Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: Mori Seiki UK | Subject: Mori Seiki NV5000 vertical machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 May 2002
How to design and develop the ultimate
VMC
Drastic redesign of a VMC, aimed at attacking downtime, has seen dramatic improvements in spindle and axis acceleration times, resulting in a VMC that can reduce cycle times by over 20%.
How do you go about creating the ultimate vertical machining centre? One thing Mori Seiki's engineers knew, was that it wasn't simply a matter of increasing axis travel and spindle speeds More important was to reduce downtime by increasing the acceleration rate of moving elements - ie spindle and axis feeds
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Feb 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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From this philosophy emerged the new NV5000, more compact than the previous generation of VMCs and with significantly higher axis acceleration rates.
Specifically, these are increased 1.5 times in X to 4.38m/sec2; 1.7 times in Y to 3.8m/sec2; and no less than 2.7 times in Z to 7.29m/sec2.
The main spindle runs up to 12,000 rev/min compared with 10,000 rev/min in the previous model; while spindle acceleration/deceleration times have been improved - reduced by 44% and 58% respectively.
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The implications of this make for an interesting comparison; the NV5000 reaches its full spindle speed in 0.97sec compared with 1.74 sec to reach a lower top speed in its predecessor.
In addition the spindle decelerates to zero in just 0.91sec compared with 2.16 sec previously.
A further aid to reducing downtime is an increase in tool change speed.
The NV5000 changes tools in 2.6-3.1 sec (chip-to-chip) compared with 3.1-3.6 sec before.
Synchronised tapping is also 1.5 times faster, with maximum tapping speed increased to 4,200 rev/min.
Also the spindle head has been redesigned to reduce its length by two-thirds to 550mm to achieve a shorter, more dynamic unit.
All of these improvements have been accomplished while maintaining high cutting accuracy.
A roundness machining test in cast iron using a 20mm, four-flute, solid carbide end mill at a spindle speed of 400 revs/min and a feed of 160mm/min in Grade FC250 cast iron produced a roundness error of just 3.2 micron on a cut circle diameter of 140mm.
So, what does all this really mean in terms of reducing downtime? Well, as an example, in machining two pockets in a 680 x 500mm block of aluminium, the previous Mori Seiki VMC model required 14 tools and 1,766 sec to complete the operation; the NV5000 took only 1,474 seconds to complete - a total machining cycle time reduction of 16.5%.
If the requirement is to tackle more individual features, which may be pocket-milled, drilled, bored, countersunk, tapped etc - more tools are required, and the greater is the time saving.
Typically a job in aluminium had required 12 tools and 239sec to machine a central pocket and a series of holes.
The NV5000, with its faster acceleration rates, reduced that time to 185 sec, a 22.7% saving.
The compact structure design of the NV5000 was achieved through 3D CAD working, checked repeatedly against FEM analyses.
The result, apart from greater stiffness, is a reduction in footprint to a machine which is 1460 wide, 2710mm deep and 2600 high.
Machine table size is 1100 x 600mm, and axis travels are 800, 510 and 510mm (X, Y and Z).
The CNC represents a new generation of Mori Seiki's MAPPS operating system with information technology support.
The user-friendly operator interface includes straightforward interactive programming, backed up by a wide range of machining and organisational software and ready connections with external networks.
Overall the result matches the designers' intentions: a truly modern VMC for high precision, economical machining. Request a free brochure from Mori Seiki UK ...
(This was Manufacturingtalk's Top Story on 27 May 2002).
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