Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105
DOI 10.1007/s00170-017-0453-4
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Analysis of the vibration characteristics and adjustment method
of boring bar with a variable stiffness vibration absorber
Xianli Liu 1 & Qiang Liu 1 & Shi Wu 1 & Rongyi Li 1 & Haining Gao 1
Received: 15 December 2016 / Accepted: 24 April 2017 / Published online: 16 May 2017
# Springer-Verlag London 2017
Abstract In deep hole boring process, long and flexible bor-
ing bars are often used. Due to the large length-to-diameter
ratio, the stiffness of the boring bars is inevitably reduced,
where the boring bars’ vibration effects will occur. The influ-
ences of vibration will significantly degrade the accuracy and
the surface quality, or even lead failure of the production.
Therefore, it is of significant importance to develop tech-
niques to reduce vibration in deep hole boring. In this paper,
a new boring bar with a variable stiffness dynamic vibration
absorber (VSDVA) is presented, where the basic parameters
of the proposed boring bar are measured. Based on the pro-
posed dynamic model, the vibration characteristics of the pro-
posed boring bar are analyzed, and the change laws of the
vibration reduction performance are obtained under different
excitation frequencies. A new vibration reduction method is
proposed, where best vibration reduction performance can be
achieved by adjusting the stiffness of the VSDVA. Finally, the
vibration reduction performance of the proposed boring bar is
validated and evaluated by boring experiments. These works
could provide guidance for designing new types of boring
bars, selecting cutting parameters, and adjusting the vibration
reduction performance of the proposed boring bar, and as a
result, it provides a new design idea for the design of boring
bar.
* Xianli Liu
Xianli.liu@hrbust.edu.cn
1
The Key Lab of National and Local United Engineering for
High-Efficiency Cutting & Tools, Harbin University of Science and
Technology, Harbin 150080, China
Keywords Boring bar . Passive vibration reduction . Variable
stiffness . Dynamic vibration absorber . Vibration
characteristic
1 Introduction
In deep hole boring process, boring bars with large
length-to-diameter ratio are often employed, which would re-
sult in deformation and vibration of boring bars. These would
influence the machining precision and quality of the surface
[1]. In particular, the violent vibration will cause chatter,
which will ultimately lead to the failure of boring process.
Therefore, reducing the vibration in the process of boring is
the key problem in deep hole boring. In fact, the vibration of
boring bar can be suppressed by either passive or active
methods as reported in literatures [2–7].
The earlier researchers have developed passive methods for
vibration reduction, where a variety of passive vibration re-
duction principles are applied for designing of boring bars.
These passive methods can achieve vibration reduction per-
formance. Classical examples include boring bars with special
geometric structures, boring bars with dynamic vibration ab-
sorbers, boring bars with impact damping particles, boring
bars with damping layer arranged on the structure of boring
bars, and boring bars with impact and friction absorbers.
A novel hybrid dynamic model of tooling system was pro-
posed by Sortino et al. [8, 9]. The model was based on FE
beams and empirical models, and it was refined by using ex-
perimental observations. A series of experiments were carried
out to study the influence of boring bar material, boring bar
geometry, workpiece material, cutting edge geometry, and
cutting parameters on the stability of internal finish turning.
The predicted modal parameters of the tooling system were in
good accordance with the values of experiments. Rubio et al.
96
[10] focused on parameter optimization of passive dynamic
vibration absorber (DVA). A boring bar was modeled as an
Euler–Bernoulli cantilever beam and the stability of the sys-
tem was analyzed. A classical method for unconstrained opti-
mization problems had been used to obtain the optimum pa-
rameters of the absorber. Song et al. [11] presented a novel
boring bar with constrained layer damping (CLD). The boring
bar was designed and optimized based on the CLD beam
theory and finite element method (FEM). Through numerical
simulations and experiments, it was proved that the boring bar
had good damping performance, and the capability of the
boring bar for chatter suppression was improved five times
compared with conventional boring bar. Biju et al. [12] pre-
sented a specially boring bar based on the particle impact
damping (PID). The effects of the PID on chatter marks, sur-
face roughness, and roundness of holes had been analyzed.
The analysis results showed that the bore quality had been
improved by using the boring bar with PID. Wang et al. [13]
proposed a new type nonlinear tuned mass damper (TMD)
containing an additional element of elastic support dry friction
to suppress machining chatter. Theoretical analysis and exper-
iments had been carried out and the results showed that the
proposed nonlinear TMD could remarkably improve the ma-
chining stability by effectively suppressing the magnitude of
the real part of the frequency response function (FRF) of the
damped machining system. The main disadvantage of passive
boring bars is that its vibration absorber performance cannot
be adjusted. It is difficult to damp several modes by passive
methods. For different cutting parameters, different boring
bars should be needed, and a boring bar can only have the
effect of reducing vibration in a certain range.
With the development of intelligent material and control
technology, various active vibration damped boring bars are
designed. In active methods, classical examples include bor-
ing bars driven by piezoelectric ceramics, boring bars with
magnetic actuators, boring bars with electro-rheological fluid,
and magnetorheological fluid-controlled boring bars.
Yamada et al. [14] proposed a vibration suppression meth-
od based on passive vibration suppression, and a piezoelectric
element and an LR circuit were used. The proposed method
was a hybrid vibration suppression method and only an analog
circuit was used. The effectiveness of the proposed method
and the theoretical analysis were verified through
Fig. 1 Structure of boring bar
with VSDVA
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105
experiments. Lu et al. [15] presented a novel magnetic actua-
tor with four identical electromagnetic units. The relationship
between the control current and output force was linear.
Several modes of a boring bar had been damped by the mag-
netic actuator, and the dynamic stiffness of the boring bar
system was increased significantly. Chen et al. [16, 17] pro-
posed four different H∞ optimal controllers to damp the vi-
bration of boring bar with multifunctional magnetic actuator.
Moreover, based on the armature displacement and control
current, the cutting force could be predicted in real time. It
was demonstrated from the boring experimental results that
not only the boring bar vibration was damped significantly but
also the cutting force could be measured by the proposed
actuator. The cutting force agreed with the reference force
quite well. Mei et al. [18–20] developed a magnetorheological
(MR) fluid-controlled boring bar. The stiffness of the pro-
posed boring bar could be changed by adjusting the strength
of magnetic field. A chatter suppression method was present-
ed and validated by experiments.
The active methods for vibration reduction are more adapt-
able to different cutting parameters, where a variety of driving
methods and control algorithms can be applied to achieve
vibration reduction. The active methods allow to damp several
modes simultaneously but they require actuators.
Furthermore, as the control system is complicated, the actua-
tors are often very large. The large-size actuators introduce
difficulties in practical machining process.
The passive damping boring bars can be used easily, and
the structures of passive damping boring bars are simple.
However, the passive damping boring bars cannot be flexibly
adapted to different cutting parameters. If the cutting parame-
ters are not properly selected, the vibration level of boring bars
might even increase. In this paper, a novel variable stiffness
dynamic vibration absorber (VSDVA) is designed, and a new
vibration reduction method is proposed based on the theory of
dynamic vibration absorber. The vibration reduction perfor-
mance can be achieved by adjusting the stiffness of the
VSDVA. Therefore, the adaptability of the boring bar to cut-
ting parameters can be obtained. More specifically, the stiff-
ness of the VSDVA can be adjusted by adjusting the overhang
length of the VSDVA. Moreover, the influence of the excita-
tion frequency on the vibration reduction performance of the
proposed boring bar is analyzed. Compared with the regular
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105 97

boring bar, the vibration characteristics of the proposed boring bar, F0 denotes the exciting force, m2 denotes the mass block
bar can be adjusted, where the proposed boring bar can more weight, k2 denotes the equivalent stiffness of the VSDVA, c2
flexibly adapt to different cutting parameters. A new idea for denotes the damping constant of the VSDVA, x1 denotes the
designing boring bar is presented. displacement response of equivalent mass M1, x2 denotes the
displacement response of mass block m2, l1 denotes the over-
hang length of the VSDVA, L0 denotes the overhang length of
2 Structure of boring bar with VSDVA the proposed boring bar, L denotes the total length of the
proposed boring bar, and D denotes the diameter of the pro-
In Fig. 1, the structure of proposed boring bar mainly consists posed boring bar. The specific dimensions of the proposed
of the following components: boring bar head, boring bar, boring bar are given in Table 1.
VSDVA, and telescopic adjusting mechanism. The proposed boring bar is subjected to Fc (primary cutting
In the boring process, the vibration at the front end of the force), Fp (radial cutting force), and Ff (feed force) in the
boring bar is the most severe. A cavity is arranged in the front boring process. Compared with the cutting force Fc and Fp,
end of the proposed boring bar, and the VSDVA is installed in the cutting force Ff has much less influence on the vibration of
the cavity. The VSDVA consists of a mass block and a tele- the boring bar, so the cutting force Ff is neglected in this paper.

