REPAIR & REFURBISHMENT
with support from its 45,000 rpm milling
spindle as standard.
“AM build operations are performed
alternately with semi- nishing and
nishing operations using a milling
cutter,” explains Joseph Bellis, additive
manufacturing sales manager at
Matsuura Machinery. “In this way, it’s
possible to have some sort of structure
enclosed within a part that is machined.
However, at present, not many design
engineers are thinking along these lines,
although things are steadily changing.”
The original idea for Lumex centred on
the production of injection mould tooling.
“Printing to near-net-shape means there
is very little wastage, with only around
0.15 mm on the model for minimal
machining,” says Bellis. “Quicker cycle
times for mould tool production using a
single platform shortens time-to-market.
TAKING CONTROL
At the EMO Milan industrial fair
in October, Siemens showed two
machines controlled with a single
Sinumerik One control system: a
Chiron FZ16 ve-axis milling centre
and a robot-based Chiron AM Cube
additive manufacturing machine. With
these two machines, it is possible
to repair large gears, such as those
used in wind turbines. Siemens
demonstrated how to mill the gear
wheels at, before using the robot
to rebuild the teeth in an additive
manufacturing process. Final precision
grinding took place on the veaxis
milling centre.
“The advantage of
this solution is that
it uses standard
commercial
ve- We’ve had customers
who have been injection
moulding thousands of
parts within a few days.”
With LUMEX Avance, users can create
conformal cooling channels within an
injection mould tool – fully nished – o
the machine. “Users have access to
intricate features as they are being built
additively, making it very easy to produce
complex tools without the need for
secondary processes,” says Bellis.
Maraging steel is the main material
for tooling, although the Lumex Avance
platform can also accommodate stainless
steel, aluminium, Inconel and cobalt
chrome, for example. The National
Centre for Additive Manufacturing
(NCAM), located at the Manufacturing
Technology Centre in Coventry, is among
the UK facilities housing the machine.
FIVE-IN-ONE
Okuma is another machine tool specialist
with a hybrid o er based on its Multus
Laser EX and MU Laser EX platforms.
These multitasking machine tools not
only combine ve-axis milling and turning
with AM, but also with laser hardening
and grinding: one machine platform for
ve di erent applications. Rather than
a bre-type laser, Okuma has selected
a 4 kW Trumpf disk laser, which it says
enhances beam quality, stability and
durability over a wide power range (shown
at work at left).
machines and does not require
an ad hoc solution which, by the
way, could easily be managed by a
single Sinumerik One,” says Marco
Merlino, head of system marketing
& promotion, machine tool systems,
Siemens AG. “Thanks to Sinumerik
One, even though the two machines
are completely di erent in terms
of design and technology, their
programming and operation are
identical, both for the machine
manufacturer and end user.”
Based on the Sinumerik One
digital twin (Create
MyVirtual Machine),
machine development,
commissioning and
testing took place in
parallel.
A typical system
comprises a number of
di erent components: the
machine, disk laser oscillator, optical unit/
powder nozzles, camera monitor, powder
conveyor, chiller, transformer, argon/
helium gas cylinders, powder vacuum unit
and mist/dust collector. “The laser unit
can supply two, four or six Multus or MU
platform machines,” says Jürgen Kläser,
senior manager FA/IT at Okuma Europe.
“With this type of set-up, the laser is
available on rst-come, rst-served basis
as only one machine can use the laser at a
time. However, if 25% of each machine’s
cycle time is dedicated to the laser then,
theoretically, one laser can supply four
machines, signi cantly reducing costs.”
According to Kläser, Okuma hybrid
machines can handle any metal available
in powder form, while switching powders
is easy using the NC program and takes
just 2-3 minutes.
Although Okuma hybrid machines,
which use LMD (laser metal deposition)
technology, are operational in Japan and
the US, only one is currently active in
Europe, at RWTH Aachen University, a
public research university in Germany.
Potential applications centre on the
addition of wear-resistant coatings,
repairs in the mould and die sector, and
the production of parts that require
a mix of materials,” says Kläser. The
possibilities, it seems, are almost
endless.
Winter 2021 www.operationsengineer.org.uk 35
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