FE-Simulation for a Safe Design of Machine Tool Safety Guards

Abstract

The current standards on the safety of machine tools are reliable sources for designers who need to know which materials and thicknesses are appropriate for safety guards on a certain type of machine tool. However, due to various possible designs of safety guards, information about requirements on their fixation is only provided for isolated cases. In this publication, a broad series of FE simulations and impact tests has been accomplished in order to provide quantitative values to machine tool guard designers. In addition, a method to validate FE simulation results and to determine their reliability is presented. This allows an integration of FE simulations in the dimensioning process of machine tool guards and significantly reduces required experimental impact tests.