The process of machining materials to a net shape in an efficient and cost-effective way is an ongoing challenge for industries across the globe. The challenge is exacerbated when placed in the context of machining hard metals in a high labour cost country as seen within the EU.
High speed steels (HSS), are multi-component alloy carbon steels formulated according to the Iron-Carbon-X system, where "X" can represent one or more other elements, most often Tungsten, Chromium, Molybdenum, Vanadium, or Cobalt.
For more than two centuries now and the use of machine tools - the first metal-framed turning machine was invented in 1751!
To be heard on the international level, better do it together. Such is the meaning of all the standardization efforts led by Cetim with all its professional mechanical engineering commissions.
In a constantly changing world, identifying the technologies of the future and anticipating the impact of an emerging technology is essential to remain competitive.
The Reach and ROHS directives, as they are currently being developed, foresee the prohibition of the use of certain harmful or dangerous substances, including lead, even as an alloying element.
The commission of the machine tools manufacturers had commissioned Cetim to carry out an instruction file around the problems of filtration and follow-up of machining machines.
A study on filtration was decided, with two working phases including the research of information and the preparation of the test phase, object of this synthesis.
In a classic machining process, the parts after machining are taken out of the machine tool to be checked.
To improve their performance and extend their service life, HSS tools can benefit from a number of additional treatments, such as conventional heat treatments, water, air and oil quenching, but also using new processes such as laser quenching or cryogenic treatments, as well as the coating of the active areas - more specifically the tips and cutting edges - by depositing titan
Omnipresent in machining (cutting, milling, drilling, turning, ...), carbide has all the necessary qualities in terms of hardness and heat resistance for working a very wide range of materials such as high-speed steel, copper alloys or titanium alloys, at both conventional and high speeds.
Robots are often part of cells where high precision tasks may be performed, such as assembly, welding, pick and place that are often complex and repetitive. Being an integral part of the Industry 4.0 new paradigm, collaborative robots have started to be integrated in smart manufacturing eco-systems.
The choice of steel grade depends on a number of practical application factors, such as toughness (resistance to crack initiation and propagation), hardness (resistance of the material to penetration), thermal fatigue resistance (resistance to the effects of successive heating and cooling which can generate cracks), which can be translated into the simple application questions
The concept of using sensors, outside of those integrated within the machine tool, to monitor tool condition is not novel and there are several methods which can be deployed, and some are outlined below.
With the development of high-resistance and refractory materials in the medical, energy and aeronautics sectors, a review of machining processes is urgently needed.
If some machining simulation software already exists, it should be tested extensively to determine whether it can be adapted for use in the industrial context. Machining is a complex process involving a large number of parameters. It therefore requires a lot of testing.
Medical implants range from a wide array of materials including metals, metallic alloys, plastic polymers, ceramics, hydrogels, and composites depending on the use-case. They often fixed into tissues with glues and therefore must be compatible with the host body.
Machining by ion dissolution, an opportunity for polishing implants.
Electro Chemical Machining (ECM) is a well-know technique: the shape of an electrode is reproduced in the part by current action.
Developments and advancements in digital technologies have challenged traditional manufacturing and become the basis of what is known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.
When you hear AR, for sure you are thinking about the heavy, chunky, massively overpriced Hololens and how you tried to somehow see something with the small field of view. We don’t even have to talk about the hard time you had trying to tap on virtual objects in the air.
Efficiency of machines has been an important topic in many areas of industry, at least since the introduction of the term "Industry 4.0". One of the challenges to improve the efficiency of industrial plants is the implementation of anomaly detection systems.
Due to the expected increase in complexity in production, demographic change and the decreasing product life cycles, industrial companies have to face many challenges.
In-process inspection is the process of investigating a produced feature within the same process flow, directly after the feature has been machined. In-process inspection is carried out on the same machine and in the same setup which is used for producing the feature. This process consists of a visual inspection to check the surface finish as well as a dimensional measurement of the feature.
Over the last years, mobile collaborative robots have been utilised in a series of diverse applications alongside human operators. The main goal has been to support operators towards completing tasks in an easier, time- and cost-effective manner.
Suppose the most critical asset of an assembly line is incapable to handle a temporary surge of demand or worse it is out of order. One solution to address such a scenario would be to have a fully automatic and versatile Plug and Produce (PnP) system, ready on standby that can be summoned to the assembly line.
The initial industrial revolution dating back to the late 18th century was triggered by the release of the steam engine for industrial applications enabling the mechanization of steam power.
Springs are typically delivered in bulk and feeding them into an assembly line is often a considerable challenge for factories engaged in assembly and installation activities. The reasons behind this difficulty are numerous since springs as a shape have some distinct features. For comprehension, some of the main features of the spring have been listed below:
The following practical guidelines were established after consultation with the Machining4.0 consortium based on many years of experience with helping companies.
The life of a carbide drill bit or cutting tool is measured in fractions of a millimetre, while the tool itself could be over a hundred millimetres long. There is good reason for this, but nevertheless and end-of-life tool retains significant value due to the materials and energy used to produce it.
