Product category:
Motor sports manufacturing: machining, software, CAM
News Release from: DMG (UK) | Subject: DMU 80P duoBLOCK machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 May 2006
5-axis centre machines wide materials
variety
Extremely high 5-axis machine stability allows the Renault F1 Team to machine a wide variety of materials, including high silicon aluminium and high tungsten steel, as well as carbon fibre composites.
What a start to the 2006 season it has been for the Renault F1 Team! With a number of first and second places already collected from initial races, the team and its drivers are on course to repeat the incredible success enjoyed last year, when Renault won the Constructors' Championship and Fernando Alonso lifted the Drivers' Championship According to Jeff Fullerton, the machine shop manager at the team's Technical Centre in Oxfordshire, the secret behind Renault's admirable record over the past two years has been consistency
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 21 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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"A combination of high performance and reliability has pushed this team to the top," he said.
"It is a sentiment that I can also apply to our DMG machine tools.
Our component reject rate and machine breakdown record has never been better." Built in 1992, the Renault F1 Team Technical Centre was originally furnished with Japanese machining centres and turning centres.
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In 2003, the Renault F1 Team commenced a programme of replacement, selecting DMG as its preferred partner.
As this rewarding partnership enters its fourth year, the Technical Centre now houses an army of DMG machines that totals 18 CNC models.
Over the past 12 months the most recent additions have been a DMU 80P duoBLOCK five-axis machining centre, two DMC 64V linear vertical machining centres and a GMX200 linear turn-mill centre for high precision, six-sided complete machining.
Precision and capability are paramount in Formula One.
Using V8 engines, lap times can be extremely close.
In qualifying for the recent San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, only 0.1 seconds separated the cars lining up on the grid in positions 6-13.
Because the Technical Centre is responsible for the design and manufacture of the car's aerodynamic and chassis components, the Oxfordshire facility can have a huge influence on performance, especially when the difference between winning and losing is so small.
All of the mechanical parts designed at the Technical Centre have to fit within an aerodynamic 'envelope'.
The result is that many components incorporate a high degree of complexity, which in turn leads to demanding surfacing requirements.
It is here that the DMG machines excel, as Fullerton explained: "The performance of the DMG machines is exceptional.
Naturally the trend is towards five-axis machining, which is why we have recently added a second DMU 80P.
This will allow us to complete a greater number of components in a single-hit." The DMU 80P duoBLOCK offers a large working envelope for effective metal cutting with traverse paths of 800mm in all axes.
The cornerstone of the thermo-symmetrical design is the innovative duoBLOCK concept, which consists of two sturdy cast-iron blocks in conjunction with three guideways in the X-axis and the proven three-point-support concept.
The resulting extremely high machine stability allows the Renault F1 Team to combat a wide variety of materials including high silicon aluminium and high tungsten steel, as well as carbon fibre composites.
All of the DMG machines run 24 hours a day, five days a week at the Technical Centre, plus single shifts at weekends.
Typical parts manufactured include suspension components such as uprights and wishbone end units, brake parts, chassis ancillaries, engine ancillaries and hydraulic manifolds.
This year's car (R26) already features over 1500 different machined parts manufactured at the Technical Centre.
With development ongoing with each passing Grand Prix, it would come as no surprise if the total matches the 2100+ generated for the R25 by the end of the season.
The first component drawings for next year's car, R27, are expected by July.
All this makes for a very busy machine shop at the Technical Centre and its 39 employees.
Even though batch quantities are low (approximately 15 sets of each component are manufactured to furnish race and test cars, as well as provide spares), because of the large amount of different parts, machine set-up and programming have to be slick.
To this end, five machine shop operators at the Technical Centre are trained to perform programming and verification tasks off-line using CATIA V5.
When complete, programs are downloaded to the DMG machines, each of which has its own IP address, via Ethernet connection.
"I really can not fault the machines or the service we get from DMG UK," said Fullerton, "Although to be honest, we hardly ever need to call them out - even though we have 18 machines.
I am really pleased with the linear drives.
The fact that there is less wear parts means there is far less possibility for things to go wrong." Another DMG machine feature cited by Fullerton as a 'first class' is 'direct measurement' using Heidenhain scales on the three principal axes.
Some of the gearbox parts machined at the Technical Centre call for positional tolerances within 0.01mm.
Not only do the DMG machines achieve this time-after-time, the finished position often measures better, sometimes within 0.007-0.008mm.
"There is no doubting the influence that these machines have on our success as a Formula One team," said Fullerton.
"The cars are evolving all the time and the team that will win at the end of the season will be the one that develops best.
The wind tunnel at the Technical Centre is operational 24 hours a day.
The DMG machines have already proved they are capable of responding to the design and development challenges presented." The end of the 2006 Formula One season is still a long way off, and though the Renault F1 Team has enjoyed a buoyant start, there is little chance of the success breeding any complacency at the Technical Centre.
"Our success story has been unbelievable," he said.
"It has given everyone a huge morale boost.
There are over 500 employees at the Renault F1 Team Technical Centre and we are all walking round with smiles on our faces.
But with success there comes increased pressure," he added.
"However, we intend to continue our drive to be the dominant team in Formula One.
We can only achieve this through high performance and reliability, both on and off the track.".
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