameter
of 75 -135(mm), of which the error allowed is 0~0.3mm. The maximum amount of deformation in the
deformation figure is within the allowable range, thus the cutting allowable error is satisfied.

3. Finite element analysis of steel tube

3.1. The process of finite element analysis

The distortion principle was similar to the process of metal material with extrusion [8], resulting in plastic
deformation and shear slip deformation of the process. The pipe was subjected to positive pressure and friction
force of tool, resulting in elastic deformation and plastic deformation.In the practical engineering, the finite
element model of the shell element was generally chosen for the thin-wall structure in order to reduce the
calculationand get accurate results [9,10]. Since the thickness of the shell element is independent of the
geometry, it was much easier to build a surface geometry model for generating shell element than to build a 3D
solid model. The object of this research is the thin-wall stainless steel pipe, so the shell 63, namely linear thin
shell element was chosen [11,12]. During the cutting process, the cutting force was changeable with different
locations. As shown in Fig. 4, The X-axis represents the up-down direction, the Y-axis represents the front-rear
direction, and the Z-axis represents the left-right direction.
 Ju Yi et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288 1287

(a) Displacement deformation of X-axis (b) Displacement deformation of Y-axis

(c) Displacement deformation of Z-axis (d) Displacement deformation of synthesis

Fig. 4 Displacement deformation of cutting process

3.2. Analysis of Simulation results

The red part of Fig. 4 is the deformation area. The contact area between the tool and the steel pipe is the
stress concentration area with the most stress variation. The action of the tool includes the revolving movement
of the steel pipe and the rotation around the hollow shaft. The tube was fixed by jig.So the freedom degrees of
X, Y and Z directions of the two end faces of the pipe were all constrained to establish a finite element
simulation model for simulation analysis. Based on the contrast analysis of the figure, the maximum
deformation of X, Y and Z direction are 0.027μm, 0.0014μm and 0.027μm respectively. From the results, the
deformation of X direction is largest because of the positive pressure. The deformation of X direction and Z
direction are mainly due to the friction and shear force respectively. The allowable maximum error of the
feeding amount of the steel pipe is 0~0.3mm.So it can meet the technical requirements of the project.
1288 Ju Yi et al. / Procedia Engineering 174 (2017) 1283 – 1288

4. Summary

The finite element model of the bearing chock and steel pipe was established by ANSYS software through
the finite element analysis. The corresponding displacement deformation figures were obtained.And the
contrast analysis was conducted on the data.
The maximum deformation of the bearing chock is 27.525μm in the horizontal direction and the maximum
synthesis deformation is 28.784μm. The simulation result is in the allowable range,which is 0 ~ 0.3mm.So the
bearing chock can meet the requirement.
The contact area between the tool and the steel pipe is the stress concentration area with the most stress
variation. The maximum deformation of X direction,namely the feed direction, is 0.027μm. The simulation
result is in the allowable feed rate range 0 - 0.3mm.So it can meet the requirement.
Theoretical basis for the design and safety reliability of the pipe cutting machine was provided by the finite
element analysis of the bearing chock and the stainless steel pipe of the machine tool,which
was conducive to production and processing.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Support Program of Hubei
Province(No.2014BAA020) , the Project of Education Department of Hubei Province(No.2015293) , the
Science and Technology Project of Hubei Province(No.2013BHE003) and the State Key Lab. of Mold & Die
Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology of China(No.2010-P03).

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