Many manufacturing companies have identified a critical manual quality visual inspection check within their manufacturing workflow as a process that is repetitive, time consuming and open to errors. In the aerospace sector, for example, every part that is manufactured is machined in pairs, left and right.
Adaptive machining is the adaptation of NC programs to accommodate part to part variation enabling more stable and consistent production of complex or variable geometries. Repeat component manufacture requires a repeatable machine and process to ensure the product is machined to the same standard every time.
Sirris looked into the feasibility of removing support structures from metal additive manufactured (MAM) parts using cobots. The goal of the study was to research the possibilities and challenges of using metal additive manufacturing (MAM) for safety critical class-2 components for aerospace applications.
Digitalisation res
In recent years, many studies have been published on the effectiveness of digital work instructions. This has yielded many valuable lessons for manufacturing companies, which we summarise for you in this article.
Robotic process automation (RPA) constitutes a set of software technologies that facilitates the building and deployment of software robots (bots) that mimic human actions when interacting with graphical user interfaces and other digital systems. Actions, such as opening a file, moving the mouse, filling in form fields, etc.
Let’s cut to the chase: not every SME needs extra MES functionality to link the office and the shop floor, provided that the available ERP modules and possibilities are fully utilised. Because ERP makers also want to claim a part of the MES market, many traditionally have a shop floor module at their disposal.
In today's production systems, machine breakdowns are very severe. They not only generate unscheduled downtimes with related expenses and dissatisfied customers, but they also wreak havoc with staff scheduling (additional shifts) and warehousing (additional storage), as well as quality deterioration (scrapped components) and subsequent machine warm-up periods.
Digitalisation includes the implementation of new and innovative technologies in a real world application context.
Importance and potential of knife engineering
Within the automotive sector, new gear prototypes must be produced continuously, for which conventional production methods are not efficient. A possible alternative is selective laser hardening, integrated on a production centre that also performs other operations on the gears.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines or systems that can learn, at least somewhat a
You may have heard the terms machine learning and AI being used interchangeably, but what are they exactly? Machine learning is broadly speaking the use of statistics to make predictions, while AI is more concerned with behaviour (e.g. playing games (like AlphaGO), visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages).
“Simulation is the next best thing to observing a real system in operation since it allows to study the situation even though we are unable to experiment directly with the real system” [1]
As a machining company, are you considering investing in a new CAM system? Then you'll certainly want to consider the following points of interest! CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), like CAD (computer-aided design), is done via customised software packages. There are some relevant aspects to consider when buying a new CAM system.
CAM or CAD/CAM
Good polishing experts are hard to find and that is not about to change. The work requires knowledge and experience, is time-consuming, expensive, monotonous and stressful, and takes place in an unhealthy environment. The need for experts is especially acute in the mould construction business.
The emerging Industry 4.0 paradigm facilitates intelligent factories where machines, robots and human workers work side by side. Collaboration between these entities in a factory environment allows having higher throughput with the ability to perform complex processes which needs multiple skills from robots as well as humans.
Among the different working strategies for ‘high performance cutting’ (HPC), trochoidal milling is an efficient way of processing (difficult materials), and is one that also utilizes a longer cutting edge. In order to increase productivity even further, (i.e.
Grinding through electrolytic in-process dressing (or ‘ELID’ for short) is an efficient technique for processing extremely hard and brittle materials such as ceramics (ZrO2, Si3N4), cermets and hardened steel. This grinding technique allows metal-bound grinding discs to be used, which are after all highly durable and difficult to adjust compared with discs with resins or glass.
Abrasive water jet turning is a reducing technology that uses a high pressure water jet with granules - read: ‘abrasive’ - particles. How does it actually work? Water and particles are mixed together to become a high pressure water jet in the spray nozzle.
The use of ceramic cutting tools is on the rise, that news is less dramatic than it seems, because solid ceramic end mills and inserts are usually easier to use than carbide tools. Changing to using ceramic cutting tools doesn’t need really any special process changes. Contrary to what people might think about ceramic tooling.
How does it work?
By use of a head mounted display and a set of controllers, the user is placed in a virtual environment where they can practice, learn and improve their skills. The user will enter a scenario in which they have to perform a set of tasks to reach a goal. The scenario depends on the type of training.
Model Based Definition is a new strategy of product lifecycle management in which the CAD models (Computer aided design) change from simple models with only the geometric data to extensive information sources containing all product manufacturing information (Alemanni, Destefanis, & Vezzetti, 2010).
Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) software has been developed since the late 1950s and is an essential component of modern manufacturing. The term CAD covers a range of applications from 2D drafting packages to full 3D design packages with simulation and analysis tools.
Residual stresses are generated in a part during manufacturing which typically involves sequential thermo-mechanical processing including forming and heat-treatment steps.
Small and medium machining shops are often arranged as job-shops. In a job-shop the production is usually done in small batches, and the machines are arranged in functional units, or cells (milling cell, drilling cell, etc). Each part or product to manufacture needs to follow a sequence of operations (a route) to be performed in different machines.
