Metalworking World 1-2015

innovation: Just add ink

inDia Well-oiled production tech On the right tracks inspiration The final frontier usa Leading the race tech Keeping it lean profile Toy story

tech Sweet parting off

Bigger, better, faster, stronger

1/15a business and technology magazine from sandvik coromant

New technology meant huge time savings in Siemens’ gas turbine housing production.

2 metalworking world

klas forsström president sandvik coromant

editorial

SometimeS i don’t have to travel far to enter the large world of Sandvik Coromant. Recently I took the three flights of stairs down from my office to the entrance of the head-quarters building in Sandviken, Sweden, where I’m based. I made a left and walked 20 metres into the new Sandvik Coromant Center that was still under construction. Even with a hard hat on, the smell of fresh paint in the air, wires still hanging from the ceiling and workers adding the last finishing touches, I had a strong sense of conviction: This building is the future, and it is very much a symbol of us as a company.

We always strive to interact with those who, along with us, make up the industry – our customers, students, partners, experts and potential employees. In the past, each year some 3,000 visitors from all over the world have visited us in Sandviken. With the opening of the new customer centre this year, we’re expecting that number to double. The 4,500-square-metre facility will offer training, classes and a prototype workshop where we will design and produce new tools and develop efficient production methods and tailored solu-tions for customers and partners (see page 4).

In addition to the direct tool- and method-related challenges, the centre will be a hub where we can observe, interpret, predict and prepare for the industry of tomorrow. This is where we look into the future of machining, how additive manufacturing or 3D printing (see page 26), big data and the Internet of Things will affect our industry and how we can influence it. This is where we, together with you, will shape the future.

This issue of Metalworking World also looks at the future – in this instance, the future of aerospace and its final frontier. Sometimes the exciting world of Sandvik Coromant is just a few floors down, and sometimes it’s tens of thousands of kilometres away, in space. That’s a journey I would like to make someday.

Pleasant reading,

klaS forSStrömPreSident Sandvik Coromant

Metalworking World is issued for informational purposes. the information provided is of a general nature and should not be treated as advice or be relied upon for making decisions or for use in a specific matter. any use of the information provided is at the user’s sole risk, and sandvik coromant shall not be liable for any direct, incidental, conse quential or indirect damage arising out of the use of the information made available in Metalworking World.

Get your free copy of Metalworking World. Email your address to: [email protected]

Metalworking Worldis a business and technology magazine from aB sandvik coromant, 811 81 sandviken, sweden. phone: +46 (26) 26 60 00. Metalworking World is published three times a year in american and British english, czech, chinese, danish, dutch, finnish, french, German, Hungarian, italian, Japanese, korean, polish, portuguese, russian, spanish, swedish and thai. the magazine is free to customers of sandvik coromant worldwide. published by spoon publishing in stockholm, sweden. issn 1652-5825.

Publisher responsible under Swedish publishing law: Björn roodzandt. Editor-in-chief: lianne mills. Account executive: christina Hoffmann. Editor: Henrik emilson. Art director: niklas thulin. Technical editors: Börje ahnlén, martin Brunnander. Sub editor: valerie mindel. Coordinator: aurore Gilmont. Language coordination: sergio tenconi, louise Holpp. Layout, language editions: madelaine seidemann. Prepress: markus dahlstedt. Cover photo: adam lach. please note that unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. material in this publication may only be reproduced with permission. requests for permission should be sent to the editorial manager, Metalworking World. editorial material and opinions expressed in Metalworking World do not necessarily reflect the views of sandvik coromant or the publisher.

correspondence and enquiries regarding the magazine are welcome. Contact: Metalworking World, spoon publishing aB, rosenlundsgatan 40, 118 53 stockholm, sweden. Phone: +46 (8) 442 96 20. Email: [email protected] Distribution enquiries: [email protected]

printed in sweden at sandvikens tryckeri. printed on multiart matt 115 gram and multiart Gloss 200 gram from papyrus aB, certified according to iso 14001 and registered with emas.

adveon, coromant capto, coromill, corocut, corochuck, coroplex, coroturn, corothread, corodrill, coroBore, invomilling, coroGrip, corotap, autotas, Gc, silent tools, t-max, ilock and inveio are all registered trademarks of sandvik coromant.

Shaping the industry of tomorrow

metalworking world 3metalworking world 3

content

26Innovation:Is 3D printing threatening or saving the industry?

How to have a stable and burr-free face milling machining process with predictable insert tool life.

Keeping a clean face

How does sandvik coromant organize its own manufacturing facilities and practices?

How lean is the leader?

38Final Note:Highlighting the highway

Building for the future: Welcome to the new sandvik coromant center.

Profile: toy story

Quicktime: news from around the world

4

6

7

Batteries are included: the challenge of storing energy

India: impressive productivity improvements

Inspiration: going where only a few men have gone before

9

10

14

30 Germany:Major time savings in giant gas turbine housing production

18USA:A race to recycle

technology

17

coromill Qd is the latest solution for deep narrow grooves and parting off.

In the groove

meeting the technical needs of railway wheel turning.

On the right tracks

362924

Quicktimetext: Jens ekelund pHoto: samir soudaH

Q: The new Sandvik Coromant Center is described as a meeting place for the industry. What does that mean?at first hand we would like to show that sandvik coromant is a part of the manufacturing industry of the future. visiting customers will get a feel for what will happen in their line of business. they will also get an understanding of what sandvik coromant can offer as a partner.

Q: Who is the typical visitor to the new building?Well, first and foremost our current customers. We want to have discussions with them about joint projects and training. the interaction will be based on knowledge sharing, meaning that we exchange knowledge with each other. We think this will be a great meeting place to do that. secondly, we want potential customers to visit us and see how we can benefit them, as well as industry representatives, decision makers, journalists, partners and our own staff. We would also like to attract future co-workers, such as students attending universities and technical institutes.

Q: What is the difference between the old and the new facility?We have refined the new centre as much as possible, so that we are clear on what we want our visitors to remember when they leave. from a technical perspective, they can become familiar with our new products and get solutions to their productivity challenges. if the challenges are advanced, we can help them with our application knowledge. i can guarantee that we have a solution that will meet their needs.

Q: What can you say about the development workshop?the proximity to the development workshop is important because that is the place where our new ideas and solutions arise. for visiting customers it is a great advantage that we have experts close by who can help them. this is a unique feature that we can offer here in sandviken.

Q: How is the new concept helping to push the boundaries of technology further? We are creating a network of all our centres in the world where we are able to cooperate with all centres that work with customers, providing online access to our experts. for example, we might have an education session at one location with a lecturer in another country. We also want to reuse the know-how we’ve gained as much and as fast as possible at other centres. major development projects from sandviken will be easily implemented in customer projects around the world, and knowledge sharing will be very important, ensuring that we can come up with faster and more accurate solutions for our customers. By binding all our centres together, we make sure that all our expertise can be used everywhere.

