FEATURE ON CNC MILLS & MACHINING CENTRES

Five-axis gantry-based profiling centre

The new top-of-the-range model from Elumatec is a breakthrough: as the first five-axis machine in a gantry design, the SBZ 155 profile machining centre raises the bar for automated CNC machining of aluminium and thin-walled steel profiles. With better performance than ever before and designed entirely to meet customer needs, Elumatec says that customers can accelerate their processes and open up new business segments.
The machine is expected to be available from Q1 2023.

“Our new top-of-the-range model gives industrial and metal construction customers a clear competitive edge,” says Elumatec CEO Paolo Bianchi. One example is the tool changeover times of the SBZ 155, which are minimised by the high rates of travel of the servo axes to guarantee optimum machining cycles.

Customisable equipment options give customers maximum flexibility to make their production processes even more efficient, and optional features include six-sided machining from below with an angle head and the space-saving gantry drive.

The SBZ 155 will be a particular asset for businesses which are thinking big in every sense: its large on-board magazines can be equipped with 14 standard tools, and depending on the individual configuration, up to six special tools and two 200 or 550 mm diameter saw blades can be used.

A gantry design and a machining area divided into two zones allow profiles with cross-sections of up to 1000 x 380 mm to be picked up and passed through, as well as flexible working in shuttle mode. Overall, the SBZ 155 delivers precise machining results even at high rates of travel, while its speed-regulated spindle ensures high process reliability even with quickly changing loads.
For further information www.elumatec.com

XYZ mill boosts time-critical deliveries

Seal Team Systems creates bespoke leak repair systems for customers such as food manufacturers, energy generators, water suppliers and hospitals. The on-site leak sealing technology minimises any disruption or downtime, which can be expensive or life threatening. Time is therefore critical in manufacturing a range of components that combined can create an effective leak repair which can be made permanent at the next scheduled maintenance shutdown.

With every on-site leak posing different problems, the parts manufactured by Chesterfield-based Seal Team Systems are bespoke. The process starts with a customer site visit by a trained technician who reviews the problem and takes detailed measurements. Manufacturing starts upon the technician’s return to the factory. All of this can take 2-3 days, a situation compounded by a reliance on manual machining. To address this situation, Seal Team Systems has invested in an XYZ RMX 5000 bed mill fitted with the latest ProtoTRAK control system.

“We recognised a need to automate the process as much as possible, especially as finding the skilled people to create the parts we need was becoming harder,” says Andy Mills, director at Seal Team Systems. “With the XYZ RMX 5000, the technician, who was also the machinist, can now simply text all the details to us and we can start machining straightaway, turning what was a 2-3 day process into a next day service.”

Ken Black, director at Seal Team Systems, adds: “The move to the RMX 5000 with the ProtoTRAK control was a logical step up from manual machining, the training was straightforward, and we were operating it very soon after installation. The time savings we are making are significant, and typically amount to a 66% reduction in lead times.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Machining large composite motorsport parts

Headquartered in Fontwell, West Sussex and operating from four sites near the south coast of England, GTR Composites is known for supplying Formula One teams with carbon-fibre components and assemblies. The subcontractor has produced lightweight chassis and other large parts from composite materials for a long time, but at the beginning of 2021 it started final-machining them to tolerances measured in tens of microns.

The introduction of this new service followed the purchase of a German-built Zimmermann FZU400 five-axis machining centre, installed at GTR’s Bognor Regis facility at the end of 2020 by UK sales and service agent Kingsbury. Having a 4000 x 3000 x 1250 mm working envelope, the portal machine was selected from a shortlist of three due to its ability to hold very high accuracy.

For example, a positional tolerance of 50 µm is achieved on features across a full chassis, while holes and counterbores are held to within 10 or 20 µm. As the components are of high value, GTR adopts a policy of having an operator permanently in attendance, even when the FZU400 is running overnight.

Simon Kingdon-Butcher, joint owner (with John Biddlecombe) of GTR, says: “The Zimmermann machine stood out in terms of its rigidity, which translates into the tight tolerances we are able to hold when cutting carbon fibre. We’re able to impress our customers by hitting really tight limits that our competitors cannot achieve.

“High spindle power – 34 kW continuous/41 kW peak – enables us to rough aluminium moulds, while spindle speeds up to 24,000 rpm means their surfaces can be finish-machined to very high quality using minimum quantity lubrication,” he adds. “MQL also enables us to mill and drill carbon fibre components containing titanium or aluminium inserts in the presence of a specific type of coolant approved by our customers.”

For further information
www.kingsburyuk.com

IMSA insists on NSK products

NSK’s ground ball screws, linear roller guides and super-precision ball bearings are helping IMSA to consolidate its market position in the field of specialised deep-hole drilling machines, which are particularly popular for mould-making applications in the automotive sector.

“Our partners have always played a fundamental role in all of the technological innovations that distinguish our company,” says Marco Colombo, head of the technical department at IMSA. “In order to put our design ideas into practice, we use top-quality components that can guarantee the best performance and reliability over time. For example, NSK has always been our point of reference in motion control throughout the evolution of our machines. The availability of optimal-quality NSK bearings, ball screws and linear guides has allowed us to build the highest performance machines in our sector.”

One of IMSA’s most recent innovations has been the development of a rotary-tilting table, which allows the machining of moulds in five axes using just one clamping position, further reducing manufacturing time. MF1000-3T EVO, a deep-hole drilling machine for small to medium automotive moulds up to 2.5 tonnes in weight, is the first model to be equipped with this solution. Here too, IMSA is using NSK’s latest-generation solutions to achieve the very high performance required.

“To transform axial movement into rotary movement, we use two 63 mm diameter NSK ZSS series ground ball screws,” says Colombo. “Compared with the ball screws of previous generations, they guarantee greater rigidity and perform better in terms of speed and load capacity. As a result, the machine’s working axes can move at feed rates of up to 30 m/min.”

For further information
www.nskeurope.com

Big savings and reduced lead time

A few years ago, T&R Precision Engineering in Foulridge, Lancashire, started manufacturing parts from Inconel 625 castings for the hot air side of the GE-Safran LEAP-1A turbofan that powers the Airbus A320neo family of single-aisle jets. The problem was that the work involved a labour-intensive sequence of three or four operations on separate machines.

A more efficient process route for the drilling, milling, chamfering and turning operations was therefore sought by the aerospace components supplier, which employs more than 70 people. The ideal solution identified by engineering manager Graham Gilbert involved the purchase from NCMT of an Okuma MU5000V five-axis VMC equipped with a Dutch-made Cellro 30-station pallet storage and retrieval system served by a six-axis industrial robot.

Managing director Tim Maddison says: “The improvement in production performance has been enormous across the four different LEAP-1A castings that we machine. We now produce all components in a single hit as part of a one-hour cycle, which means that eight parts are now ready the same day rather than after a week. The substantial saving in lead-time is accompanied by vastly less workpiece handling and work-in-progress on the shop floor, while at the same time fewer free-issue Inconel castings need to be supplied by our US customer at any given time, saving them money as well.”

A further benefit is a 50% reduction in total processing time compared with producing the parts in three or four separate operations. An additional saving that Maddison describes as “massive” comes from inspecting every completed part on the VMC in a 10-minute routine at the end of the cutting cycle. So instead of 100% inspection on a CMM, only one part per day now needs checking offline.

For further information
www.ncmt.co.uk