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Study on lightweight structural 1–16
Ó The Author(s) 2019
optimization design system for gantry Article reuse guidelines:
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machine tool DOI: 10.1177/1063293X19832940

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Shihao Liu1 , Yanbin Du2 and Mao Lin1

Abstract
In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the lightweight design of the gantry machine tool, a lightweight
structural optimization design system for the gantry machine tool was constructed. Serialized gantry machine tools were
parametrically modeled, and a load model with multiple operating conditions was established. A twice optimization
design method integrating zero-order optimization, parameter rounding, and structural re-optimization was proposed.
Using the proposed method, a lightweight structural optimization design system for gantry machine tool with parametric
design, lightweight design, and other functions was developed. The developed gantry machine tool lightweight structural
optimization design system was applied to complete the lightweight structural optimization design of gantry frame of a
certain gantry machine tool, so the structural parameters of the gantry frame were optimized. Although the maximum
stress and the maximum deformation of the gantry frame increases within the allowable range, the experimental com-
parison before and after the optimization shows that the mass of the whole gantry frame is reduced by 9.24%, which is
beneficial to save the manufacturing cost. The research results show that the constructed lightweight structural optimi-
zation design system of the gantry machine tool has high engineering practicality.

Keywords
gantry machine tool, structural optimization, parametric design, lightweight design, optimization design system

Introduction gantry machine tools (Liu et al., 2014). In addition, due

With the rapid development of large-scale equipment
manufacturing industries such as large-scale aircraft,
large ships, marine engineering equipment, and large-
scale energy equipment, the demand for machining
large-scale ship propellers, large turbine blades, large-
scale wind turbines, and large aircraft complex whole
structural parts is increasing continuously (Ding et al.,
2011; Li et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2015a). The machin-
ing of large-scale complex parts not only requires high
precision but also requires overall machining, short
machining time, and high efficiency (Chen et al., 2016;
Miao et al., 2017). To achieve high-efficiency machin-
ing of these high-precision large-scale complex parts, a
major method is to use a large gantry machine tool for
composite machining (Guo et al., 2016). As gantry
machine tool structure is complex and has a large num-
ber of parts, repeated modeling and analysis process
will waste a lot of time and effort when conducting
lightweight structural optimization design for serialized
to the variety of types and models of gantry machine
tools, they are divided into different series according to
the features such as the weight and structure of the
work pieces. The application of parametric techniques
and optimized design method can quickly realize the
lightweight structural optimization design process of
the gantry machine tool product and quickly respond
to market demands.
In order to minimize the mass under the condition
of guaranteeing the structural performance, the light-
weight structural design for the gantry machine tool
1
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hainan University,
Haikou, China
2
College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing Technology and Business
University, Chongqing, China
Corresponding author:
Shihao Liu, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hainan
University, Haikou 570228, China.
Email: liushihao1102@126.com
2 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)
mainly includes the use of lightweight materials, light-
weight and application of advanced manufacturing
technology (Besharati et al., 2016). The lightweight
structural design is the key method for the optimization
design of gantry machine tool. The main research work
at present is focused on the use of topology optimiza-
tion (Zheng et al., 2013), shape optimization (Li et al.,
2017), size optimization (Yang et al., 2011), and other
design methods, which is used to conduct structural
optimization for parts or components of the gantry
machine tool. Zhang et al. (2016) obtained the static
deformation parameters and the first four-order mode
shapes of a gantry machine tool’s beam by finite ele-
ment analysis, and conducted structural dynamic opti-
mization design based on finite element analysis results,
which makes the beam lightweight. Zhang et al.
(2015b) performed static and dynamic sensitivity finite
element analysis on the key dimensions of the beam of
a gantry machining center and carried out lightweight
design for the beam based on the sensitivity analysis
results. Stöpplera and Douglasb (2008) conducted elec-
tromechanically coupled analysis on a gantry machine
tool driven by a linear motor, and the structural adap-
tive optimization design of the gantry machine tool was
completed based on coupled analysis, so that the mass
of moving parts of the gantry machine tool was
reduced. Liu (2015) used computer simulation technol-
ogy to establish a response surface optimization model
for the sliding seat of a gantry machine tool, and the
optimal design scheme was obtained through adopting
the particle swarm optimization algorithm and the gray
correlation analysis method to solve the optimization
model, which reduced the mass of the sliding seat and
improved the vibration resistance. Zhao et al. (2011)
extracted the excellent mechanical properties of the
structure of cactus stem and applied it to the structural
bionic design for the beam of a gantry machining cen-
ter, which reduced the maximum deformation of the
beam by 16.22% and reduced the mass of the beam by
3.31%. However, conducting lightweight structural
design for serialized gantry machine tools is time-
consuming and laborious, which includes the repeated
modification of component models and the multi-
constraint optimization. Therefore, the combination of
the parametric technology (Gomez-Acedo et al., 2013)
with the lightweight design method is an important
means to shorten the lightweight structural design cycle
of the gantry machine tool.
Parametric design uses feature parameters to drive
structural modeling, loading, and analysis (Xi et al.,
2003), which can quickly realize the structural optimi-
zation design for serialized gantry machine tools. Xu et
al. (2008) used CAD/CAE software to establish a para-
metric model of the gantry machining center and
obtained the natural frequency and shape diagram of
beam components through conducting modal analysis
on the above model, which revealed the influence of
the change of structural parameters on the dynamic
characteristics of the beam component. Liu et al.
(2017) constructed a structural optimization design
platform for the gantry machine tool feed system based
on the parametric design software and realized the
finite element analysis and lightweight design of the
gantry machine tool feed system under the driving
parameter of structure, load, and material. Using
CAD/CAE technology to develop a parametric design
software system can make the gantry machine tool
structural parametric design more convenient and effi-
cient. However, the structural parametric design sys-
tems for gantry machine tool publicized currently are
similar in function, and they are mainly used for opti-
mization design of structural parts such as worktable,
bed, column, beam, and carriage. The structural opti-
mization of the gantry machine tool requires repeated
modification of design parameters, which makes it dif-
ficult to achieve automatic optimization.
In order to quickly realize the lightweight design
process of the serialized gantry machine tools, a light-
weight structural optimization design system for the
gantry machine tool was developed, in which the para-
metric design of the serialized gantry machine tools
from the modeling to the analysis can be completed. In
accordance with the structural features of the gantry
machine tools, the key design parameters affecting the
lightweight target were extracted during the design pro-
cess. A twice optimization design method integrating
zero-order optimization, parameters rounding, and
structural re-optimization was proposed. Taking a gan-
try frame of a large-scale gantry machine as an exam-
ple, the lightweight structural optimization design was
completed, which verified the effectiveness of the pro-
posed method and the developed system.
Parametric design principle of gantry
machine tool structure
Parametric modeling principle of gantry machine tool
The gantry span of various machine tools can range
from 1 to 10 m, which results in a large range of mass
change for gantry machines. Therefore, it is difficult to
carry out modeling and analysis of serial gantry
machine tool products. For a series of gantry machine
tools, the parameterized model divides the gantry
machine tool into different modules such as column,
beam, bed, and other structural components. Each
structural component of gantry machine tool includes
different features such as box section, profile, and stif-
feners. The structural feature of gantry machine tool
has a large number of parameters. The structural parts
Liu et al. 3