Q: What do you want visitors to take home?after visiting one of our centres we hope that you will leave inspired and ready for the future of manufacturing. We hope that you will have gained valuable insights on how to optimize your operations and feel part of our global sandvik coromant team. n

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Bertil isakssonSenior Project Manager, Sandvik Coromant

Building for the futureThe Sandvik Coromant Center is the brand new 4,500- square-metre customer facility at the Sandvik Coromant head office in Sandviken, Sweden. Welcome!


metalworking world 5

Location: sandviken, swedenSize: 4,500 square metresVisitors: 6,000 annuallyVisitor capacity: 300 per day Machines: five in showroom, three in r&d workshop Machine suppliers: dmG mori, mazak, Brother and Hermle


Conference rooms: 14Training stations: fiveLargest video screen: 214 inchesSmartTVs: 11 (80-inch screens)R&D workshop floor: 1 metre thickConcrete stairs weight: 14 tonnesGreen building: 25 percent less energy use than the previous productivity center building

Sandvik Coromant Center: Dedicated to passion for manufacturing and research

“This is our biggest investment in 30 years.” Senior Project Manager Bertil Isaksson.

Quicktime


text: Henrik emilson pHoto: GoldieBlox

Toy storyOnly 11 PercenT of engineers in the united states are women, and studies suggest that girls start losing interest in science as young as age 8. debbie sterling, a stanford university engineer, set out to change that. she knew exactly where to start – in the toy store.

taking a walk down the toy aisle you’ll see pink princess toys on one side and, on the other, math and science games, construction toys, puzzles and brainteasers. those are toys that develop spatial skills and get boys interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at an early age.

“Girls are missing out,” sterling recalls thinking. she decided to put her engineering degree to use by designing a construction toy for girls called GoldieBlox. she combined her studies in female psychology and consultations with 100 schoolchildren and concluded that the engineering challenges in the box needed to include a story.

“it appeals to girls because they aren’t just interested in ‘what’ they’re building – they want to know ‘why’,” she wrote on the crowd-funding kickstarter website. “Goldie’s stories relate to girls’ lives. the machines that Goldie builds solve problems and help her friends.”

the project was financed through kickstarter, and the goal was reached within four days. today, GoldieBlox is distributed through one of america’s largest toy stores. sterling clearly hit a nerve.

“We believe there are a million girls out there who are engineers,” she says. “they just might not know it yet.” n


Quicktime

the numBer

500 %By 2022 Germany plans to have increased its offshore wind capacity by 500 percent.

meta–materialsmetamaterials are artificial materials with properties that aren’t found in nature. in the united states, researchers at the massachusetts institute of technology and the lawrence livermore national laboratory have developed new ultra-lightweight materials that are as light as aerogel but 10,000 times stiffer and may one day revolutionize aerospace and automotive designs.

Hot wHeelTHe rynO Is THe PerfecT and probably only mix between a segway and a one-wheeled motorcycle. it’s a one-wheeled electric-powered vehicle that takes its driver on a well-balanced ride at 16 kilometres per hour. its two battery-driven motors have a running time of 10 hours. as with the segway, the ryno is described as an extension of the driver’s body, responding to its motions leaning forward or back. the balance technology uses the combination of an accelerometer sensor that knows where the centre of the earth is, a gyroscopic sensor that is highly reactive to sensing tilt angles and a set of motors to drive the wheel back and forth under the centre of gravity.

Watt on a hot tin rooffurniture chain ikea has plans to become energy- and resource-independent – producing as much energy as it consumes – by the year 2020. to achieve the ambitious goal, the company will install solar panels on all its stores and warehouse flat roofs and invest in wind farms. the company will also grow enough trees to replace the wood used in its products. the plan is to make 70 percent of spent energy renewable by 2015 and reach total self-sufficiency five years later. in addition, ikea helps its customers to a greener lifestyle by only selling led lights, electric bikes and solar panels for homeowners.

IT lOOKs lIKe a PIll, but it could very well be the world’s fastest bike. Behind the human-powered vehicle is a team of students at the institution of mechanical engineers at the university of liverpool in england who are hoping that in 2015 their design will break the speed record of 133.8 kilometres per hour. the design has the rider just 13 centimetres above the ground; the 25-kilogram

vehicle will generate more than 700 watts of pure human power. says philippa oldham, head of transport at the institution, “it’s an extremely tough task to get a human-powered vehicle to travel at 145 kilometres per hour – and a leap into the unknown – but with the right engineering approach it’s possible.”

No ordiNary ride

IT MIgHT sOund TOO gOOd to be true, but in the near future aeroplanes could run on solar energy, lowering both emissions and, hopefully, air fares. an eu-funded research project called solar-Jet has produced the world’s first “solar” jet fuel from water and carbon dioxide. for the first time researchers have successfully demonstrated the entire production chain for renewable kerosene, using concentrated light as a high-temperature energy source. the project is still at the experimental stage, with a glassful of jet fuel produced in laboratory conditions, using simulated sunlight. However, the results give hope that in the future any liquid hydrocarbon fuels could be produced from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water.

european commissioner for research, innovation and science máire Geoghegan-Quinn comments: “this technology means we might one day produce cleaner, plentiful fuel for planes, cars and other forms of transport. this could greatly increase energy security and turn one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for global warming into a useful resource.”

ridiNg oN suNsHiNe


Quicktime


the automotive industry is going through a time of change, where new market dynamics set the rules for the future, explains mattias nilsson, programme manager for the sandvik coromant automotive industry segment.

Q: What are the major trends?the shift from traditional markets such as europe, Japan and the united states to emerging markets such as china, india, southeast asia and mexico is an obvious trend. eastern europe, turkey and north africa are other new markets. automakers tend to move their production closer to the end consumer.

environmental concern drives both political decisions and customer requirements, which implies lighter vehicles, hybrids and electric cars. new engines and transmis-sion systems are lighter, yet with higher performance, which drives the development of new, complex designs and materials. aluminium continues to be used as a replacement for cast iron in the production of light vehicles, and truck manufacturers are replacing grey cast iron with compacted graphite iron in their engines.

Q: What can Sandvik Coromant offer its customers in the automotive industry?the automotive industry is based on mass production, where cost per

component is always in focus. the competition for our customers is fierce, and key success factors are process security, reliable tools and as few deviations as possible. We will continue to meet these challenges by providing them with excellent tools, solutions, services and our machining competence for whatever materials they prefer to use, today and tomorrow.

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mattias nilssonProgramme manager for the Sandvik Coromant automotive industry segment.

treNds iN tHe automotive iNdustry

sNakes oN a plaNeaIr TraffIc Is exPecTed TO TrIPle from today’s levels by 2030. to meet the demand, aircraft manufacturers may have to modernize their production processes significantly. until now, aircraft assembly has involved a high proportion of manual processes, limiting the output. researchers at German fraunhofer institute for machine tools and forming technology iWu in chemnitz have developed an automated process for the complicated internal structure of the wings. a slim, multi-jointed robot system can enter the small hatches of the wingbox and reach in to depths of 2.5 metres, carrying tools for the operation that weigh up to 15 kilograms.

“the concept allows this solution to be used in any situation requiring the application of high forces and torque within a limited space,” says marco Breitfeld, iWu manager.

the numBer

240the total height in metres of the world’s tallest statue, planned for construction in india. the 182-metre statue of unity, honouring indian founding father sardar patel, will stand on a 58-metre base in the state of Gujarat. a large part of the construction steel will come from recycled farming equipment gathered from thousands of villages.


text: Henrik emilson illustration: niklas tHulin

Quicktime

WITH any cHargeaBle devIce, the key to its commercial success is the running time between recharges. as the world searches for renewable energy sources, the quest to find a way to store the generated surplus energy from wind and solar power is central. Both challenges – battery time and energy storage – drive innovation in fields such as transport, medicine, energy and infrastructure. n

sTOrIng THe sunMolten salt and a 50-50 mix of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate is being used to store energy generated from sun power for up to 10 hours. This enables a solar power plant to generate electricity even when the sun isn’t shining and distribute power evenly to the grid.

sTOrIng THe WIndPower from wind farms can go from no energy at all to overloading the grid. Renewable Energy Dynamics Technology has developed a battery that can switch from charge to discharge within milliseconds, mitigating power fluctuations.


