An AFM-based methodology for measuring axial and radial error motions of spindles

This paper presents a novel atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based methodology for measurement of axial and radial error motions of a high precision spindle. Based on a modified commercial AFM system, the AFM tip is employed as a cutting tool by which nano-grooves are scratched on a flat surface with the rotation of the spindle. By extracting the radial motion data of the spindle from the scratched nano-grooves, the radial error motion of the spindle can be calculated after subtracting the tilting errors from the original measurement data. Through recording the variation of the PZT displacement in the Z direction in AFM tapping mode during the spindle rotation, the axial error motion of the spindle can be obtained. Moreover the effects of the nano-scratching parameters on the scratched grooves, the tilting error removal method for both conditions and the method of data extraction from the scratched groove depth are studied in detail. The axial error motion of 124 nm and the radial error motion of 279 nm of a commercial high precision air bearing spindle are achieved by this novel method, which are comparable with the values provided by the manufacturer, verifying this method. This approach does not need an expensive standard part as in most conventional measurement approaches. Moreover, the axial and radial error motions of the spindle can both be obtained, indicating that this is a potential means of measuring the error motions of the high precision moving parts of ultra-precision machine tools in the future.