Slideways

Function of a slideway
• To Provide mechanical guidance along a pre determined path .
• Achieving Pre determined path is essential to achieve High Accuracy and Surface
Finish of the product.
• The aim of the slideway is to minimize the difference between the actual path of
travel and the pre determined path of travel.
• Factors That cause these deviations are:
1. External forces acting on the system such as weight of workpiece, carriage, cutting
Forces etc.
2. Frictional Resistance
Frictional Resistance
• Based on nature of frictional resistance between
guideway and operative element :
• Guideways with Sliding friction- Slideways
• Guideways with Rolling Friction –Anti-friction ways
Types of Slideways

•
• Consider
•
a Lubricated surface where sliding friction occurs.
 Hydrodynamic Force Q=

• v is the velocity of sliding friction

• G is the weight of the sliding body
• Resultant N=Q-G
• At low speeds, gravity forces dominate resulting in partial metal to
metal contact. This can be avoided by pumping lubricant into the
interface under pressure. These slideways are called Hydrostatic
Slideways.
• When , the hydrodynamic force dominates, there is a considerable
float that occurs that prevents direct contact and maintains a
permanent lubricant layer. These Slideways are called
Hydrodynamic Slideways.
Shape of Slideways
• The shape of slideways depends on the following factors:
1. Load to be carried and their direction
2. Position of transmission elements
3. Ease of chip disposal
4. Ease of Lubrication
5. Wear characteristics and provisions for wear adjustment
6. Ease of Fabrication
Shapes of Slideways
• The usual shapes forming the guiding elements of
slideways are
1. Vee shaped
2. Flat shaped
3. Dovetail shaped
4. Cylindrical shaped
Open and Closed Slideway
• The shapes can be again divided into two – open or
closed
• Open slideways are preferred when the sliding velocity is
high and when there is good retention of lubricant in the
interface
• Closed Slideways are used when sliding velocity is low
and it is necessary to prevent chip accumulation and
ensure its removal
Flat Slideways
• Manufacturing ease
• Poor Lubricant retention
• Need to elaborate devices to account for clearances( Flat
strips in one direction with considerable skill for adjusting
the force applied)
• Abundant Bearing surface
Vee Slideways
• Automatic Adjustment of clearances under weight of
Gravity
• Shape maybe symmetrical or asymmetrical
• Apex angle can be controlled to increased load bearing
capacity but affects travel accuracy
• Rapid wear due to shape
• Vee and Flat slideways are used for guides in Lathe
• Two separate guides are used for saddle and tailstock
Dovetail and Cylindrical Slideways
• Dovetail slideways are used for milling machines, tables,
saddles and knees
• Cylindrical Slideways are used in pillars of radial drilling
machines(fully constrained)
Material of Slideways
• Requirements for selecting guide material
1. Strength
2. Damping capacity
3. Wear resistance
• Cast Iron, low carbon steels and low alloyed steels are commonly used
• Heat Treatment like induction hardening can help improve wear resistance
• Low carbon steels are preferred for high sliding velocity
• Structural steels are preferred for low sliding velocities

• Flame refining: surface is preheated before fame heating for maintaining a

temperature gradient instead of obtaining a full quenching
Design Criteria
• Slideways
  are designed for two parameters:
• Wear Resistance -governed by maximum pressure
acting

• Stiffness- governed by deflections of cutting edge in

directions that significantly influence machining accuracy
Design for wear Resistance
•
• Forces
•  Weight ofActing on Mating surfaces in a combination of V and Flat Slideways
carriage G
• Cutting forces ( in direction of velocity vector) and
• Unknown Forces A,B and C acting on the mating surfaces
• Under Equilibrium conditions:

Forces A , B and C can be found

Apex angle =
For apex angle equal to 90, Forces in terms of

C
Design for wear Resistance
•
• Forces
•
 Weight ofActing on Mating surfaces in a combination of two Flat Slideways
carriage G
• Cutting forces ( in direction of velocity vector) ,
• Unknown Forces A,B and C acting on the mating surfaces
• Pulling Force Q(unknown)
• Frictional Forces fA, fB and fC where f is coeff of friction
• Under Equilibrium conditions:

A
B
C=
Q=
Pressure calculation
•  
Average pressure

Determination of maximum Pressure

Let of the force from the centre of the carriage.

We have two equilibrium conditions to determine the three points of action

The third equation comes from the assumption that moment of reactive forces A and C
about the Y- axis is proportional to the width of the slideway face

Thus the points of action can be found out by applying the Equilibrium conditions.
The ratio of is used to determine the shape of the pressure distribution digram
Pressure Distribution
Pressure Distribution Diagram
•  Case 1:
The pressure distribution diagram will be a trapezoid with
a non zero

• Case2:
A negative is formed which implies that complete length
of the slideway is not in contact with the guided part .
Pressure Distribution Diagram
•  Case 3:
The pressure distribution diagram will be a rectangle

• Case 4 :
The pressure distribution diagram will be a triangle with a
zero .
Permissible Values of Max and Avg pressure
•• For
  sliding movement for feed motion in lathes and milling machines
• For sliding movement for primary cutting motion in shaping and planing

• For heavy duty tools

for low sliding velocities
for high sliding velocities
• The permissible average pressure is taken as half of the maximum
permissible pressure
• The above values are valid for cast iron, for steel values are increased
by 1.25-1.30 times the cast iron value
For Vee shaped guideway

•  The value c for flat guideway will be replaced by

This is for asymmetrical case

Design of Slideways for Stiffness
•• The
  deflection of the cutting edge due to contact deformation of
the slideway should not exceed a permissible value

• The direction in which the deformation occurs must be the

direction in which has considerable effect on machining accuracy.
• For Lathe machines, it is found that deformation along radial
direction has maximum effect on machining accuracy, which is
capable of causing a diametrical error.
• This deformation is compensation by increasing the stiffness of
the slideway in that direction.
Stiffness design for two Flat Slideway
•  
• and are contact deformations due to rotation of saddle due to
unequal contact deformations.
• The total radial deflection of the cutting edge is given by
• +
• The contact deformation is assumed to be proportional to
average pressure
• =k +k
• Here k is the contact compliance
• K=1micron.