 

1 X-axis guide
 2 Bed

3 Slide

4 Column

 5 W-axis screw

 6 Square ram
7 Carriage

8 Z-axis screw
9 Fence
 * 10 Pulley system
Z

11 Top-beam
 Y 12 Cross brace
 PQ  13 Crossbeam

PS X
14 Y-axis screw
15 Y-axis guide
PH
16 Work table

 17 Base

Figure 1. Load distribution of gantry machine tool.

of the gantry machine tool include stiffeners thickness,
shape, width, height, relative position, and other para-
meters. Parametric modeling for gantry machine tool
needs to define the above parameters as the driving
parameters. By modifying the above parameters, the
three-dimensional (3D) model of the gantry machine
tool can be built automatically.
The steel materials are used in parametric modeling
of the structural parts of the gantry machine tool gener-
ally (Jiang et al., 2017), whose grade is Q235 or Q345
usually. The steel materials’ allowable stress is as
follows
ss
½s  = ð1Þ
ns
where ss is the steel’s yield limit and ns is the safety fac-
tor corresponding to the load condition.
Load analysis on gantry machine tool
The parametric design of the gantry machine tool struc-
ture includes parametric modeling and parameteriza-
tion of the analysis process. In order to ensure the
reliability and effectiveness of the analysis results, the
loads of gantry machine tool should be simplified and
selections are made according to actual work condition.
In this article, the typical load related to the gantry
machine tool structure is taken as the calculation load,
which mainly includes the structural weight G, cutting
dynamic load PQ, horizontal inertial load PH, and
random load PS. The load distribution model of the
gantry machine tool is shown in Figure 1.
The structural weight G is a fixed load. Due to the
loss of mass of gantry machine tool caused by the sim-
plification of the structure during modeling, the struc-
tural weight should be multiplied by the mass
coefficient F0. In the working process, considering the
gantry frame’s vibration caused by the opening and
closing of the machine tool, feed motion, cutting
motion, and so on, the structural weight should be mul-
tiplied by the impact factor F1 to obtain the equivalent
structural weight Gb
Gb = F0 F1 G ð2Þ
The cutting dynamic load PQ acts on the front end
of the spindle. When analyzing the structure of gantry
machine tool, the PQ is treated as the concentrated
force. Considering the inertia force generated by the
beam moving reciprocally up and down, the cutting
dynamic load must be multiplied by the dynamic load
coefficient F2 or the impact coefficient F3 to obtain
equivalent cutting dynamic load Pb
Pb = FPQ ð3Þ
where F is the load factor, which can be F2 or F3.
When the gantry frame itself performs a reciprocat-
ing linear motion, horizontal inertial load will be gener-
ated under the effect of acceleration. The following
4 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)

Table 1. Load descriptions for typical operating conditions.

