Patent ID: 7953583

Claim:
A method of performing circularity test for determining behavior of shafts of a multi-shaft machine moving a tool or a tool receptacle in a coordinated movement during a machining operation, wherein during the circularity test, the coordinated movement of the shafts causes the tool or the receptacle to ideally follow a circular path, comprising the steps of: imparting at least one first movement pattern on the shafts of the machine, measuring at least one measurement variable of the imparted movement pattern on the shafts, applying the coordinated movement on the shafts of the machine corresponding to the circularity test and obtaining an actual circularity path curve of the tool or of the tool receptacle, determining a circularity deviation of the actual circularity path curve from an ideal circularity path curve, preparing a simulation model for each of the shafts, imparting at least one second movement pattern on the simulation model of shafts of the machine, computing at least one parameter of the simulation model for each shaft from simulation output and an analysis of the corresponding at least one measurement variable, applying the coordinated movement on the shafts of the simulation model corresponding to the circularity test, and generating a simulated circularity path curve of the tool or of the tool receptacle, determining a circularity deviation of the simulated circularity path curve from the ideal circularity path curve, presenting as the behavior of the shafts of the multi-shaft machine during the machining operation: the actual circularity path curve of the tool or of the tool receptacle, the circularity deviation of the actual circularity path curve from an ideal circularity path curve, the simulated circularity path curve of the tool or of the tool receptacle, the circularity deviation of the simulated circularity path curve from the ideal circularity path curve, and the computed parameters for the simulation model of each shaft, and applying the difference between the circularity deviations of the simulated circularity path curve and the actual circularity path curve to simulations of shaft movements that cannot be made in actual machine, to estimate the shaft movements in the actual machine in those tests.