THe gIgafacTOryElectric car manufacturer Tesla will build lithium-ion batteries in its own factory, starting production in 2017. By 2020, the factory expects to be making enough batteries to power 500,000 electric cars.

Worldwide, the market for energy storage is expected to grow from about USD 500 million today to about USD 12 billion in 2023, according to Bloomberg.

BIllIOn12

THe grIdToday, owners of a Tesla S model car can drive from coast to coast in the United States, thanks to the company’s network of charging stations. The next step is to offer the same reach in Europe. With 50 charging stations, a car that can travel up to 500 kilometres on a single charge could cover most of the European continent.

fIndIng a recHargIng sTaTIOn

Running low on energy? Driving your electric vehicle

in unfamiliar territory? There are several apps for your smartphone

to help locate charging stations. The latest addition is an app for Google

Glass that helps you find the way while driving – safely.

Bus sTOPChina’s BYD has developed an electric bus that can travel 325 kilometres on a single charge and still have 8 percent left after a full day. THe POMegranaTe BaTTery

A pomegranate has inspired developers of a concept that could result in smaller, lighter and more powerful

batteries for cell phones, tablets and electric vehicles. Silicon nanoparticles, which make up an anode

material in batteries, attractive for its great charge-holding capacities, have been clustered like seeds in a carbon rind, much like the seeds in a pomegranate.

THe nexT-generaTIOn BaTTery?A dual-carbon battery from Power Japan Plus supposedly performs better than the lithium-ion batteries commonly used in laptops and electric vehicles. Charging is 20 times faster than with lithium-ion, and the lifespan is an impressive 3,000 charging cycles. The battery contains no rare earths or heavy metals and is 100 percent recyclable.

100 %


Sara Sae needed technology to compete on a global front.

Hands-on productivity improved by several

hundred percent.


Dehradun, india. When oilfield equipment manufacturer Sara Sae wanted to step up its business, the company brought in its supplier

Sandvik Coromant, which led to intriguing results.

text: nitin GadGHe pHoto: asHesH sHaH

Rewriting the rulesnnn Set up in 1978, Indian oilfield equipment manufacturer Sara Sae Pvt Ltd has emerged as a key tool supplier to global giants. What sets the company apart is its willingness to rewrite the rules of business and take on global challenges.

“My father [Vijay Dhawan, now managing director] and his partner started this company,” says Samir Dhawan, technical director of Sara Sae. “They wanted to get into the oil and gas business.”

Sara Sae began exporting its products, developing ties with leading oil and gas companies. By 2007 the company had mustered enough cash to buy out majority equity partner National Oilwell Varco and was plotting a strategy to emerge as leader in its segment.

“The first thing we did was acquire US company Consolidated Pressure Control,” Dhawan says. “We then set up facilities in Singapore, Dubai and Oman.”

The company invested in a new machining plant, bought two forging units and set up a fully automated heat treatment plant.

“We wanted to follow two routes: to supply to the giants and to take our products to the next level,” Dhawan says. Sara Sae invested heavily in new machinery, turning to Sandvik Coromant for technological help. “We needed technology to compete on the global front,” he says. Sandvik Coromant had been a vendor in the past, and Dhawan was intrigued by the company’s Productivity Improvement Programme (PIP). Sandvik Coromant took on the challenge, entering into a partnership agreement with the Indian company. One of the first benefits was that Sara Sae was able to substantially reduce the time involved in making a hydraulic tong. “We got the time down to two hours and 30 minutes from 18 hours,” recalls Dhawan.

Working on a Sara Sae BOP Accumulator Unit.


dhawan iS now focusing on setting up a technology innovation centre. “I always felt India as a nation does not innovate, and if we don’t innovate we can’t go anywhere,” he says. He has hired seven engineers from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology and a designer from the National Institute of Design to develop the centre, which is open to the public.

“They will engineer processes and products irrespective of the field,” says Dhawan.

The company is now looking to set up bases in China and Russia, two key oil and gas markets. “To me it is very important that we manufacture globally,” says Dhawan.

The company plans to concentrate on expanding its global footprint. “Wherever there is drilling, we will be there,” he says. n

After a thorough review, a Productivity Improvement Programme was implemented.

Sandvik Coromant started out as a supplier to Sara Sae.

Capacity almost doubled with the new programme in place.

Manufacturing hydraulic tongs is now

a cakewalk.


technical insight

ManufacTurIng HydraulIc TOngs has become a cakewalk for workers at sara sae, thanks to the sandvik coromant productivity improvement programme (pip).

“it used to take 16 to 18 hours to make a hydraulic tong, but the introduction of pip has cut the time down to just over two hours,” says m kandaswamy, general manager (manufacturing and process control) at sara sae.

kandaswamy, who has spent a considerable time with the company, recalls the toil of workers to manufacture hydraulic tongs before pip was introduced.

“Before we could barely make 14 or 15 tongs in a month, but now we can easily make 30 and also have excess capacity left,” says kandaswamy.

sandvik coromant undertook a thorough review of the processes employed by sara sae from both the company’s and the workers’ viewpoints and then devised a programme that has made things much easier for the workers.

samir dhawan, technical director at sara sae, says initially there were some concerns about the programme. He recalls how the introduction of pip knocked off eight machines and cut out downtime. “the employees under-stood that it was for their own good,” he says. “the hardest to convince were the middle management, but once they had the feel of the programme they were convinced.”

pip has triggered a shift in the work process and introduced massive

productivity gains for the company, which aims to be a major global player in the tools business.

“product quality has improved, cost per component has been reduced, and the workers are very happy,” says a pleased kandaswamy.

THe fOur sTePs Of sandvIK cOrOManT’s PrOducTIvITy IMPrOveMenT PrOgraMMe: 1. survey: a sandvik coromant productivity team identifies bottlenecks and areas of improvement and compiles data, largely through observation and existing documentation. 2. recOMMend: after analysis, the team proposes alternative solutions such as new cutting data, new methods and new tools to achieve increased productivity and lower costs in targeted areas.3. valIdaTe: the team verifies the favoured proposals with the company’s production staff. a comprehensive report is provided as a basis for decision-making.4. IMPleMenT: together sandvik coromant and the client company create a detailed plan on how to proceed, including instructions on who does what and when, what investments are needed and how the rollout procedure should proceed. appropriate training is provided, as well as programme follow-up to ensure that the improvements work as intended.

“We wanted to follow two routes: to supply to the giants and to take our products to the next level.”Samir Dhawan, technical director, Sara Sae


text: risto pakarinen


Redbull jump from the edge of space.


400 kilometresISS (International Space Station)

100 kilometresKármán line

39 kilometresRed Bull Stratos balloon

8,848 metresMount Everest

20 kilometres

when Skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped out of the Red Bull Stratos balloon in 2012, it was talked about as a jump from “the edge of space”.

As the Austrian daredevil stood on the outside step of his gigantic balloon, made of high-performance polythene film only 0.00203 centimetres thick but still weighing 1,680 kilograms, he paused to deliver a message to the world:

“I know the whole world is watching now. I wish you could see what I can see. Sometimes you have to be up really high to understand how small you are.... I’m coming home now.”

