Experimental investigation and numerical analysis of the dynamic characteristics of a laminated hybrid composite bed

To maximize the productivity of precise products in manufacturing industries, machine tools should be operated at high speeds. The machine tools should withstand higher cutting speeds, higher acceleration and deceleration and should be cost effective to give high quality products. The aforesaid expectations cannot be fulfilled simultaneously if conventional metal such as cast iron is employed. Hence, there is a need to replace cast iron with alternative materials. In the present work an attempt is made to replace the mini lathe bed made of cast iron with laminated hybrid composites, carbon, and glass/epoxy, to attain superior dynamic properties with less weight. The manufactured composite bed weighs 3.5 times less than that of the existing cast iron bed. Numerical and experimental modal analysis was done for both the cast iron and composite bed. The results show that the experimentally obtained fundamental natural frequency and damping ratio of composite bed are superior, 37% and 3 times, than that of the existing cast iron bed. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:20–26, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers