Characteristic patterns of air flow around lathe chuck-flow visualisation by means of tuft and smoke wire methods

In this paper, the air flow around the three-jaw scroll chuck is observed by means of the tuft and smoke wire methods to establish the reduction remedies for the aerodynamic noise caused by the chock itself. The flow visualisations are carried out for various cases, e.g., those without workpiece, those with cylindrical or flange-like workpiece, when the chuck rotating speeds are 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 r.p.m. The investigation shows that the air flow pattern around the chuck consists of four leading flows, i.e., axial flow from the tailstock to the headstock, entrained flow within the encircled area by top jaws, flow from the front face to radial areas of the chock and flow corresponding to the velocity boundary layer around the chuck body.