And then he stepped over the edge and headed towards the earth like a bullet, parachuting to the ground in a New Mexico desert 11 minutes later, alive and well – the first human to reach supersonic speed without the aid of an engine.

Scientists such as astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson dismissed the event, pointing out that Baumgartner’s jump from 39 kilometres wasn’t even halfway to the Kármán line, the commonly accepted boundary between the earth’s atmosphere and space.

The Kármán line, set at 100 kilometres, marks the point where the atmosphere is too thin for aeroplanes to fly.

Despite well-publicized stunts such as the balloon jump, space travel is, if not in limbo, at least in a waiting mode. NASA’s budget has been cut from its heyday, when the whole world followed the Apollo missions, from 1.5 percent of the US federal budget to about 0.5 percent today.

while naSa Still commands respect, and recently announced the commence of transports to the International Space Station together with Boeing and SpaceX, and while the Americans still invest in space exploration, the most exciting ideas – and the most optimistic statements – have come from a new group of space entrepreneurs, including Virgin’s Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and the dozens of compa-nies listed under “private spaceflight” in Wikipedia.

Bezos’s company, Blue Origin, is working on a launch system that will take passengers beyond the Kármán line, while Branson’s Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will top out at 110 kilometres, also beyond the Kármán line, but not orbiting the earth.

Bezos, Branson and Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, electric-car maker Tesla Motors and SpaceX, are the entrepre-neurs of the new space age. The goal of Musk’s SpaceX is not to break the Kármán line but to reduce space transport costs and enable colonization of Mars.

“We’ll be doing test flights on our Dragon 2 spacecraft later this year,” Musk predicted in June 2014 at the launch of Tesla’s new model. “We’ll be going to Mars within 10 or 11 years.”

The race to space will not be without setbacks, however. Bezos’s Blue Origin has already launched satellites, and

SpaceX has several NASA launches scheduled for 2014, to deliver cargo and crew supplies to the International Space Station – at 420 kilometres above the earth the largest artificial body in orbit.

Sure, the moon is 384,400 kilometres from the earth, and we haven’t been back there since December 1972 when Apollo 17 began its return trip, but things are moving ahead on several fronts. The commercial players do their parts, and NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), together with their numerous partners, are working on space exploration, with their sights set on Mars.

Private organizations are also getting into the game. Mars One, a Holland-based not-for-profit foundation, began its search for astronauts in 2013. Their mission is to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, with the first crew heading to the red planet in 2024, and a second one following three years later, a year after the first crew has landed.


Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo.

Interior of SpaceX’s Dragon V2.

Blue Origin, expected to go beyond the Kármán line.


“ We’ll be going to Mars within 10 or 11 years.”

elon musk, spacex

it’s difficult to predict how the missions to mars, or even missions to closer destinations, will turn out, but the work that nasa, esa, universities, private players and the industry are doing will also produce more immediate returns. We may not travel to lunar colonies any time soon, but the work that’s done now will get us from new York to australia faster, says sean Holt, vice president engineering and technical services, sandvik coromant aerospace segment.

“despite what richard Branson says, we’re a long way away from space travel, and one big reason is cost,” he says.

However, even small steps are taking things forward. “the gap between what commercial aircraft are now trying

to achieve and what spacecraft are doing is narrowing,” he says. “the difference used to be huge, and aircraft were never close when it comes to engine performance or the materials used to build them.

“as the gap between spacecraft and commercial aircraft narrows, i see an increase in supersonic travel in the next five to 10 years,” he adds. “What used to be a three-stop, 26-hour flight can now be a non-stop flight.”

sandvik coromant is involved with space travel in two different ways: with improving existing components and materials and also with partners such as nasa.

“the space industry doesn’t look at productivity,” Holt says. “for nasa, it’s not important how quickly they can make certain components, but rather the post-machining, because the components will be used in high-heat and high-stress environments, and they have to be perfect.”

But as an industry member of the commonwealth centre for advanced manufacturing, an applied research centre, sandvik coromant also does research.

“it’s an r&d environment,” says Holt. “We’re a partner and nasa is a partner, as we seek to develop new manufacturing methods for new materials. composites are coming up now, as well as nickel-based alloys that are more heat-resistant. We also do research outside cutting tools, such as 3d printing.”

But research takes time, and failure rates are high. if there are any results, they’ll reach production in about a decade, Holt says. “once we start to break the atmospheric barrier, i expect most of space exploration to be unmanned,” he says. “We can go further and deeper without risking any lives.

“i’d love to do space travel, and i’d like to go as far as technology can take us,” Holt continues. “to boldly go where no man has gone before, just like in the star trek tv series. that’s why i’m in this job.”

Going further and deeper

aCCording to marS one, more than 200,000 wannabe astro-nauts registered for the programme. An impressive number, especially when you consider that it will be a one-way trip.

If all plans come to fruition, Mars One astronauts will cross paths with NASA’s new robotic science rover, set to launch in 2020 when the two planets’ orbital positions are optimal.

For now, 2020 is a nice round number that piques the interest of every one of us. But it’s also just six years away. Industry experts at the American Astronautical Society’s panel on Mars agree that human exploration of Mars will be “technologically feasible” by the 2030s, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004, and in July 2008 Richard Branson said the first flight to space would take place within 18 months. As of July 2014, they were closer, but not quite there yet.

“There’s a reason why this hasn’t happened before,” George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, told Space.com in June 2014. “It’s hard. It’s all new.” n

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sean holt vice president engineering and technical services, sandvik coromant aerospace segment.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in the

hangar at Cape Canaveral

MARS One


technologytext: elaine mcclarence imaGe: BorGs

the automotive induStry is moving towards lighter materials such as aluminium to comply with increasingly stringent emission regulations for components such as cylinder heads. Engine manufac-turers are looking to increase the combustion pressures and tempera-tures to which the cylinder head is subjected to in order to achieve lower emission targets.

CoroMill 5B90 has been designed to meet the improved surface finishes and closer tolerances needed by the sector while living up to the expectations of a high-volume production environment with minimized cycle times as well as close component tolerances and a defined surface quality. However, the face milling operation can often present challenges such as the need to deburr, coupled with irregular tool wear and unpredictable insert tool life, which can lead to long cycle times.

Developed in collaboration with the automotive industry, the CoroMill 5B90 is a bespoke design that offers outstanding surface quality for the facing operation and a reduction in cost per part of up to 30 percent. Each tool is designed with a unique axial and radial positioning of the inserts, enabling each insert to instantly cut chips efficiently without any insert adjustments and at the same time to avoid burrs. The tool produces thin chips that are easily removed from the component to avoid damage to the face. Each cutter is tailor-made for each component, which allows an optimized number of cutting inserts. One is always a wiper to ensure outstanding surface quality. This reduces setup time by two-thirds. High-feed machining is therefore possible with a reduced number of teeth compared with conventional cutters. n

summarythe automotive industry is increasingly using light materials such as aluminium for cylinder heads. coromill 5B90 has been developed in collaboration with the automotive industry to meet tough demands for surface finishes and tolerances. the result is a milling tool tailored for high-volume production that can reduce setup time by two-thirds and cost per component by as much as 30 percent.

Keeping a clean face

challenge: How to have a stable and burr-free face milling machining process with predictable insert tool life.

solution: Employ the Sandvik Coromant CoroMill 5B90 for predictable tool life.

