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Today in the production of internal combustion engines it is possible to make pistons as well as cylinders, for all
practical purposes, perfectly round.
The negative consequences of the subsequent assembly processes and operation of the engine is that the
cylinders and pistons are deformed, resulting in a loss of power and an increase in fuel consumption.
This problem can be solved by using an adaptronic tool, which can machine the cylinder to a predetermined nonround
geometry, which will deform to the required geometry during assembly and operation of the engine.
The article describes the actuatory effect of the tool in conjunction with its measuring and controlling algorithms.
The adaptronic tool consists out the basic tool body and three axially-staggered floating cutter groups, these
cutter groups consist out of guides, actuators and honing stones. The selective expansion of the tool is realised by
3 piezoelectric multilayer-actuators deployed in a series - parallel arrangement.
It is also possible to superimpose actuator expansion on the conventional expansion. A process matrix is created
during the processing of the required and actual contour data in a technology module.
This is then transferred over an interface to the machine controller where it is finally processed and the setting
values for the piezoelectric actuators are derived, after which an amplifier generates the appropriate actuator
voltages. A slip ring system on the driveshaft is used to transfer the electricity to the actuators in the machining
head.
The functioning of the adaptronic form-honing tool and process were demonstrated with numerous experiments.
The tool provides the required degrees of freedom to generate a contour that correspond to the inverse compound
contour of assembled and operational engines.
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