Working conditions Working condition description Load combinations

I Under normal conditions, the inertial F0F1G þ FPQ

force in the machining process is not
considered, and the guide rail’s
deformation is not taken into
consideration
II Under normal conditions, consider the F0F1G þ FPQ þ PH
inertial load in the process, without
considering the guide rail deformation
III Under normal operating conditions, F0F1G þ FPQ þ PH þ PS
consider inertial load during the
process, considering guide rail’s
deformation
IV Non-working state F0G

formula is used to calculate the horizontal inertial load Lightweight structural optimization
PH design method for gantry machine tool
PH = F4 ma ð4Þ
Zero-order optimization method
The structural optimization design is used to obtain the
where F4 is the dynamic effect coefficient of the struc- optimal structure of the gantry machine under the con-
ture when the gantry operation drives a sudden change, straint conditions of stiffness, strength, vibration resis-
m is the mass of the parameter inertia force, a is the tance, and so on and realize the optimal performance
average acceleration, and the gantry inertia load is objectives such as lightweight structure and minimum
evenly distributed in the X-axis guide rail. stress concentration (Stolpe and Sandal, 2018), which
Due to inaccurate gantry frame spans, non-straight can be described as follows.
rails, and different running resistance on both sides, the
gantry frame may deflect and produce horizontal lat- Optimization objective
eral loads PS that is perpendicular to the overall motion
direction. In this article, the horizontal lateral load is 
Y = min yð xÞ
considered as a random load, which is generated by the ð5Þ
x = ½x1 , x2 , . . . , xn 
gantry frame’s deflection motion.
Summarizing the above loads and constraints in the Design variable range
load application model, the loading method has the fol-
lowing characteristics. xi  xi  xi , ði = 1, 2, 3, . . . , nÞ ð6Þ

1. The weight and cutting force of each component is Value range of the state function
simplified to concentrated force.
8
2. The counterweight pulleys and bolt holes are sim- < gi ð xÞ  gi
plified into supporting points to bear loads and h  hi ð x Þ ði = 1, 2, 3, . . . , nÞ ð7Þ
fixed constraints. : i
wi  wi  w i
3. In the overall analysis, partial omission of bolts
and other connection structures are ignored and
replaced by contacts or constraints. For the optimization problem described in equations
(5)–(7), the zero-order optimization method (Rothwell,
During the actual machining process, due to the gan- 2017) uses an approximation of all dependent variables
try machine tool’s operation requirements and condi- (the state variable SV and the objective function OBJ)
tions, the above types of loads may not occur at the to search optimal solution. The approximate value of
same time. Therefore, load combinations need to differ- OBJ is used for optimal design positioning. The
entiate into different types under different working con- approximate value of SV is used to check the con-
ditions. Table 1 shows the load combinations for the straints. The zero-order optimization process is shown
four typical conditions of gantry machine tool. in Figure 2.
Liu et al. 5

In the above equations, ef, eg, eh, and ew are the error
Start performing the analysis
expression of objective function and state function,
respectively.
Yes Taking the objective function as an example, the fit-
Is there N + 2 designs? ting expression can be expressed as a quadratic com-
plete item
No

Continue to generate random X

n n X
X n

design variable sets˄DV˅

^y = a0 + ai x i + bij xi xj ð12Þ
i i i

Execute the analysis file It should make the error norm of the objective function
to a minimum value
Form an objective function and determine
X
na  
the approximation of the state variables
min E2 = Fð jÞ yð jÞ  yj ð13Þ
j=1
Use penalty functions to force design
to meet DV and SV limits In equations (12) and (13), x is the design variable; the
coefficients ai and bij change continuously with the
iterative process; F(j) is the weight coefficient associated
Determine the penalty objective
function's minimum with x in an iteration; and na is the number of current
design sets.
Due to the constraints of the range of state variables
Design a new DV set
and design variables, the zero-order optimization
method transforms the above-mentioned problem of
Execute the analysis file
minimizing the material strength constraints into
unconstrained optimization problems through using
No the penalty function method
Does it converge or
satisfy the condition
to stop calculating? Y ðx, pk Þ = ^y + y0 pk
" #
Xn X
m1 X
m2   X
m3
Yes X ðx i Þ + Gðg^Þ + H ^h + W ðw
^Þ
Analysis completes i i i i