Tap testing, also known as modal testing, is an experimental method that is used to excite the machine-tool system in order to extract its harmonic information such as natural frequencies, modal masses, modal damping ratios and mode shapes. This is normally done in static conditions, using the impact hammer as the excitation mechanism, and an accelerometer as the sensor. In theory, the tool t
The first spinning-tool technology was developed jointly by Mori Seiki and Kennametal around 2008.
Graphite has specific properties that make machining a challenge. It’s strong, but also brittle, and is susceptible to chipping if not handled properly. Cutting Graphite (or carbon) is different from cutting Metals. Metal exerts plastic deformation when a tool edge cuts it producing a curl or chips.
Tool wear describes the gradual failure of cutting tools due to regular operation. It is a term often associated with tools used for example on turning, milling, drilling and other types of machining operations where chips are made. We could also say “We started with a new cutting edge and at the beginning of the operation everything was working well.
Femtosecond lasers are ultra-fast pulsed lasers, which are used to remove material. The material is not heated, but immediately turns into a plasma. In addition, the technology is extremely suited for the very precise application of functionalities via textures.
Go into 10 different engineering companies and ask questions around how they handle and manage their tools?
Most probably you will receive 10 different answers. Why? Because everybody does it differently.
Industry 4.0 is built around the exchange of information between machines and higher-level systems. Connected machines and far-reaching digitisation ensure that manufacturing companies can make their production lines more flexible, secure and autonomous. For machine builders, connected machines offer the potential to develop digitally supported services.
Since the launch of Industry4.0 initiative and with the desire to improve product development, product-lifecycle-management (PLM) technologies have been slowly evolving in the background.
The change in the market forces machining companies to update product design, complexity, quality, durability and delivery times. This is made possible by the development of computer technology. During the development of a 3D model in CAD (Computer Aided Design), data can be adjusted quickly.
Sometimes the question arises to what extent cryogenic cooling is environmentally-friendly, as the gases used are a consumable, unlike other refrigerants that can be reused. Cryogenic processing does have interesting environmental advantages.
Almost 10 years after the introduction of cryogenic machining, a lot of research has been conducted on this technology, its application and pros and cons. However, despite the positive results, the step to the industry does not seem to be so obvious.
Solid carbide endmills are the most commonly used tools in almost every machine shop. Process engineers are always concerned with productivity gains by reducing the tooling cost, machining time and bring down the cost per part to increase the margins. The selection of the machining conditions either rely on the experience of the operator or the recommendations from the tool manufacturer.
Cryogenic cooling during machining stands for machining at very low temperatures. This has advantages both for tools made of heat-resistant materials, where the heat can be high during machining, and for the machining of softer materials, which will flow more easily during machining.
The pricing of a product has a large influence on the sales revenue and the profit. Surprisingly, research shows that a more accurate cost estimation does not automatically lead to a higher profit.
Our consortium partner, Sirris, was given the opportunity to make temporary use of a KMR iiwa with the aim to extensively test and explore the potential of a mobile cobot.
POLCA stands for Paired-cell Overlap Loops of Cards with Authorization. POLCA is a production steering and control system for high mix/low volume and custom made products environments aimed at keeping the lead time at the shop floor short.
The combination of laser ablation and micro-EDM is a recent development for the quick finishing of products with small details in hard materials, such as nozzles for diesel engines. EDM is used to remove larger volumes, while laser ablation is used for the fine details.
With high-speed rough milling, correct programming can prevent exceeding the limit value of the radial cutting width and breaking the tool. In curves and transitions, however, the cutting width can temporarily increase, while this is not what is needed.
Integrated laser hardening offers a solution for hardening slim, elongated objects which suffer deformations with traditional hardening methods. This process also offers a number other advantages.
Because of their extreme hardness, ceramic materials and their composites are very popular for mechanical applications that are susceptible to wear and tear due to heavy loads. The other side of the coin is that conventional techniques do not usually suffice to work these materials. Some are even impossible to grind, because oxides deposit on the grinding wheel.
Three photonic laser techniques to transfer colour images with high resolution to metal surfaces: oxidation of metal and interferences, formation of nanoparticles and plasmon resonance, structuring of a periodic circuit and diffraction of light.
The arrival of machine hammer peening opens the way to fast finishing of large milled injection and deep drawing moulds. Instead of manual polishing, an industrial robot does the work in a shorter time. This process also offers a number of other advantages.
3D measuring probes prove to be extremely suitable for a quick check of the kinematics of a five-axis milling machine. The principle is based on measuring an object, by means of an accurate measuring probe, according to pre-programmed measuring cycles.
Manufacturing operations introduce Residual Stresses (RS) during sequential thermo-mechanical processes, like forming, heat-treatment and machining.
A sensory tool holder is an inline tooling adapter that is capable of measuring three different dynamic responses within the tool – these being the bending moment, the tension and the torsion. With applications to both milling and turning operations, a sensory tool holder can continually collect data during a given operation and wirelessly transmits this data to a nearby laptop.
