Product category:
Flexible machining cells and systems (FMS)
News Release from: Emag UK | Subject: Multi-function centre - crankshaft machining
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 02 November 2005
Production costs of crankshafts reduced
Tighter tolerances, extended tool life and the workholding system on 'pick-up' multi-function centres machine automotive crankshafts faster than on conventional machines.
With the HSC series of manufacturing systems, the oil hole drilling and end machining of crankshafts for cars and trucks is demonstrably faster and more precise - and enjoys a longer tool life than with conventional machines The results are lower unit production costs and superior workpiece quality
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Nov 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Are UK suppliers - particularly automotive sub-contractors - lagging behind Germany and the US in the take-up of pick-up spindle machining and turning centres? The question is put by EMAG UK.
EMAG is a market leader in vertical machining
EMAG has literally turned machining on its head.
The pick-up-principle simplifies automatic loading and unloading of workpieces at almost no extra cost.
The 70% higher feedrates, tighter tolerances, extended tool life and a workholding system that can be expanded to comprise three units provide proof that the HSC manufacturing system can offer sustainable cuts in the unit production costs for crankshafts.
The machine can handle crankshafts from 190mm diameter and 300mm length to 330mm diameter and 1500mm length.
Depending on the chosen specification, machining can be done with a single tool only or with two or three tools simultaneously.
Further reading
EMAG UK - a company profile
Since its foundation in 1984, EMAG UK has established a strong position in the UK automotive market supplying CNC multi-functional production centres.
Turrets feed vertical shaft turning centre
Following on from its earlier horizontal shaft turning machine, Emag has developed a vertical shaft turning machine using two turrets to exchange workpieces as well as perform machining.
Grinding and automation expertise extended
With the integration of Ingersoll Naxos crankshaft grinding machine company into the Emag Group, systems can be developed in conjunction with Karstens, Reinecker, Kopp and Heilig Automation.
Just one of the unique features of the HSC series is that up to three spindles can be mounted side by side.
Emag is the only machine tool manufacturer to date to supply pick-up machines for oil hole drilling and end machining work on crankshafts.
On bore diameters of between 4 and 8mm, using a minimum of coolant, the HSC achieves a tool life that is considerably longer than has been customary.
In conclusion, all finished dimensions are checked while the workpiece - even massive truck crankshafts weighing 200kg - is still held in the chuck, with the results being recorded by the control system.
An authentic acceptance protocol can thus be produced quickly.
* Crankshaft machining - it is not just the external geometry - position, measurements and contour - of truck and car crankshafts that must be accurate.
The machining of the oil holes in pin and main bearings too has to be an operation of the highest precision.
The oil holes serve to supply the contact point between connecting rod and crankshaft with lubricant.
They are placed at right angles or diagonally to the axis of symmetry of the shaft and are all interconnected.
Only accurately machined entry and exit points will guarantee efficient lubrication.
The production process is therefore doubly demanding: to drill the oil holes with highest precision and to chamfer them strictly in accordance with drawing dimensions are decisive steps in the production process.
If an error is made, the already intensively machined workpiece will be a chunk of expensive scrap metal.
Crankshafts for the automotive industry are made of heat treated and toughened wrought steel with a tensile strength of approx.
1100N/mm2.
The workpieces measure from 300mm length and 190mm diameter for 3- and 4-cylinder passenger car engines to 1500mm length and 330mm diameter for truck engines.
Crankshafts for the latter can weigh up to 200kg.
* Previous manufacturing problems - past technological know-how in the field of oil hole machining was limited to multi-spindle drilling operations using drill bushes.
However, feedrates, tool life and flexibility of this particular system do no longer satisfy today's demands.
Besides, the length/diameter ratio of the tools is more than 20:1.
The oil holes are located in staggered sections of the crankshaft.
Variations in the entry and exit bores, together with tighter tolerances, increase the reject rate.
The HSC series of manufacturing systems provides monetary solutions Emag has solved these problems in the manufacture of crankshafts for cars and trucks with its horizontal HSC machines.
For the machining of the in weight and size very different crankshafts the HSC is supplied in two frame sizes.
By optimising the technical parameters Emag was also able to improve tool life.
Using a minimum of coolant and drills of between 4 and 8mm diameter, tool life exceeds the values generally achieved today.
Another feature of the HSC series is the three tool spindles arranged side by side.
In the drilling of oil holes this configuration achieves a six times higher output rate.
The results are recorded there and then, in the machining area of the HSC.
* Unit cost reduction and quality improvement - the HSC series of manufacturing systems offers process stream consolidation and a reduction in cycle times and in the costs usually associated with the machining of crankshafts.
* For the drilling of oil holes: pilot drilling - oil hole drilling - deburring - chamfering - gauging.
* For end machining: milling - drilling - countersinking - threading - gauging. Request a free brochure from Emag UK ...
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