ð14Þ
Figure 2. Zero-order optimization algorithm flow.
In the above formula, Y(x, pk) is the objective function
of the new unconstrained optimization, which can be
When the initial set of design variables is generated, obtained using the unconstrained minimization method
the zero-order optimization analysis uses least-squares (SUMT). The weighting factor f0pk is continuously
approximation to fit the approximate expressions for changed into k sub-iterations. X, G, H, and W are the
the objective functions, state functions, and design penalty functions for the design variables and state
variables. variables, respectively. f0 is the reference target function
value. pk is the response surface parameter. In order to
For objective function obtain accurate convergence results, the response sur-
face parameters are numerically increased, that is,
^yð xÞ = yð xÞ + ef ð8Þ p1 \ p2 \ p3 \ .
In the loop iteration above, the design variable set
For state function for each loop (j + 1) is determined by the last design
loop j through using the following formula
g^ð xÞ = gð xÞ + eg ð9Þ
 
xðj + 1Þ = xðbÞ + c ~xð jÞ  xb ð15Þ
^
hð xÞ = hð xÞ + eh ð10Þ In the above formula, x(b) is the constant combination
of the optimal design set; c is the internal selection para-
meter; and the design parameter changes from 0.0 to
^ ð xÞ = wð xÞ + ew
w ð11Þ 1.0.
6 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)
During the structural optimization design of the
gantry machine tool, when the dependent variable
approaches the limit value or satisfies other stopping
conditions, the value of the penalty function increases
sharply, which reaches the minimum value within the
design domain and obtains a series of unconstrained
optimal solution.
Gantry machine tool’s lightweight structural
optimization design method
The structural optimization problem of the gantry
machine tool is complex, and the design parameters
such as geometric parameters, load size, and position
can be defined as design variables. The allowable
work scope, structural strength, stiffness, and vibra-
tion resistance of the gantry machine tool must all be
considered in order to achieve the lightest mass and
other optimization goals. Therefore, conducting sen-
sitivity analysis on variables and constraints (Sudret,
2008) to select some key parameters as the optimiza-
tion design is the key and prerequisite for obtaining
the optimal solution that meets the actual production
requirements.
Taking the structural parts of the gantry machine
tool as an example, the external walls, stiffeners, and
other structural features account for a large proportion
of the mass of the whole machine tool, and the design
redundancy space is relatively large. Optimizing the
stiffener’s thickness is the most direct and effective
method for achieving lightweight whole machine tool.
Therefore, the mass of the gantry machine tool is
defined as the optimization objective M(x); the thick-
ness tn, the length ln, and the height hn of the section
are defined as design variables; and the material stiff-
ness, strength, and vibration resistance are defined as
constraints [g], [s], and [f]. Based on the above discus-
sion, the structural optimization of the gantry machine
tool is transformed into a general optimization problem
with single objective and multiple constraints.
8
< gi ð xÞ = g i ð xÞ
h ð xÞ = s i ð xÞ ð18Þ
: i
wi ð xÞ = fi ð xÞ
Least-squares (Krause et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2016)
fitting for objective functions, design variables, and
state functions is conducted according to equations (8)–
(13). Penalty functions are used to convert the con-
straints on [g], [s], and [f] to the unconstrained problem
of equation (18), which are all of the internal extension
type. When the design variable x approximates the
upper limit x, the penalty function of the design vari-
able is defined as follows

c1 + c2 =ðx  xi Þxi \x  eðx  xÞ
X ðx i Þ = ð19Þ
c3 + c4 =ðxi  xÞxi ø x  eðx  xÞ
In the above formula, c1, c2, c3, and c4 are the preset
constants of the algorithm, and G, H, and W adopt a
similar form.
The design variable x selects the initial set x(0) first,
and then iteratively iterates using equation (16) until
the optimal solution x(b) satisfying the convergence con-
dition is obtained.
Considering the actual manufacturing process, the
sequence of the stiffener’s thickness of the box-type
structural parts is even, and it cannot be a continuous
parameter with many decimal places. Therefore, the
thickness tib in the above-mentioned optimal design set
x[b] must be rounded. If the integer part of tib is [tib ],
then [tib ] or [tib ] + 1 is the nearest integer to tib , and the
optimal solution ti2 after rounding is as follows

½xbi ½xbi =2 = 0
ti2 = ð20Þ
½xbi  + 1½xbi =2 6¼ 0
The parameter rounding causes the optimal solution to
produce errors. Therefore, after rounding, an interval
is selected in the vicinity of the optimal solution, and
then scanning algorithm is used to perform local re-
optimization of discrete variables again.

Objective function Objective function

M ð xÞ = l1 h1 t1 + l2 h2 t2 +    + ln hn tn ð16Þ M = min M ðta Þ ð21Þ

Design variable
In the formula, n = 1, 2, 3, ., n, which denotes differ-   T
ent structural components. ta =  t1a , ta2 , . . . , tai  ð22Þ
tai 2 tI2 62, tI2 64, . . . , tI2 62N
Design variable

x = ½t1 , t2 , . . . , tn ; l1 , l2 , . . . , ln ; h1 , h2 , . . . , hn  ð17Þ In the formula, the value of design variable xa