!
scopic cantilever beam. The two geometries are cylinders and The combined external force F 0 can be calculated as
connected to each other in a fixed manner.

!
!
!
The mass block has a great influence on the vibration re- F0 ¼ Fc þ Fp ð1Þ
duction performance of the VSDVA. In general, according to
the dynamic vibration absorber theory, a heavier the mass
According to the stress of the boring bar, the combined
block would result in more decrease of the vibration effect.
external force is actually fluctuating, and the fluctuation of
Therefore, high-density cemented carbide is selected as the
the combined external force has the greatest influence on the
material of mass block.
vibration performance of the proposed boring bar, so the fluc-
The telescopic adjusting mechanism is arranged at the end
tuation of cutting force is used as the analysis object. Because
of the proposed boring bar and it is connected to a telescopic
the fluctuation curve of cutting force is similar to sine curve,
cantilever beam through the axial hole of the proposed boring
the combined external force is simplified to sine excitation
bar. The telescopic adjusting mechanism is applied to set the
force F0, which can be expressed as
stiffness of the VSDVA by adjusting the overhang length of
the telescopic cantilever beam. Notably, the overhang length F 0 ¼ F A sinðωt Þ ð2Þ
of the telescopic cantilever beam can be changed by setting
the rotation angle of adjusting nut. Therefore, the optimal where FA and ω denote the amplitude and angle frequency
vibration reduction performance can be achieved by adjusting of F0, respectively (FA and ω can be obtained by actual
the stiffness of the VSDVA under different processing measurements).
conditions. The dynamic model of the proposed boring can be
expressed as
     
M1 0 €x1 C 1 þ c2 −c2 x1
3 Dynamic models of boring bar with VSDVA þ
0 m2 €x2 −c2 c2 x2
  
The dynamic model of the proposed boring bar is established K 1 þ k 2 −k 2 x1
þ
based on two degrees of freedom dynamic model as shown in −k 2 k2 x2
Fig. 2. M1 denotes the equivalent mass of the proposed boring  
F A sinðωt Þ
bar, K1 denotes the equivalent stiffness of the proposed boring ¼ ð3Þ
0
bar, C1 denotes the damping constant of the proposed boring

Fig. 2 Dynamic model of the

boring bar with VSDVA
D
98 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105

Table 1 Specific dimensions of the proposed boring bar

Total length of Overhang length of Overhang Diameter of the

the proposed the proposed length of the proposed
boring bar boring bar VSDVA boring bar
L (mm) L0 (mm) l1 (mm) D (mm)

