Machine tool spindle units

This paper presents the state-of-the-art in machine tool main spindle units with focus on motorized spindle units for high speed and high performance cutting. Detailed information is given about the main components of spindle units regarding historical development, recent challenges and future trends. An overview of recent research projects in spindle development is given. Advanced methods of modeling the thermal and dynamical behavior of spindle units are shown in overview with specific results. Furthermore concepts for sensor and actuator integration are presented which all focus on increasing productivity and reliability. (C) 2010 CIRP.