changes in the selected interval, and N is determined by
State function the size of the scan interval.
Liu et al.
Figure 3. IDEF0 of MTLSPDS.
According to the realization process of lightweight
structural optimization of the gantry machine tool
described above, the zero-order optimization method
perform objective function optimization by adopting a
process of dependent variable approximate fitting and
iterative iteration. After optimal solution rounding, re-
optimization is performed in local area instead of global
integer discrete variable optimization. In order to save
calculation time and accelerate optimization process,
zero-order optimization method is employed to solve
the optimization design problem involving a large num-
ber of parameters such as shape, material, and load.
Lightweight structural optimization
design system for gantry machine tool
System function
Based on the above-mentioned structural parametric
design and lightweight design method of the gantry
machine tool, a gantry machine tool lightweight struc-
tural optimization design system (hereinafter referred to
as MTLSPDS) was developed in this article. The overall
functional design of the MTLSPDS system is based on
the IDEF0 design method, which is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 is used to analyze the four functional units of
the MTLSPDS system and their input and output rela-
tionships, which provides the foundation for further
7
technical implementation. The machine tool designer
can use the MTLSPDS system to complete the process
of parametric modeling, structure analysis, and light-
weight design of the gantry machine tool and quickly
realize the entire process of lightweight structural opti-
mization design of the gantry machine tool products
from modeling to result output.
System-implemented technical route
In order to implement the functional units of the
MTLSPDS system, the related technical route shown
in Figure 4 is planned. The system realizes the para-
metric design for the gantry machine tool through
modular design, feature parameter extraction, and
parameterization of the analysis process. In order to
automatically find the optimal solution for the light-
weight gantry machine tool, the system performs light-
weight sensitivity analysis on each parameter and
performs re-optimization of key parameters. When the
current design cannot converge to obtain the optimal
solution or the current design cannot satisfy the optimi-
zation goal, the system will re-parameterize the design
until it finds the optimal solution that meets the light-
weight structural optimization design objective, and
then outputs the relevant design report.
According to the technical route of MTLSPDS
system, the realization of lightweight structural
8 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)

Gantry machine tool lightweight structural Gantry machine tool structural

optimization design re-optimization design
Geometric shape˖length, width, height, angle

Structural parameter design

Box type section: thickness, area
Material parameters: grade, strength, stiffness
ĂĂ
Bed Column Cross-beam Top-beam Carriage ĂĂ
Parametric modeling (Geometric model update) End

Yes
Modeling Apply load Solveing Show results No
Does it find the
Parametric modeling (Geometric model update)
optimal solution?

Parameter and objective function Structural sensitivity

analysis analysis Local area re-optimization
Lightweight design

Sensitivity analysis of parameters to objective

Rounding parameters

Algorithm Zero-order optimization

Determine the optimization problem
optimization
The re- optimization design of key parameters The initial value of key parameters

No
View the results of Does it meet the
analysis and optimization lightweight design?

Yes
Output the design report

Figure 4. Technical route of MTLSPDS.

optimization design of the system includes two aspects

as follows:

1. On the one hand, the system shortens the model

modification time and structural optimization cal-
culation time through adopting parametric design
and re-optimization method based on zero-order
optimization.
2. On the other hand, the key parameter-driven
design system is established through combining
parametric design with lightweight structural opti-
mization, which can automatically complete the
lightweight design process in the repeated model-
ing, analysis, and optimization, and can save oper-
ating time about model update and grid
subdivision. Figure 5. Prototype of gantry machine tool.