756 600 0~60 40

So the steady-state solutions can be expressed as

   
x1 A1 jωt
¼ e ð4Þ
x2 A2 Fig. 4 Impact test setup

Based on (3) and (4), the steady-state amplitudes can be

calculated as
      −1  
The dynamic model of regular boring bar is equivalent to a
A1 ðK 1 þ k 2 Þ−M 1 ω2 þ jωðC 1 þ c2 Þ −k 2 −jωc2 FA single degree of freedom mass-spring system, where the am-
¼   
A2 −k 2 −jωc2 k 2 −m2 ω þ jωc2
2 0
plitude ratio of regular boring system can be given as
ð5Þ
jA1 j .qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
¼1 ð1‐ω01 2 Þ2 þ ð2ξω01 Þ2 ð8Þ
The amplitude ratio of the main system can be expressed as Ast
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2
jA1 j ð1−ω12 2 ω01 2 Þ2 þ 2ζω12 2 ω01
¼ pffiffiffiffi ð6Þ In order to obtain the dynamic parameters of both the reg-
Ast Δ ular boring bar and the proposed boring bar, where compari-
where son on their vibration performance can be carried out. In our
experiments, the stiffness and impact tests are carried out on
pffiffiffiffi
2 4   2
Δ ¼ ω12 ω01 − ð1 þ μÞ þ ω12 2 þ 4ζω12 2 ξ ω01 2 þ 1 þ two boring bars with the same size, material, and overhang
("  2 #  )2
ξ 1 ξ  2 ð7Þ length. The same tests are also performed on the VSDVA.
1þ − 1þμþ ω01 2 2ζω12 2 ω01
ζ ω12 ζ The stiffness tests are carried out with a laser displacement
sensor (KEYENCE LK-H020) with a sampling time of 5 μs.
The natural frequency of the main system is represented by The load is applied by hanging the weight at the front end of
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ω1 ¼ K 1 =M 1 , the natural frequency of VSDVA is repre- boring bars. The stiffness test setup is shown in Fig. 3.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
sented by ω2 ¼ k 2 =m2, mass ratio is represented by As shown in Fig. 4, the impact tests are carried out with an
m2 impulse hammer of sensitivity 3.41 mV/N. The response sig-
μ¼M 1
, damping ratio of VSDVA is calculated by
nals are captured by an accelerometer (PCB 356A02) of sen-
ζ ¼ 2pcffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
m k
, damping ratio of the main system is calculated
2 2 sitivity 10 mV/g and collected by Donghua DH5922 system.
by ξ ¼ 2pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
C1 ffi
M K
, static deflection is calculated by Ast ¼ F 0 ω1
K 1 ,ω2 The load F is applied by hanging the weight on the front
1 1

is represented by ω12, and ωω1 is represented by ω01. end of boring bar, where the laser displacement sensor is used

100

80
X: 99.29
Y: 78.87
a/F (m/s2/N)

60

40

20

0
0 100 200 300 400
Frequency f (Hz)
Fig. 3 Stiffness test setup Fig. 5 FRF of the proposed boring bar
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105 99

80
In the case of same size and material, the equivalent mass of
M1
60    the regular boring bar is much larger than the equivalent mass
  
  M8 of the proposed boring bar by comparing the value of M1. The
40
Acceleration (m/s2)

main reason is that a cylindrical cavity is provided for the front

20
end of the proposed boring bar. Therefore, parts of the quality
0 of the proposed boring bar are lost. By comparing the equiv-
alent stiffness K1 of the proposed boring bar with that of the
-20
regular boring bar, it can be concluded that the existence of the
-40 cavity can also reduce the stiffness of the proposed boring bar,
-60
where the decrease in the stiffness is small. Based on the
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 above analysis, it can be concluded that the existence of cy-
Time t (s)
lindrical cavity has the maximum influence on the equivalent
Fig. 6 Acceleration curve of the proposed boring bar after impact
mass of the proposed boring bar.
to test the deformation δs of the front end of the boring bar Substituting parameter values above into the dynamic
after loading. The stiffness of boring bar K can be expressed as equations accordingly, the frequency ratio and the correspond-
ing amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast could be computed. Moreover,
F Fig. 7 shows the frequency ratio-amplitude ratio curves for
K¼ ð9Þ
δs the proposed boring bar and regular boring bar. In particular,
the black curve represents the amplitude ratio curve for the
The frequency response function (FRF) curve of the pro-
regular boring bar while the red curve represents the amplitude
posed boring bar (without VSDVA) is obtained by the impact
ratio curve for the proposed boring bar. It could be observed
test, where the FRF curve is shown in Fig. 5. The first bending
that the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast would reach the peak value,
mode of the proposed boring bar is at 99.29 Hz, so the
and the vibration of the regular boring bar becomes most
first-order angle frequency ω0 of the proposed boring bar
violent when the frequency ratio is 1. Therefore, it is necessary
can be calculated. The acceleration curve of boring bar after
to avoid the exciting frequency remaining to the same as the
impact is shown in Fig. 6. According to this acceleration
first bending frequency of the regular boring bar. Moreover,
curve, the damping constant C of the boring bar can be
there are clearly two peaks on the FRF curve for the proposed
expressed as
boring bar, which could be explained by the two different
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi degrees of freedom of the proposed boring bar. Furthermore,
C ¼ 2ξ MK ð10Þ
the first peak is significantly greater than the second peak. In
addition, it could be observed from the red curve in Fig. 7 that
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi
the vibration is certainly suppressed by the VSDVA when the
δn
δn ¼ lnMMiþni .
2
where ξ ¼ δn 2 þ4π2 n2
,
frequency ratio is 1. On the other hand, there are clearly two
After the tests of stiffness and the first natural frequency, peaks in the amplitude ratio curve for the proposed boring bar
the equivalent mass M of boring bar can be calculated by with the VSDVA. The vibration becomes more severe when
K the excitation frequency f is 0.7 or 1.5 times of the first bend-
M¼ ð11Þ ing frequency.
ω0 2
Based on the analyses above, it could be concluded that
where ω0 = 2π × 99.29. there exist both advantages and disadvantages of applying the
The VSDVA is also tested by the above method, where the VSDVA to the vibration suppression. In particular, the
corresponding parameters are measured and given in Table 2. VSDVA has a better vibration suppression effect, given a

