diameter shell-mill tool, ITC technical sales
engineer Gary Murrey introduced the Widia
VHSC indexable end-mill range, with
impressive results. The existing cutting tool
with four insert pockets was running at
11,000 rpm (1,700 m/min) at 4,000 mm/
min feed rate and 4.5 mm depth of cut.
The Widia VHSC end-mill was applied with
a 2 mm radius insert and run at a surface
speed of 1,800 m/min at a feed of 0.2 mm
per tooth, which equates to a feed rate of
9 m/min, and with the 4.5 mm depth of cut
retained. That said, the better stability of the
Widia VHSC is offering the opportunity to
increase the depth of cut to further advance
cycle time reductions. However, with an initial
cycle time reduction in the region of 50% over
a leading competitor, this prominent
aerospace manufacturer is said to be
delighted with the improved cycle time and
extended tool life. The cycle time for the
aluminium solid billet sub-assembly with the
Widia VHSC was 12 minutes, 18 seconds,
more than 50% less than the previous cycle
time. Not only did the ITC solution improve
cycle times for this end user, it also equated
to a unit price reduction of 40%.
Aerospace structural part machining
and workholding demo wins praise
Tooling expert Walter GB (https://is.gd/
xowamo) joined forces with workholding
specialist Schunk Intec (https://is.gd/nuyevi)
to host a customer innovation day to
showcase best-in-class 5-axis aerospace
machining at the Knowledge Transfer Centre
in Shef eld.
Aerospace production specialists learnt
how the companies’ new tooling and
workholding innovations can bring substantial
bene ts to the machining of aluminium wing
ribs, witnessing the reality at the AMRC with
Boeing Centre where a demonstration part
was machined on a Starrag (https://is.gd/
akakav) Ecospeed machining centre.
Jim Dale, Walter’s component manager,
business & application development, outlined
the distortion and machining challenges
presented when producing one-hit nishes
and tight corners, for example, on aluminium
workpieces having wall thicknesses of only
1.5 mm thick and with 6 mm radii.
The sample wing rib, measuring 1,500 mm
long by 280 mm wide and 80 mm high, and
with pockets up to 50 mm deep, was jointly
designed by Walter and Schunk Intec to show
the ability of the rms’ tooling strategies and
workholding technology in overcoming these
dif culties in a controlled manner.
Walter & Schunk Intec put on a machining
demonstration in Sheffi eld recently
Says Dale: “In addition to applying a
number of new Walter milling cutters,
including an innovative three- ute cutter and
inserts with a newly-developed coating for
extended tool life, together with Schunk
Intec’s Vero-S Aviation system, we have
arrived at the ideal solution.”
Vero-S (a pneumatic system) enables all
component stresses to be relieved between
machining operations by simply releasing
then re-clamping the workpiece in-situ –
without the need for separate set-ups.
“Importantly, we wanted to achieve similar
cycle times as if we were using a ‘ xed’
clamping system,” he adds.
Walter created a ‘toolbox’ speci cally to
suit the Ecospeed and the workpiece in
question, with pre-set feeds and speeds for
the tooling to match the machine’s
120 kW/30,000 rpm spindle and the
capabilities of its Sprint Z3 machining head.
“Developing and supplying ‘pre-set’ tooling
packages to suit speci c machining platforms
and processes is one of the strengths of
Walter’s Engineering Kompetenz strategy,”
Dale explains. “And in terms of our aerospace
customers, it is successfully being applied
globally to titanium and aluminium structures,
as well as to engines and landing gear
programmes.”
Commenting on the success of the event,
Walter GB’s business development manager,
Neil McKinnell, says: “The event was a great
success, when taking into account we were
addressing a niche part of the aerospace
manufacturing industry.
“There is signi cant movement in the
aerostructure machining sector with regard to
establishing best practice, in line with
www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets October 2019 17
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