A car manufacturer wanted to improve an unstable process for its cylinder head machining and eliminate burring. It also needed to correct unpredictable insert tool life, which depended on cartridge adjustments that differed slightly from setup to setup. The quality demands were a roughness of 4 (Rmax: 20), waviness (W) of 4 and a surface flatness of 0.05. Sandvik Coromant CoroMill 5B90 met these criteria and produced savings of 21,000 euros a year.

Case study

Previous cutter CoroMill 5B90Cutting speed, vc 3,140 m/min 3,800 m/minSpindle speed, n 5,000 rpm 6,000 rpmFeed rate, vf 8,280 mm/min 9,000 mm/minDepth of cut, ap 0.5 mm 0.5 mmTool life, hours 30,000 on average 45,000

18 metalworking world18 metalworking world


nnn The body has the shape of a Toyota Camry. When wrapped in its colourful vinyl, the car even looks equipped with the lights, grill and emblem of a Camry.

But not a single piece is actually delivered by Toyota.Instead some 90 percent of the car is made in the team’s

headquarters – a huge 37,000-square-metre racing complex in Huntersville in the US state of North Carolina.

On the shop floor, cars are lined up in different stages of assembly. A buzzing sound down the hallway is from 22 Doosan CNC machines rigged with Sandvik Coromant tooling. Double shifts of machinists run the CNCs for about 20 hours a day, making several hundred pieces for the 90-some race cars that are built during each Nascar season.

Even outside the track it’s obvious the teams are in a race, competing to manufacture the perfect race car – all from scratch.

huntersville, north carolina, usa. You wouldn’t think a car that gets 10 kilometres per seven litres of fuel is environmentally friendly. Yet in a way it is. Virtually all the race cars in Joe Gibbs’ Nascar team are either reused or recycled. The same goes for the tools used to build them.

in pole position

text: Henrik ek pHoto: martin adolfsson


“We go after the best equipment, the best people and the best partnerships. If these relationships are in place, everything else will fall into place.” Mark Bringle, Joe Gibbs Racing

naSCar aS an ameriCan sports organization is second only to the National Football League.

The lure of the sport attracts not only the best drivers but also the best mechanics, engineers and machinists in the country.

“Our company is owned and led by Hall of Famer and former head coach of the Washington Redskins Joe Gibbs,” says Mark Bringle, the team’s technical sponsoring and marketing director. “Joe’s talent is being able to pick the right people for the right job. We go after the best equipment, the best people and the best partnerships. If these relationships are in place, everything else will fall into place.”

Sandvik Coromant iS one such partner and also a sponsor.“What we bring to the partnership is the speed of our

product,” says Eric Gerringer, technical team manager at Sandvik Coromant. “We’ve been able to help reduce cycle times by as much as 30 percent through part processing and applying our tools. Also, most tools and inserts are stocked in our main storage facility in Kentucky. If Joe Gibbs puts in an order today, they can have it delivered tomorrow.”

viSiting the faCilitieS, what stands out (besides the more than 200 flags, one for each win in Nascar’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide series) is the team’s effort to leave the smallest possible environmental footprint – from the machinists sending back used carbide inserts to Sandvik Coromant (see page 23) to the mechanics making sure every last bit of a crashed car is shipped to the right recycling facilities.


[1] It’s just a scratch...

[2] Sandvik Coromant was able to reduce cycle times by 30 percent.

[3] Ninety percent of the car is made at Joe Gibbs Racing’s facilities in North Carolina. During each Nascar season, some 90 race cars are built here.

[4] Eric Gerringer, technical team manager, Sandvik Coromant.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]


“Our scrap tooling used to end up in a dumpster,” says Dan Schnars, manufacturing engineer, looking back almost a decade. “Every time a carbide insert doesn’t end up in a landfill is obviously good from an environmental standpoint,” he says. “Carbide is also a finite resource. Recycling it and reprocessing it into new inserts is a lot easier from this stage. It takes a lot less energy and creates a lot less environmental impact than starting from a brand new carbide.”

The same goes for aluminium, steel and other metals collected for recycling.

Huge bins in the facility’s backyard hold metal chips as well as solid parts, stripped from cars that have been deemed irreparable or obsolete.

“It’s also a financial upside for us,” Schnars adds. “We get a credit for whatever we recycle. In this day and age of motor sport, when the sponsor dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, teams have to look at every opportunity to save money. It has all made us more aware.” n

[1] Mark Bringle and Roger Phillips, Joe Gibbs Racing

[2] Recycling of tools and materials saves money...

[3] ...and reduces the carbon footprint.

[1] [2]

[3]


technical insight

“In the US, in the not-so-distant future we imagine recycling 100 percent of the carbide we sell.” Karl Almquist, Sandvik Coromant

IT sHOuldn’T cOMe as a surPrIse – sandvik coromant has recycled carbide since the ’90s – but in recent years the programme of buying back used carbide inserts and round tools has been booming.

in 2011, sandvik coromant us took a more business-oriented approach to the recycling programme. the result was a 375 percent increase over 2009, the best prior year.

By focusing on both the environmental and the actual financial benefits of sandvik coromant carbide recycling, the programme has grown in the united states and caught on globally.

“lasT year sandvIK cOrOManT recycled 80 percent of the total weight of carbide it sold globally,” says project manager karl almquist of sandvik coromant us. “it’s not just our carbide – we recycle other manufacturers’ inserts and round tools too. in the us, in the not-so-distant future we imagine recycling 100 percent of the carbide we sell.”

the programme has always been talked about from an environmental perspective, but almquist says it’s now very much a business opportunity too.

as of now sandvik coromant pays a good market price for used carbide and guarantees that the material is put back into new tools for the manufacturing industry, which not many scrap dealers can promise.

sandvIK cOrOManT Is reviewing different payment options for the recycled inserts, for exam-ple recycling tool vouchers, to meet the different market’s demands. almquist believes the alternative credit options will increase the number of participants in the programme even more.


WaTcH THe vIdeO On yOur IPad


technologytext: cHrister ricHt pHoto: samir soudaH

As the market leader not just in cutting-tool technology but also in supporting the manufacturing industry with solutions and

recommendations on applying tools and organizing machining, how does Sandvik Coromant organize its own manufacturing

facilities and practices?

mikael herdin, manager of maintenance and production method development, speaks to Christer Richt, technical editor for

Sandvik Coromant, about modern production engineering applied on a global scale. Herdin has 26 years of experience

in the industry, and for the past 10 years he has been involved in developing automation in machining.

Planning and setting up optimized production make up the foundation of any manufacturing company. What are the main factors that have to be addressed?

Productivity for any operation is directly related to its metalcutting efficiency – how fast the material is removed. When considering the productivity of a machine, however, machine utilization is equally important. This is because 100 percent speed that occurs only 50 percent of the time still leaves a lot of room for improvement. This is why we have worked to attain zero setup time in the costliest processes.

Profitability and sustainability are often ambitious goals, and productivity is the traditional gauge of success. However, you have also said there are many components to define for delivering productivity, and different formulas, depending on the type of production. Can you list some of the main variables that you use to secure performance and results in your manufacturing?

Yes, there are several variables, seen from different perspectives. The key ones to be measured are mainly metalcutting efficiency, machine utilization, total



manufacturing time and of course the manufacturing cost per component. Then there are the important financial factors to take into account: net working capital, fixed costs and variable costs.