Table 2 Parameter data of boring

bars Boring bars Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Damping Damping
mass of mass of stiffness of stiffness of constant constant
boring bar VSDVA boring bar VSDVA C1 (N s/ c2 (N s/
M1 (kg) m2 (kg) K1 (105 N/m) k2 (105 N/m) m) m)

Boring bar 1.48 0.8 5.76 3.5 8.52 5.28

with
VSDVA
Regular 2 – 5.95 – 8.52 –
boring
bar
100 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105

60

Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast 50

40

Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

30

20

10
0 h l 1(
0 0.5 1 1.5
Fig. 7 Frequency ratio-amplitude ratio curves of the proposed boring bar
and regular boring bar
certain range of the excitation frequency. However, the num-
ber of peaks for the amplitude ratio curve changes from one to
two when the VSDVA is employed. Therefore, extra attention
should be paid when a boring bar with the VSDVA is applied.
Vibration will be intensified as the cutting parameters are
wrongly selected.
In order to make the boring bar have the function of
adjusting the vibration reduction performance, a variable stiff-
ness dynamic vibration absorber (VSDVA) is designed. The
vibration reduction performance of the proposed boring bar
can be adjusted by adjusting the stiffness of the VSDVA. As
shown in Fig. 8, the black curve indicates the amplitude ratio
curve of the regular boring bar with single degree of freedom.
Similarly, the red, blue, and green curves represent the ampli-
tude ratio curves of the proposed boring bar with different
stiffness of the VSDVA, respectively. It could be observed
that the minimum point on the curve moves towards right with
the increases of the VSDVA stiffness, respectively. In other
words, the performance vibration reduction for the proposed
boring bar can be adjusted by choosing different stiffness of
the VSDVA, so that the working conditions could be adapted
with different excitation frequencies.
5
)
mm
2 gt
g len
an
verh
O
Fig. 9 Curved surface of amplitude ratio
4 Analysis of the vibration characteristics
of the boring bar with VSDVA
4.1 Curved surface of amplitude ratio
The performance of vibration reduction for the proposed bor-
ing bar is determined by two main factors: the excitation fre-
quency f and the overhang length l1 of the VSDVA (stiffness
of VSDVA). Based on the measured parameters of the pro-
posed boring bar, Fig. 9 demonstrates the effect on the ampli-
tude ratio |A1|/Ast caused by excitation frequency f and over-
hang length l1. The excitation frequency f is in the range of
0~1000 Hz, and the overhang length l1 is in the range of
0~60 mm (the stiffness of the VSDVA is in the range of
3.5~55.5e5 (105 N/m) by calculation). As shown in Fig. 9,
there are two regions indicated, A and B. By investigating
these two regions, it could be observed that the peaks of region
A are significantly larger than the peaks of region B.
Moreover, the intersection of region A and region B is at
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
about ω ¼ K 1 =M 1 (99.34 Hz). Furthermore, when the am-
plitude ratio |A1|/Ast is greater than 1, it is defined as vibration
state. On the other hand, when the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast is
less than 1, it is defined to be the realization of vibration
reduction.

4
Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

5
3
Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

2 3

1 60
1 m)
40 l 1(m
0
gth
0 20 20
g len
0 40 60 80 an
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 Excitation
frequency 100 0 erh
f (Hz) Ov

Fig. 8 Amplitude ratio curves under different stiffness of the VSDVA Fig. 10 Enlarged map of the region A
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105 101

50

4 Peak 40

Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

2 f=80(Hz)
30
0
200 20
Ex

400 f=70(Hz)
cit

10
atio
nf

600
req

0
uen

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
800 60
cy

Overhang length l1(mm)

40
f (H

20 l 1(mm) Fig. 13 Amplitude ratio curves with excitation frequencies of 70 and

z)

1000 len gth

0 v erha ng
O 80 Hz
Fig. 11 Enlarged map of the region B
Figure 10 shows an enlarged map of the region A. It could
be observed that when the excitation frequency f is increasing,
the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast would increase first and decrease
later. In addition, the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast is almost always
more than 1 in the selected parameter range, which means the
vibration of the boring bar is not suppressed, and this is the
state of vibration. Thus, the region A is the case that should be
avoided. In order to achieve the purpose of vibration reduc-
tion, it is necessary to ensure that the excitation frequency f is
greater than 1 when boring.
Figure 11 shows an enlarged map of the region B. Some
peaks in Fig. 11 could be observed in the range of selected
parameters. As the values of peaks are much larger than 1, the
peaks are defined as the vibration peaks. Meanwhile, it could
be also observed that the amplitude ratio of the other region is
smaller. In addition, the peaks would gradually shift to right
and become smaller with the increase of the excitation fre-
quency f and the decrease of the overhang length l1 of the
VSDVA. Therefore, it could be concluded that the amplitude
ratio could be adjusted by changing the excitation frequency f
and the overhang length l1 of the VSDVA. In other words, the
performance adjustment of the vibration reduction for the
proposed boring bar could be carried out based on the findings
above. The region B is the working region for the proposed
boring bar.
4.2 Effect of excitation frequency on vibration
characteristics
In the boring process, different cutting parameters (cutting
speed, cutting depth, and cutting feed) are selected due to
different factors such as workpiece materials and quality re-
quirements. The performance of vibration reduction for the
proposed boring bar should be adjusted according to the actual
conditions. In general, the speed of spindle is constant, and it
is a main factor affecting the excitation frequency during the
actual boring process.
Figure 12 plots the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast with respect to
the overhang length l1 at different excitation frequencies from
10 to 60 Hz with a step of 10 Hz. It could be observed that the
amplitude ratio illustrates a monotonically increasing trend
with the increase of the overhang length l1, given the range
of selected parameters. Meanwhile, given the same overhang
length, the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast has a higher value at a

3 6

5
2.5
Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast

2 3

2
1.5
1

1 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Fig. 12 Amplitude ratio curves with the excitation frequencies in the Fig. 14 Amplitude ratio curves with the excitation frequencies in the
range of 10~60 Hz range 90~150 Hz
102 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105

