Recycling wind turbine parts

Experts at the Manufacturing Technology Centre are to take part in a €10m EU project to develop technologies that recycle high-value parts from wind turbine blades. The four-year EoLO-HUBS project aims to recover glass and carbon fibres from large wind turbine structures that have reached the end of their useful life. The Coventry-based MTC is one of 18 partners from across Europe, with project co-ordination by the Aitiip Technology Centre in Zaragoza, Spain. The consortium also includes research divisions from several leading industrial companies.
For further information www.the-mtc.org

Nagel invests in competence centre for brake discs

With the introduction of the Euro 7 emission standard, the particulate matter values for all new motor vehicles are set for drastic reductions, regardless of the type of drive. This means that the focus is also increasingly on brake systems. The solution is brake discs with low-wear hard coatings, because less wear means less particulate matter. Against this background, Nagel Maschinen- und Werkzeugfabrik GmbH in Nürtingen is expanding its portfolio to include systems for brake disc coating.

The core module for applying hard coatings to brake discs – usually cast brake discs – is a laser cell, which operates according to the high-speed LMD process, and a double-sided surface grinding machine for finishing. The laser coating machine from Nagel allows workpiece changeover times of less than 2 seconds, meaning that the powder flow, which is fundamentally sensitive to pressure fluctuations and acceleration, does not require interruption. The company measured powder efficiencies of over 94% in the coating process.

Nagel uses a double-sided surface grinding machine with high rigidity, ensuring highly precise and reproducible machining. The machine processes brake discs with an outer diameter of up to 450 mm. Depending on the coating system and customer requirements, Nagel Group says it has the right solution. For example, it is possible to grind a typical mid-range brake disc on both sides in approximately 50 seconds. Where required, a specially developed non-contact air measurement system monitors the machining process in operation.

In addition to process development for a wide range of hard material coatings, including grinding, Nagel will soon also be offering options for the production of coated brake discs for homologation at its Nürtingen plant.
For further information www.nagel.com

Tyrolit expands portfolio with key acquisition

This year marks another exciting year for Tyrolit as it announces the acquisition of Turkey-based Egeli Egesan Abrasives. In a highly competitive market, Tyrolit identified a gap for an additional range of products outside of its current brands, targeted at cost-conscious professionals. This identification has led to the new Tyrolit Egesan brand.

Founded 50 years ago, Egeli Egesan is a leader in the fields of cut-off and deburring wheels, coated abrasives, and abrasive tools for various applications. With an initial range of cut-off wheels, grinding wheels, and flap and fibre discs launching into the UK market last month, customers are already welcoming the Tyrolit Egesan brand. An extended range of bonded and coated products are due to make their debut later in the year.

Pete Dufty, sales director for Tyrolit UK, says: “This acquisition allows us to extend our product portfolio, providing the company with additional access to the production of coated abrasives, as well as added comprehensive know-how. As a result, we can open up more opportunities for Tyrolit to provide an attractive price-performance ratio for cost-conscious customers and a complete range of products from a single source.”

The extended range of Tyrolit Egesan to look out for over the coming months includes: bonded abrasives (cutting and grinding discs for foundry, stainless steel, metal and stone); vitrified grinding wheels (bench grinding wheels, cylindrical and surface grinding wheels, saw sharpening wheels, scythe stones, and cup wheels); coated abrasives (flap discs, fibre discs, DA sander discs, abrasive belts and rolls – including wide belts, waterproof abrasive sandpapers and abrasive flap wheels); and non-woven (flap wheels, mop discs and abrasive sponge wheels).
For further information www.tyrolit.co.uk

Tooth-flank grinding for e-mobility sector

Gear grinding is currently attracting a lot of attention, especially in the production of components for electric drives. Production planners are demanding new solutions for a perfect surface that assures their smooth running at high speeds and heavy torque loads. To see how a niche machine tool builder implements these requirements, look no further than Emag SU and its tooth-flank grinding machines.

The gear grinding machine specialist’s G 160 model, for example, features a special ‘virtual’ axis concept for microscopically near-perfect surfaces. Simultaneously, the integrated material handling technology reduces cycle times to a minimum.

Emag SU says that its G 160 is the fastest machine on the market for components up to module 3 with a maximum outside diameter of 160 mm. The G 160’s speed is made possible by a special slide axis concept with two parallel workpiece tables that take turns moving at high speed (with the help of durable, high performance linear motors) towards the grinding wheel.

During the time that one component takes to machine, the loading robot inserts a blank into the other spindle, after first unloading the completed part, as needed. Self-centring alignment, or ‘meshing’, of the grinding wheel to the rough-cut gear component takes place directly on the workpiece spindle, at load position, in parallel with the main machining operation. This results in a chip-to-chip time between the grinding processes of only 1.6 seconds (a small value compared to grinding machines with turntables).

Here, it is important to note that the actual grinding time needed for a typical component such as a planetary gear wheel, is only about 10 seconds. The difference between the chip-to-chip times between grinding is therefore a real game changer.
For further information www.emag.com

Walter launches FW4 and MW4 wiper geometries

With the FW4 and MW4 wiper geometries, Walter is introducing two turning indexable insert geometries. The new FW4 and MW4 combine the ‘wiper effect’ with new chip-breaker geometries and wear-resistant Walter Tiger•tec Gold grades. Walter’s curved wiper edge sweeps over the machined surface again, making it possible to either double the feed rate and increase productivity by 100%, or significantly improve the surface quality while maintaining the same feed rate.

With these new geometries, Walter is now transferring this effect from the existing FW5 and MW5 double-sided cutting inserts to indexable inserts with a positive basic shape. The result is the FW4 geometry with a narrow chip breaker for finishing operations and the MW4 geometry with an open chip-breaker groove and longer wiper cutting edge radius for medium machining.

Both geometries are for universal application in ISO materials P, M and K, as well as for secondary applications in ISO S materials. The FW4 and MW4 geometries make it possible to achieve improved surface quality, productivity and process reliability thanks to the wiper edge with its curved design. This curved wiper design also helps when the machine is not aligned 100%, for example after a crash or with slightly offset turrets.

As a further advantage, the new chip breakers increase the chip-breaking range with higher feed rates, resulting in less machine downtime caused by ‘birds nesting’. Higher feed rates reduce machining times and therefore contact times, increasing tool life and reducing the number of tool changes. The combination of double the productivity and/or surface quality is particularly appealing for series manufacturers.
For further information www.walter-tools.com