Application example
The researched object is the gantry frame of a large-
scale gantry machine tool (as shown in Figure 5) made
by Wuxi Qiaolian CNC Machine Tool Co., Ltd of
China, whose power capacity is 37 kW, spindle speed is
10–1000 r/min. The travel of the gantry machining cen-
ter is as follows: 0–3 m in X-axis, 0–7 m in Y-axis, and
0–5 m in Z-axis. The feed velocity of the gantry machin-
ing center is as follows: 0–3 m/min in X-axis, 0–5 m/min
in Y-axis, and 0–4 m/min in Z-axis. The maximum feed
Liu et al.
Set parameters User to modify the
in advance parameters
Gantry frame lightweight structural optimization design system
VC-based user interface development
Extract the
SQL database finite element
analysis results
Finite element CAE Re-optimization
analysis for system
related data Apply load and
solve
Generate APDL ANSYS Establish finite
parameter file software element model
Figure 6. Calculation process of the system.
acceleration of the gantry machining center is 19.6 m/(s2)
in X/Y/Z axis. To verify the feasibility of the afore-
mentioned theories and methods of the MTLSPDS
system, lightweight structural optimization design
for the gantry frame of was conducted, and a gantry
frame lightweight structural optimization design sys-
tem was developed.
Development of gantry frame MTLSPDS system
In gantry frame MTLSPDS system, the development
tool of the lightweight structural optimization design sys-
tem is taken as a client program, and the re-development
interface (API) technology is adapted to implement the
re-development of the service program (sever). The gan-
try frame MTLSPDS system’s calculation process is as
shown in Figure 6. The gantry frame MTLSPDS system
uses VC development tool and SQL database to perform
parametric modeling in Pro/E software through the
COM interface. The geometric model of the CAD system
is imported into the CAE system by converting it into an
IGES format file. The re-development of ANSYS
through the APDL file completes the modeling, loading,
solving of the analysis process, and the re-optimization
based on zero-order optimization automatically, which
can realize rapid lightweight design for the gantry frame.
Based on the structural parametric design and opti-
mization design method, using the software Visual
C++ (VC) for GUI design, a gantry frame lightweight
structural optimization design system, as shown in
Figure 7, was developed.
The gantry frame lightweight structural optimization
design system includes functional modules such as inte-
gral gantry, key component analysis, and optimization
9
Analyze result Intermediate
parameters data
SQL database
CAD 3-D model
system related
parameters
3-D Pro/E Generate shape
model software parameter file
design. Each module system has provided reference
types and analysis examples. The user can modify the
existing design according to the requirements and can
also define other structural types in the ‘‘backstage
management’’ module. The operation of gantry frame
lightweight structural optimization design system is
simple, and the general operation flow of the system is
shown in Figure 8. The lightweight structural optimiza-
tion design of the gantry frame can be realized quickly
without having to repeatedly model and modify the
parameters, which greatly shortens the design time and
improves the replacement rate of serialized products of
the enterprise.
Lightweight design of gantry frame
The gantry frame consists of bed, slide, column, cross-
beam, top-beam, square ram, cross-brace, carriage, and
other structural parts. Each structural part is a box-type
structure welded from outer walls, inner walls, and stif-
feners. Some of the feature parameters of gantry frame
are shown in Table 2.
In the parametric design process, in order to reduce
the calculation amount and obtain result quickly, the
parametric modeling and analysis must be speeded
up. The gantry frame lightweight structural optimiza-
tion design system is based on the parametric 3D
modeling in the Pro/E environment. The 3D strain
beam element of the BEAM 188 is used for the finite
element modeling under the ANSYS software. The
MPC184 element is used for the connection between
the beam elements of each part. To achieve structural
mass calculation, the MASS21 is used to centralize
mass element.
10
Figure 7. Gantry frame lightweight structural optimization design system: (a) design parameter input interface and (b) design result
output interface.
In the ANSYS software environment, the gantry
frame MTLSPDS system completed the initial gantry
frame modeling, loading, and solver solution process
according to working condition I as shown in Table 1.
During the solving process, the initial conditions are as
follows: the structural weight G is 1397 kN, F0 is 1.05,
F1 is 1.1, F is 1.2, and PQ is 53,242 N; the bottom of
the bed is fixed. After solving for the initial gantry
frame, the deformation of the gantry frame is shown in
Figure 9 and the first four order modes of the gantry
frame are shown in Figure 10.
In the gantry frame lightweight design process, the
parametric model’s wall thickness and stiffener thick-
ness were taken as design variables that is shown in
Table 3. The gantry frame’s stiffness, strength, and
vibration resistance were taken as constraints. The
Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)
maximum stress of each part should be less than the
allowable stress [s] of the corresponding material
according to formula (1). The maximum vertical static
deflection g i and span S of the crossbeam should satisfy
formulas (27)–(29). The first few natural frequencies of
the optimized gantry frame should be improved. And
the gantry frame’s mass M was taken as the objective
function.
Objective function
Y = M ð xÞ ð23Þ
Design variable
x = ½T1 , T2 , T3 , T4 T ð24Þ
Liu et al.
Start a new design
Select design data such as gantry type,
run instance, section size, and constraint
Modify the design parameters
Save data in database
ANSYS software environment
Modeling, assembling, divide grids,
apply constraints, add loads
Finite element analysis and checking
Start the whole analysis
View the results of
analysis optimization
Whether the design Yes
needs to be modified?
No
Output the design report
Design completes
Figure 8. General operation flow of the system.
State function
8 we can continue to optimize the other structures of the
< g i  ½g i
si  ½si ði = 1, 2, . . . , nÞ
:
fi ø ½ f i
The general stiffness should meet the gantry machine
tool design requirements
S Experimental validation of gantry frame optimization
g  ½g  =
800
In addition, the maximum vertical static deflection g H
and the length LH of the gantry frame beam should
meet the following inequality
LH
g H  ½g H =
2000
For a cantilevered beam, the vertical deflection g 1 and
the effective cantilever length L1 of the cantilever beam
should meet the following inequality
11
Figure 9. Deformation distribution of gantry frame.
L1
g 1  ½g 1 = ð28Þ
500
In summary, the gantry frame MTLSPDS system
method was used to realize the optimization of the gan-
try frame section thickness and the local re-
optimization after rounding. The performance para-
meters before and after the structural optimization are
shown in Table 4.
The gantry frame optimization design results show
that the maximum stress and maximum deformation of
the gantry frame are increased after optimization, but
all are within the scope of the design permit, and there
is still some optimization space. Moreover, we only
optimized the wall thickness of the sections and the
thickness of the stiffeners, which made the mass of the
gantry frame reduce greatly. According to the analysis,
gantry frame and further reduce the overall mass of the
ð25Þ entire machine, so it is not necessary to state details
again. Therefore, it shows that this kind of design
method can also provide reference for the re-
optimization of the stiffener thickness for common
standard series of gantry machine tool.
ð26Þ
design
Experimental purpose. In order to verify the feasibility of
the lightweight structural optimization design system
for the gantry machine tool constructed in this article,
static and dynamic experiments were performed on the
gantry frame physical prototype before and after opti-
ð27Þ mization. The purpose of the gantry frame static
experiment is to obtain the gantry frame’s mass. The
purpose of the gantry frame dynamic experiment is to
obtain the natural frequency of its first four-order
modes.
12 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)