To achieve lean manufacturing, several processes, tools and principles are involved: 5S, just in time, level production, continuous improvement, elimination of waste, quality built in and getting the first part right.

With your targets of achieving productivity, what role does the all-important level of process stability play in your manufacturing goals? Some say this is an overriding factor because of its influence on time and costs.

Process stability is extremely important, and we also see it partly as a target for predicting the process as closely as possible.

Generally speaking, for high-cost and medium-to-low-volume component machining (batch production), we think total manufactur-ing time (TMT) is not always discussed sufficiently or considered as much as it should be. As the time taken from the initial order to the delivery to stock, it is measured in days or weeks rather than in seconds or minutes. So the percentage of actual metalcutting in TMT is generally low, and therefore the total flow of supply needs to be understood better.

SinCe eaCh SteP in the supply chain is a critical factor, we want to ensure fewer steps in combination with a shorter TMT to achieve the best possible level of consistent delivery accuracy. Sometimes a suitable reduction in metalcutting efficiency can be motivated if the number of manufacturing steps is reduced.

ComPanieS SuCCeSSful in minimizing their TMT will generally have started to implement the following:• CAPP – computer-aided process planning – full automation from

ordering to CAD to CAM to NC to CMM • Multifunctional machines to reduce component setup• Automation of workpiece handling.

The effect of reduced TMT is most clearly seen in net working capital (lower inventory required) and stock availability, which have a big impact on the overall goal of profitability and sustainability.

to Summarize, i would Say that today it is absolutely vital that manufacturing companies consider their opportunities in all of the following when planning any production setup:• Metalcutting efficiency• Machine utilization• Total manufacturing time. n


The Sandvik Coromant tool-holder production technology• Some 14,000 different machined components• Batch quantity for standard parts: five to 20• Batch quantity for semi-standard, tailor-made parts: one to five• Stock availability target: 95 percent• Quality secured from the production units globally• Four-day limit for total manufacturing time (TMT)• Operator-friendly environments established• Automation for humans: machining to packing• Efficient maintenance• System process flow fully automated• Every order has new preparation generated drawings and NC program• Common interface for component fixturing based on ISO standard

tooling: Coromant Capto C8

Automation with robot loading and unloading of machines contributes to cell efficiency. Equipment platforms are module-based and easily configured and use standardized machine-user interfaces, where the main screen is the layout of the cell. The common interface for component fixturing is based on Coromant Capto C8.

text: JoHan rapp

innovation. What was considered pure science fiction a decade ago is a technology anyone in manufacturing has to relate to today. For some, additive manufacturing is a threat to their

processes; for others, it’s the holy grail.

JuSt add iNk


nnn Let’s say you want to build a house on the moon. How do you get the building materials there? Can the astronauts, in their bulky space suits, do the construction work? Will you have enough oxygen and food for an extended period?

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, may be the answer to these questions: Just print the house using moon dust and other materials on site.

Not long ago, such an idea would have been regarded as fantasy. Now, both the US and European space agencies, NASA and ESA, see additive manufacturing as a promis-ing technique. So do many manufacturing industries. Some are already using it in regular production.

In additive manufacturing, objects are created by a device that prints layer after layer with plastics, metals and other “ink” materials. This technique is superior for making complex and massive structures without joints and with high precision. Engineers and designers can use computer models and build prototypes within hours.

Interest in additive manufacturing has exploded in recent years. The technology has developed, and prices are falling to the point where 3D printers are expected to soon become household devices. Industrial printers are becoming viable and many companies, including Sandvik, are testing and researching this technique’s potential.

general eleCtriC, seeking smarter ways to build tens of thousands of fuel nozzles for its jet engines, has made big investments in 3D printing, especially for aviation manufac-turing. Nozzles, for instance, are usually assembled from 20 different parts; 3D printing can create the units in one metal piece. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt, an enthusiastic supporter of 3D technology, says it makes a big difference.

In traditional manufacturing, he explains, “you get a block of something, you weld it and you cut it, and you take the scrap somewhere. 3D printing allows you to make that product right from the first time, make it from the core up. You don’t have as much waste, the tooling is cheaper and the cycle time is faster – it’s a holy grail.”

The plans to print-build houses on the moon illustrate another advantage of this technology: You can deliver any product anywhere. It is made on location.

Will additive manufacturing revolutionize manufacturing and the supply chain?

Not for at least the next 15 years, according to Scott Crump, co-founder and chief innovation officer at Stratasys Ltd, one of the major suppliers of 3D printers.

“We expect that growth will rise sharply in the next five to 10 years, and in this phase we will see new practices become embedded in the manufacturing culture,” Crump says. “We expect it will become widely used, complementing traditional moulding, machining, casting and fabricating.”

Currently, induStry foCuS is on making prototypes and special components in small series. Aviation, jewellery and

medical industries have taken the lead. 3D printing is heaven for creative jewellery designers. In health care, doctors are making artificial bones and joints with perfect fits and developing ways to print human organs in processes where the “ink” is the human cell.

In the manufacturing industry, 3D printing’s weakest point remains serial production. It is slow for mass production compared with traditional techniques. Crump sees two main lines of development for 3D printing in manufacturing in the future:

1. Augmented manufacturing – 3D printing makes tools and production aids used to manufacture. “It will decrease time and costs while improving quality,” he says.

2. Alternate manufacturing – The manufacturer replaces moulding techniques with 3D printing.

“3D printing’s success does not lie in replacing traditional manufacturing,” Crump says. “It lies in performing manufacturing differently and leveraging its unique capabilities.”

NASA’s mission to send a 3D printer to the International Space Station, ISS, demonstrates how humanity can benefit from additive printing. If something breaks, the 3D printer, named Made in Space, can make a new component in space. That’s obviously much cheaper and faster than sending spare parts from the earth.

NASA’s next step may be to print food on the ISS. It is only a concept so far, but who knows? Maybe printed food can taste delicious if the print recipe is from a good chef. n


“We expect that growth will rise sharply in the next five to 10 years.” scott crump, stratasYs ltd

Some of the elements in Airbus' future aircraft (pictured here and right) could be created using additive layer manufacturing. As well as making it simpler to produce very complex shapes, the production wastes a lot less material than cutting shapes out of bigger blocks.

Tool printing machine by Stratasys.

3D-printed aircraft engine by Stratasys.


sandvik coromant is keeping a close eye on the development of additive manufacturing with the dual aim of using it in the future production of its cutting tools as well as servicing customers who need help to machine components made with the new technology.

“We started testing additive manufacturing with a 3d printer for plastics a couple of years ago,” says Jan edvardsson, a market analyst at sandvik coromant who did a study on the technology for the sandvik Group. “now we are doing tests on making metal components.”

sandvik has a history of investing heavily in innovative technologies and being a leader in its fields. earlier this year it ramped up its focus on 3d printing and started forming an r&d group assigned to develop its additive manufacturing.

“additive manufacturing is still mainly used for prototyping and not for large series production,” edvardsson says.

a print machine that adds layer after layer of a material to create a structure is a slow and expensive process not suitable for large series production but good for making complicated, massive structures in one piece, without joints. objects can be made both lighter and stronger than with traditional techniques and into exact and intricate shapes. doctors are using 3d printing to make implants, the aviation industry sees the opportunity to save fuel by building lighter planes, and the automotive industry focuses on the ability to make prototypes quickly and at a relatively low cost. many of sandvik coromant’s customers are increasingly investing in the new technology.

“components made by additive manufacturing have certain characteristics,” says edvardsson. “it is very important that we understand how our cutting tools are best adapted, so that we can give our customers good machining recommendations.”

mikael schuisky, operation manager at sandvik Group r&d heading the team assigned to explore the technique, says: “this research team represents a long-term plan to develop additive manufacturing technology for us that will add value to our customers. even though we are at an early stage, we already see a lot of potential.” n

sandvik steps up its focus on additive manufacturing

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jan edvardssonMarket analyst, Sandvik Coromant

mikael schuisky Operation manager at Sandvik Group R&D

Additive manufacturing company Renishaw joined forces with Empire Cycles to create a one-off version of a model that typically comes in aluminium. The prototype was created with a titanium alloy – at the time possibly the world's first to be 3D printed.

The European Space Agency's rig for 3D printing on the moon.

The European Space Agency's lunar base, which could be made out of material found on the moon.


technologytext: elaine mcclarence imaGe: BorGs

for grooveS and Parting off applications in machine centres and multi-task machines, the aim is to provide a secure, economical process combined with excellent chip evacuation and low vibration. Sandvik Coromant has introduced CoroMill QD to meet the requirements of this demanding operation for many different components and materials. The new tools can be used for both roughing and finishing and for dry and wet machining.

CoroMill QD builds on the successful technology that is applied to the CoroCut tool for turning applications. Indeed, CoroMill QD is the first tool of its type to feature internal coolant, making it an ideal choice for machining ISO S materials that are normally very difficult to machine because of heat generation. In ISO M materials a common issue is build-up on inserts, reducing surface quality and shortening tool life. Here also the internal coolant effectively solves the problem.

Chips becoming stuck in slots is a common problem when machining deep narrow grooves. This is usually handled by using an up-milling rather than a down-milling option. When using an up-milling tool, tool life can be reduced by as much as 50 percent. Thanks to the internal coolant, down milling can be applied with CoroMill QD, so that the best tool life and clean slots can be obtained and time savings gained through avoiding the need for operator intervention to remove chips. This is a huge advantage and provides excellent production economy.

Several other key features associated with CoroMill QD benefit the grooving and parting process. Dampened Silent Tools tool holders offer low-vibration machining at long overhangs. Long overhangs

summarythe coromill Qd is the latest solution for slot-milling applications. developed to meet many of the demands of deep groove operations, it combines internal coolant, dampened tool holders and optimized insert geometries to offer a secure, low-vibration, economical process that extends tool life.

Into the groove

challenge: How to meet the extremely high demands that slot milling puts on cutting tools.

solution: Opt for CoroMill QD. It’s the latest solution for deep narrow grooves and parting off.

can generate vibration, which may lead to insert breakage and cause damage to the tool holder and component with consequences for groove quality. The standard tool-holding assortment covers small to medium-sized machining centres with MAS-BT30, all 40 steep tapers and HSK63 as machine side couplings. Large machining centres are covered through Coromant Capto machine interface adaptors, and multi-task machines clamp Coromant Capto adaptors directly in the spindle.

An optimized range of milling geometries for ISO P, K, and M is available. Ground inserts provide light cutting action and minimal run-out and contribute to excellent groove quality and long tool life. Insert stability is provided by a patented rail insert seat. This is combined with a user-friendly clamping mechanism for easy insert changes that employs a quick release key. This all adds up to a tooling solution that offers a high-quality slotting operation combined with good production economy and longer tool life. n


nnn Take the raw power of 1,200 Porsche 911 superfast cars and you have the capacity of a single SGT5-8000H gas turbine from Siemens, which weighs the equivalent of a fully fuelled Airbus A380.

Today the SGT5-8000H is one of the largest and most powerful gas turbines in the world, built to profit from the underlying trend of the global gas market, which according to some forecasts is growing by more than 6 percent annually.

These huge components are manufactured in Berlin, Germany, in the Siemens gas turbine plant, built in 1909 in a neoclassical style with glass-and-steel walls some 120 metres long and 25 metres tall. Since 1956 the plant, part of the Siemens Power Generation Division, has been classified as a historical building. The machinery and the technologies it houses are top-notch and feature state-of-the-art machining centres.

In 2012, when Siemens introduced a new maxi housing for its huge gas turbine, the plant had to adapt its technology. The established production process, based on rough milling and finish boring using angle heads and helical milling, was not stable enough for the 16 borings with a 600-millimetre diameter that were required for the burners.

Berlin, germany. Plunge milling and a new spindle strategy helped Siemens reduce machining time by 63 hours for its huge gas turbine housings – each weighing 90 tonnes – a savings of 11 weeks in three years of production.

PlungIng TO neW dePTHs

text:tomas lundin pHoto: adam lacH


The Siemens SGT5-8000H is one of the largest gas

turbines in the world.


“Plunge milling reduced the machining time from 100 hours per component to 42.”

[1] Siemens team leader Herbert Imrich at the base of a gas turbine.

[2] Detail of a CoroBore 820 XL.

[3] From left: Markus Zapke, Herbert Imrich, Michael Neumann (Siemens), Olaf Zahn (Sandvik Coromant), Thomas Reich (Siemens) and Christian Lendowski (Sandvik Coromant).

[4] Thomas Reich, Siemens tool expert.

[1]

[2]

metalworking world 33metalworking world 33

“We had huge problems,” says Markus Zapke, head of technology, tooling processes and machine supply in the turbine factory. “The angle head was the weak part in the process. We had too much vibration and tools breaking down. We had reached the limit of our installed technology.”

Sandvik Coromant waS contacted, along with other suppliers, and in August 2013 the factory chose the Sandvik Coromant concept, which was based on plunge milling and a new spindle strategy. “Sandvik Coromant has been a technology partner for many years,” says Zapke. “They were able to draw up a potential solution to our problems almost immediately.”

Olaf Zahn, head of regional sales and technical consulting for Sandvik Coromant, is the man behind the new concept. “We knew that the angle head was very unstable,” he recalls. “So we opted for plunge milling, which means that the tools plunge straight into the precast borings in the housing.”

Plunge milling itself is nothing new. “I have seen this technology for 20 years in the automotive industry,” says Herbert Imrich, team leader for production in the Siemens plant. “It’s a wonder nobody thought of it before, or at least when the problems arose.”

In fact, Sandvik Coromant did: Plunge milling is the first step in the new production process. As plunge milling automatically leads to rough surfaces, it requires finish boring in a second step to meet high surface demands and maintain the required tolerances. In this final step the diameter of the borings is increased from 598 to 600 millimetres.

The new concept was tested and further developed in close coopera-tion between Siemens and Sandvik Coromant.

the teSting waS done in a real-life situation. Thomas Reich, Siemens expert for technology, cutting tools, explains: “Since our old technology could not cope with the new requirements, we wanted to go ahead with

[3]

[4]


the new process without any delays. So we made all the necessary adaptations and new programming in real production.”

The results so far are extremely positive. Plunge milling reduced the machining time from 100 hours per component to 42. The time for finish boring was cut from 480 minutes to 160 minutes. In total there is a time reduction of more than 63 hours for each housing – or 11 weeks of machining time saved in three years of production, according to Siemens calculations.

Further positive effects are obvious but difficult to put figures on. “We are very pleased with the fact that we are able to use standard tools all along,” says Zapke. “That means lower prices, high reliability and tools always in stock.”

