Title:

Traverse System for Water Droplet Machining

Water Droplet Machining (WDM) is a novel manufacturing process developed at the UNH John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center. WDM occurs within a vacuum chamber to reduce air resistance as the water is ejected from a stationary nozzle to a workpiece moved by a traverse system. The original traverse system for the WDM process lacked smooth motion due to a stepper motor drive, had only one axis of motion, would bind due to the cantilevered workpiece, and had difficulty adjusting the stand-off distance between the nozzle and workpiece. A new traverse system was needed to address these problems and better facilitate testing of the WDM process. Each component was selected by weighting design goals while being mindful of budget constraints. The servo motors were selected for their physical performance as well as their ability to interface with an easy-to-program controller. The frame was designed to mount securely without needing to drill extra holes in the vacuum chamber. Several different configurations for the orientation and position of the actuators were considered with the goal of maximizing range of motion within the frame. The newly designed traverse system successfully met all design criteria and improved testing of the WDM process.

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