Table 2. Structural features of gantry frame.

Parts Feature Parameter name

Bed Box section S1 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Slide Box section S2 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Column Box section S3 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Crossbeam Box section S4 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Top-beam Box section S5 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Cross-brace Box section S6 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Carriage Box section S7 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.
Square ram Box section S8 Sectional wall thickness, section width, section height, length, cross-sectional
Dimensions area, stiffener thickness, stiffener height, stiffener length, stiffener angle, material,
Stiffeners etc.

Figure 10. First four order modes of gantry frame: (a) first-order mode, (b) second-order mode, (c) third-order mode, and (d)
fourth-order mode.
Liu et al. 13

Table 3. Structural optimization design variables.

Section code Section name Code number Parameter name Design variable name

A Bed section T1 Wall thickness V_A_ T1

T2 Stiffener thickness V_A_ T2
B Slide section T3 Wall thickness V_B_ T3
T4 Stiffener thickness V_B_ T4
C Column section T1 Wall thickness V_C_ T1
T2 Stiffener thickness V_C_ T2
D Crossbeam section T1 Wall thickness V_D_ T1
T2 Stiffener thickness V_D_ T2
E Top-beam section T3 Wall thickness V_E_ T3
T4 Stiffener thickness V_E_ T4
F Cross-brace section T1 Wall thickness V_F_ T1
T2 Stiffener thickness V_F_ T2
G Carriage section T3 Wall thickness V_G_ T3
T4 Stiffener thickness V_G_ T4
H Square ram cross-section T3 Wall thickness V_H_ T3
T4 Stiffener thickness V_H_ T4

Experimental equipment. The material properties of the

gantry frame parts are shown in Table 5. The static test
equipment is the weighbridge of the production work-
shop of Wuxi Qiaolian CNC Machine Tool Co., Ltd,
China. Since the method and process of the static
experiment are relatively simple, no further details are
given in this article, and only the test results are given.
The gantry frame dynamic experimental testing
equipment is shown in Figure 11. The dynamic experi-
mental equipment consists of an exciter, force sensor,
acceleration sensor, power amplifier, LMS dynamic test Figure 11. Dynamic experimental equipment.
system, and computer (including modal analysis soft-
ware). The front end of the exciter is a force sensor software is used for LMS test. Lab analysis system
(sensitivity: 0.2216 mv/N) for exciting the gantry frame matches the dynamic experiment. The modal analysis
physical prototype. The force sensor is used to pick up software solves the dynamic parameters of the gantry
the excitation signal and convert it into a voltage signal. frame on the computer.
The accelerometer, whose model is 110398y, has a sen-
sitivity of 99.1 mv/g in the X-axis direction, 99 mv/g in
the Y-axis direction, and 106.1 mv/g in the Z-axis direc- Principle and process of dynamic experiment. The principle
tion. The accelerometer is used to pick up response sig- of the dynamic experiment of the gantry frame is
nals and convert them into voltage signals. LMS shown in Figure 12. The proper excitation test points
dynamic test analyzer is used for experimental data are selected on the gantry frame, which are shown in
acquisition and processing. The modal analysis Figure 13. The gantry frame dynamic experiment

Table 4. Parameters before and after optimization.

Indexes Before optimization After general Rounding and

optimization re-optimization

Design Wall thickness, T1 20 21.321 22

variables (mm) Stiffener thickness, T2 26 23.563 22
Wall thickness, T3 20 19.351 18
Stiffener thickness, T4 26 24.578 24
Performance Maximum stress, MPa 56.042 62.134 59.753
parameters Maximum deformation/mm 0.063 0.072 0.067
First-order natural frequency, Hz 16.084 16.869 17.626
Total mass, ton 142.561 137.236 129.482
14 Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications 00(0)

Table 5. Parts of materials and their properties.