5
f=160(Hz)
4
Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast
f=200(Hz)
3
f=300(Hz)
2 f=400(Hz)
f=500(Hz)
1
0
0 10 20 30 40
Overhang length l1(mm)
Fig. 15 Amplitude ratio curves with excitation frequency in the range of
160~500 Hz
larger excitation frequency. Overall, it could be seen from the
plot that the values of amplitude ratio curves are always great-
er than 1 and this condition should be avoided.
The two curves in Fig. 13 show the relationship between
the overhang length l1 and the amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast at the
excitation frequencies of 70 and 80 Hz, respectively. In par-
ticular, the amplitude ratio is positively related to the overhang
length of the VSDVA when the excitation frequency is 70 Hz.
However, they become negatively correlated when the excita-
tion frequency is 80 Hz. In conclusion, the amplitude ratio
curve has completely different variation trends at two different
excitation frequencies with the increase of the overhang length
of the VSDVA.
Continue to increase the frequency of excitation. When the
excitation frequency is in the range of 90~150 Hz, with the
increase of overhang length of the VSDVA, the change trends
of the amplitude ratio curves are not the same as shown in
Fig. 14. The amplitude ratio decreases with the increase of the
overhang length of the VSDVA when the excitation frequency
is at 90 and 100 Hz. Meanwhile, the amplitude ratio could be
less than 1 by adjusting the overhang length of the VSDVA at
this time. When the excitation frequency is from 110 to
140 Hz with a step of 10 Hz, increasing the overhang length
of the VSDVA would cause the amplitude ratio to drop at first
2
Excitation frequency
1.5 f=200 (Hz)
Amplitude ratio |A1|/Ast
and then increase later. Finally, when the excitation frequency
reaches 150 Hz, the amplitude ratio drops at first, then in-
creases for a while and decreases again with the increase of
the overhang length of the VSDVA.
After the excitation frequencies are increased beyond
150 Hz, the amplitude ratio curves demonstrate the same var-
iation law. As shown in Fig. 15, when the overhang length of
the VSDVA is increasing, the amplitude ratio would decrease
at first, then increase, and finally decrease. It could be con-
cluded that a larger excitation frequency would cause a small-
50 60 er maximum value on amplitude ratio curves with the peak
shifting from right to left. Moreover, it could be found in
Fig. 15 that the amplitude ratios are strictly less than 1 at
any overhang length when the excitation frequency is 400
and 500 Hz. Therefore, the proposed boring is always in the
state of vibration reduction no matter how the overhang length
of the VSDVA changes in such cases.
Based on the analyses above, it could be concluded that the
amplitude ratios are always larger than 1 when the excitation
frequency is in the range of 0~100 Hz. In that case, it is im-
possible to perform vibration reduction by the proposed bor-
ing bar. Therefore, the spindle speed has to be improved in
order to improve the excitation frequency, so that the excita-
tion frequencies could across the region A and reach the re-
gion B. In that manner, the region B is the working region for
the proposed boring bar.
When the excitation frequency is located in the region B,
the performance of vibration reduction for the proposed bor-
ing bar could be adjusted based on the change laws of ampli-
tude ratio curves. The example below demonstrates how to
adjust the overhang length of the VSDVA at the excitation
frequency of 200 Hz. As shown in Fig. 16, the amplitude ratio
decreases at first, then increases, and finally continues to de-
crease when the overhang length of the VSDVA is increasing
at the excitation frequency of 200 Hz. Note that the amplitude
ratio has the minimum value point at l1 = 29 mm according to
the curve in the graph. In other words, the best performance of
vibration reduction could be achieved once the overhang
60
50
40

30
1
Minimum point
20
l1=29(mm)
0.5 10

0
100 200 400 600 800 1000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Excitation frequency f (Hz)
Overhang length l1(mm)
Fig. 17 Curve of the overhang lengths that minimize the vibration at
Fig. 16 Curve of amplitude ratio under 200 Hz different excitation frequencies
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105 103

Fig. 18 Experimental setup for

the proposed boring bar

length of the VSDVA is adjusted to l1 = 29 mm during the
actual process at the excitation frequency of 200 Hz. Figure 17
plots the overhang lengths that minimize the vibration at dif-
ferent excitation frequencies.
5 Boring experiments
Boring experiments are carried out to analyze the performance
of vibration reduction for the proposed boring bar. In particu-
lar, CNC lathe CKA6150 is used in boring experiments. The
workpiece material is C45E4, the length of workpiece is
350 mm, outer diameter is 150 mm, and inner diameter is
100 mm. The proposed boring bar diameter is 40 mm, and
the overhang length L0 is 600 mm (length-to-diameter ratio is
15). The insert number is CNMG-12-04-08-XM, and the bor-
ing experiments are carried out under dry conditions. In the
setup state, the boring bar is clamped to the dynamometer
(Kistler9257B) fixed on the tool post by the clamping fixture.
Moreover, in order to measure the acceleration of the pro-
posed boring bar, the acceleration sensor (PCB 356A02 with
a sensitivity of 10 mV/g) is fixed on the front end of the boring
bar. Kistler5007 charge amplifier and Donghua DH5922 data
acquisition and analysis system are used in the boring exper-
iments. The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 18.
During the boring experiments, the frequency of the cutting
force FZ is measured to obtain the excitation frequency. Then,
the adjustment of the excitation frequency for the proposed
boring bar is carried out by changing the spindle speed. The
excitation frequency has the range of 50~400 Hz with steps of
50 Hz and the overhang length of the VSDVA has the range of
0~60 mm with steps of 10 mm. The feed rate is 0.2 mm/rev,
and the cutting depth is 0.15 mm. The experimentally mea-
sured stable chart is shown in Fig. 19.
The stable and unstable states are determined from the
power spectrum of the measured accelerometer signals.
When the boring bar is in the state of unstable, the power
spectrum has large amplitude peaks at the modal frequencies.
While, when the boring bar is in the state of stable, the ampli-
tude peaks of the power spectrum at the modal frequencies are
small. So, the stable points and unstable points can be distin-
guished by comparing the power spectrums.
The machined surfaces have been obtained by experiments,
and the surface roughnesses have been measured. It could be
observed that the performance of vibration reduction for the
proposed boring bar could be adjusted by changing the over-
hang length of the VSDVA at different excitation frequencies.

80
70
Acceleration (m/s2)

40
60
0
Overhang length l1 (mm)

20
50
-40
Acceleration (m/s2)

15
40 -80
0 0.5 1 1.5
30 10
80
Acceleration (m/s2)

20 5
40

10 0 0
0 200 400 600 800

0 -40
0 100 200 300 400 450
-80
0 0.5 1 1.5

Fig. 19 Stable and unstable charts

104
In particular, when the excitation frequency is 100 Hz, the
vibration of the proposed boring bar is violent with the over-
hang length of the VSDVA of 10, 20, and 30 mm. However,
when the overhang length of the VSDVA is increased to 40,
50, and 60 mm, it could be seen that the vibration is sup-
pressed. When the excitation frequency is 200 Hz, it could
be found that the vibration of the boring bar is violent with
the overhang length of the VSDVA at 40 mm, and the ma-
chined surface is rough. However, the vibration of boring bar
is suppressed with other overhang lengths of the VSDVA. The
findings are consistent with the curve shown in Fig. 16. Then,
when the excitation frequency is 400 Hz, it could be observed
that the amplitude ratios are strictly less than 1. Therefore, the
vibration of the proposed boring bar is suppressed with any
overhang length of the VSDVA in this case. The pink dashed
curve in Fig. 19 is a part of the curve in Fig. 17, and it is in the
stable area which verified the accuracy of the proposed dy-
namic model.
According to the analyses above, it is found that the vibra-
tion characteristics of the boring bar could only be adjusted
when they are mastered. The main steps of performing the
adjustment for the proposed boring bar are shown: (1)
Measure the excitation frequency f and excitation force F0 of
the proposed boring bar; (2) Substitute the values in Step 1 to
the dynamic formulas and record the vibration reduction per-
formance change law for the proposed boring bar; (3) Find the
minimum point of curve and its corresponding overhang
length of the VSDVA; (4) Adjust the overhang length of the
VSDVA to the values in Step 3 and realize an optimal vibra-
tion reduction. The experimental results indicate that the pro-
posed boring bar with the VSDVA could reduce the vibration.
Meanwhile, the accuracy of the model is verified, and the
method of using the proposed boring bar is described. In con-
clusion, it suggests a new direction for boring bar design.
6 Conclusions
A new boring bar with adjustable performance of vibration
reduction is designed based on the theory of dynamic vibra-
tion absorber in this paper. The new boring bar is equipped
with a novel VSDVA in which stiffness could be adjusted. The
dynamic model of the proposed boring bar is constructed
where the basic parameters of the proposed boring bar are
measured. The vibration characteristics of the proposed boring
bar and the regular boring bar are compared and analyzed; the
results show that the proposed boring bar has the effect of
vibration reduction, but it should be used in a certain excita-
tion frequency. The curved surface of amplitude ratio is obvi-
ously divided into two regions, region A (0~99.34 Hz) and
region B (99.34~1000 Hz), and different vibration peaks are
found on the curved surface of amplitude ratio. The region A
is the vibration region which should be avoided, and the
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2018) 98:95–105
region B is the working region for the proposed boring bar.
Thereafter, some analyses of the vibration characteristics for
the proposed boring bar at different excitation frequencies and
overhang lengths of the VSDVA are carried out. The main
steps of performing the adjustment for the proposed boring
bar are proposed. To explain the method of using the boring
bar, some experiments are carried out and the results verified
that the boring bar with the VSDVA could reduce the vibra-
tion. Thus, it suggests a new idea of designing the boring bar.
Acknowledgments This project is supported by the State Key Program
of National Natural Science Foundation of China (51235003).
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