Most important, though, the Sandvik Coromant solution lends itself to further adaptation. “Plunge milling can easily be transferred to other processes,” says Christian Lendowski, Sandvik Coromant senior key account manager for Siemens. “It has already been carried over to another Siemens housing. And more projects are envisaged. In that sense it is really a model technology.” n

[1] Inside job – standard tools were able to be used throughout.

[2] Plunge milling can be adapted for other processes.

[3] CoroMill R210 and CoroBore 820 XL tools. The time for finish boring was cut from 480 minutes to 160 minutes.

[1] [2]

[3]


technical insight

Compared with the old process, the new concept saves 320 minutes per housing.

Machine operator Andre Skora.

Plunge MIllIng is key to the new sandvik coromant process at the siemens gas turbine factory in Berlin, Germany. the housings for the world’s biggest gas turbines have 16 borings for the burners, which are precast with a tolerance of 12 to 15 millimetres. When finished the borings have a diameter of 600 millimetres and a length of 450 millimetres.

sandvIK cOrOManT uses coromill 210 for plunge milling. some 430 millimetres long, the tool is plunged 300 millimetres straight into the precast boring, avoiding the high leverage on the angle head in the former process. the tool plunges up and down in a circle, 126 times for each boring.for this rough milling the machine time for each component has been reduced to 42 hours from 100 hours using angle head and helical milling.in the next step the diameter of the borings has been increased from 598 millimetres to 600 milli-metres by finishing the surface. this is done with the sandvik coromant coroBore 820 xl, which allows increased feeds compared with fine boring tools. at the same time it maintains the required tolerance and surface demands.

In THe IMPleMenTaTIOn PHase a new tool-clamping concept was introduced. reducing the setups from three to one was another very positive side effect. compared with the old process, the new concept saves 320 minutes per housing. moreover, using standard tools off the shelf helps keep tool prices low and guarantees a stable supply of reliable tools. altogether the new concept, developed in close cooperation between siemens and sandvik coromant at the gas turbine plant in Berlin, produces a stable process with significant time savings. siemens calculates that total machine time is reduced by more than 63 hours per component.



technologytext: elaine mcclarence imaGe: kJell tHorsson

wheel SetS and axleS are the workhorses of any train. The expectation is that they can operate for millions of kilometres between maintenance and refurbishment. They are some of the most expensive consumables on rail vehicles and account for a significant proportion of an operator’s maintenance budget, as they are the key to vehicle availability. The rail industry is under constant pressure to reduce costs and better serve passengers, and this must be balanced against operational performance and, above all, safety.

The growth of very high speed trains has added the need to deliver machining operations with high security and close tolerances coupled with the tougher demands of hard, difficult-to-turn materials. All wheel producers are chasing lower cost per wheel and longer insert tool life. This is at a time when materials used in advanced high-speed train wheels are getting harder and more difficult to turn. Wheels and axles are usually produced from unalloyed and alloyed steel that has tensile strengths ranging from 780 to 1,050 N/mm. When wheels are partly hardened it increases the demands on the insert, which must be able to work in different hardnesses in the same cut.

Another challenge is to choose the right tools to sustain productivity and maintain product quality. Sandvik Coromant has developed a broad range of tooling solutions to meet the varied manufacturing requirements for all railway wheel types to offer a cost-effective process, with secure production combined with reliable performance.n

Keeping on trackMeeting the technical needs of advanced high-speed trains while offering cost-effective solutions to maintain the existing rail stock calls for broad production and refurbishment strategies.

New wheel turning – tool holdingsandvik coromant’s t-max p lever clamping

system is the first choice system for new wheel turning. the lever forces the insert backwards into the pocket, locating the insert firmly against two sides for stable clamping. there are eight t-max p standard holders optimized for machining new railway wheels. this

solution offers excellent chip breaking combined with process reliability and

security with longer tool life.

Grades for wheel turningsandvik coromant has an assortment for

new wheel turning applications. in these applications the latest grade Gc4325 is increasingly used as the next-generation insert grade.

for re-turning wheels, sandvik coromant has a range of insert options that are

governed by the wheel condition. Gc4325 is preferably used for increasingly heavier

damage.

Axlessandvik coromant has a standard iso assortment

of tooling solutions to meet the requirements of turning axles. depending on customer machine setup, shank holders or coromant capto holders with inserts in different sizes are available that can handle all stages of turning from roughing of forged material to finishing.

Re-turning Wheel re-turning can be carried out using either

overfloor or underfloor machines and is carried out under dry machining conditions. When re-turning it is desirable to choose a cutting depth that is as large as possible in order to achieve short machining times. this depends on the wear conditions of the predominant part

of the worn wheel. the profile may be turned in a single pass, or it may be necessary to divide the

machining into several stages. the use of t-max p for a wide range of tools, inserts and grades offers

process reliability and longer tool life.


New wheel turning – insertsthe inserts most suitable for new wheel turning are round positive inserts such as rcmx and rcmt for t-max p system. negative square inserts with t-max p are also used for certain parts of the wheel. round inserts are strong

and can handle the varying cutting depths when turning in

profiles of the new wheel. positive inserts give less cutting force and help

prevent vibrations.

New wheel turningmost of the tools used for railway wheels are unique solutions, based on machining conditions such as design of the wheel and type of machine used. all turning operations for all key wheel features such as the rim, hub and web can be carried out with the sandvik coromant assortment of c10 holders with square and round inserts. these tools meet the needs of many different

machine types for wet processing. under coolant for round inserts sizes 32 millimetres and

16 millimetres offer a constant flow of coolant to the critical cutting zone

and provide substantial increase of lifetime to the insert. indeed,

high-precision coolant can result in insert lifetime

increases of up to 80 percent.

summaryWheel and axle sets for railway locomotives and carriages need to live up to stringent operational standards. tools for production and re-turning need to be stable and have an acceptable lifetime, dependent on the wheel type. Whether it is for producing a new wheel or re-turning a wheel and axle set, sandvik coromant has the right tools, good application knowledge and insight into customer needs.

the final notetext: Henrik emilson pHoto: studio rooseGaarde

watch the

road!



Instead of focusing on the car to innovate the driving experience, dutch designer and engineer daan roosegaarde is instead innovating the highway. the goal is to make roads that are more sustainable, safe and intuitive. together with Heijmans infrastructure, the designer has developed glow-in-the-dark roads that are treated with special photo-luminizing powder, making extra lighting unnecessary. charged in daylight, the glow-in-the-dark road illuminates the contours of the road at night for up to 10 hours. on the same note, streetlights are interactive. instead of being constantly lit, they light up when a car is approaching, thus saving energy.

dynamic paint is another feature of the smart highway that will be tried, tested and developed on a road strip in eindhoven in the netherlands. the paint becomes visible in response to temperature fluctuations, enabling the surface of the roads to communicate relevant and adequate traffic information directly to drivers – for example, large ice crystals become visible on the surface of the road when it’s cold and slippery.

after some initial tryouts and back-to-the-drawing-board moments, the innovators aim to introduce their findings on a larger scale within the next five years. n

Steel turningendurance

Uncompromised metal removal rate Steel turning grade GC4315 excels in applications that generate high temperatures. When other inserts reach a limit in metal removal rate due to high speed and long time in cut, GC4315 gets the job done. But don’t just take our word for it....

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Metalworking World 1-2015

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Transcript of Metalworking World 1-2015