Name Material Density (kg/m3) Elastic modulus (GPa) Poisson’s ratio

Bed HT300 7350 130 0.27

Slide HT300 7350 130 0.27
Column HT300 7350 130 0.27
Crossbeam Q235 7850 210 0.33
Top-beam Q235 7850 210 0.33
Cross-brace Q235 7850 210 0.33
Carriage HT300 7350 130 0.27
Square ram QT500 7300 160 0.29

Acceleration E
sensor Power amplifier
E E
D
D D
Gantry frame Dynamic test
E
structure system D
E
Computer (modal E
Force sensor E E E D D
Power amplifier analysis software) D
D D
Exciter Experimental E E D
E
modal analysis
E D D
E D
Obtaining the first four E E
order natural frequencies E
E D
of the gantry frame E D
E E
D D
D
D
Figure 12. Dynamic experimental principle of gantry frame. E E D
D
D
adopts single-point excitation and multi-point vibra-
tion pick-up for testing. The exciter is used to perform
Figure 13. Testing point distribution of gantry frame.
single-point excitation on a gantry frame, and the
acceleration sensors are used to pick up vibration from
multiple points in the X, Y, and Z directions. The LMS sensor on the gantry frame, and then the accelera-
dynamic test system collects experimental data and tion response signal was inputted to the LMS
then performs data processing and analysis. The fre- dynamic test system.
quency spectrum of the analysis is 0–100 Hz and the 3. The signal collected by the experiment was pro-
sampling frequency is 1024 Hz. cessed on the LMS dynamic test system and trans-
In order to eliminate outside interference, the mitted to the computer.
dynamic experiment of the gantry frame was carried 4. The modal analysis software on the computer was
out in a closed constant temperature production used to solve the first four natural frequencies of
workshop of Wuxi Qiaolian CNC Machine Tool Co., the gantry frame.
Ltd, China. During the dynamic experiment process
of the gantry frame, the ambient temperature is 25°C.
The main experimental process is as follows: Analysis of experimental results. After completing the sta-
tic and dynamic experiments, the experimental results
1. The dynamic test and analysis system was set up in of the gantry frames before and after optimization are
accordance with the principle diagram 12. The shown in Table 6. Table 6 shows that the first four-
exciter was used to apply excitation load to the order natural frequencies of the gantry frame have
gantry frame, and the force sensor was used to col- been further improved, and the mass is reduced by
lect the excitation signal and input it to the LMS 9.24%, which achieves the goal of lightweight design.
dynamic test system. Therefore, the lightweight structural optimization
2. The acceleration response signal caused by the exci- design system for gantry machine tool constructed in
tation force was collected by the accelerometer this article is reasonable and feasible.
Liu et al. 15

Table 6. Comparison of parameters before and after Funding

optimization.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial
Contrast Initial Optimized Rate of support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
indicator design design change this article: The work was supported by the National Natural
(experimental plan (%) Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51865008).
value)

Mass (ton) 143.711 130.432 29.24 ORCID iD

Natural First order 16.112 17.651 þ9.55
frequency Second order 20.697 22.698 þ9.67
(Hz) Third order 27.501 30.221 þ9.89
Fourth order 28.486 31.352 þ10.06
Conclusion and future work
Serialized gantry machine tools’ parametric modeling
and establishing its multi-position and multi-state load
application model achieve the entire parametric design
process of complex structure of gantry machine tool
from modeling to analysis.
Integrating zero-order optimization, parameter
rounding, and local re-optimization after rounding, a
twice optimization design method with lightweight
structure as the goal was constructed, which automated
the lightweight structural optimization design process
of the gantry machine tool.
The MTLSPDS system was developed to integrate the
parametric design and lightweight structural optimization
of the gantry machine tool, which can complete the light-
weight design of the gantry machine tool series quickly.
Taking the total mass of a gantry frame as the opti-
mization goal, the rigidity, strength, and vibration resis-
tance as the constraints, the box-type section thickness
as the design variables, the lightweight structural opti-
mization design for the gantry frame was carried out.
After the lightweight structural optimization design, the
gantry frame’s stress and deformation increase within
the allowable range, and the total mass drops by 9.24%
and the vibration resistance has been improved.
Since the knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is a
technique often used to accelerate the design process
(Prasad and Rogers, 2005; Zheng et al., 2018) and the
lightweight structural design for gantry machine tool is
a multidisciplinary optimization issue, the KBE can be
used to strengthen the functionality of MTLSPDS sys-
tem such as knowledge integration and data sharing,
which is beneficial to improving the modeling and opti-
mization efficiency. Therefore, the method of applying
the KBE techniques in conjunction with the MTLSPDS
system to save the modeling and optimization time
should be researched in future work.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Shihao Liu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2751-500X
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Author biographies
Shihao Liu is currently an associate professor at College of Mechanical and Electrical
Engineering, Hainan University, China. He received his PhD degree from Nanjing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, in 2013. His research interests focus on structural optimi-
zation design of CNC machine tool.

Yanbin Du is currently an associate professor at College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing

Technology and Business University, China. He received his PhD degree from Chongqing
University, China, in 2012. His research interests include green manufacturing and remanufactur-
ing.

Mao Lin is currently an associate professor at College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,
Hainan University, China. He received his master’s degree from Guangxi University, China, in
2006. His research interests lie in mechanical optimization design.