Product category:
5-axis (3+2 axes and continuous path) machining centres
News Release from: Toyoda Mitsui Europe UK | Subject: FH80S 5-axis machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 August 2002
Five axis M-C ups turbine productivity
five times
A five-axis machining centre reduced the lead time and cost of a machined cast aluminium intermediate casing for gas turbines and increased productivity five-fold.
Ripley-based subcontractor, Manthorpe Engineering, at the request of one of its customers, undertook to reduce the lead time and cost of a machined cast aluminium intermediate casing used on large commercial gas turbine engines This commitment has been fulfilled following investment in a Toyoda FH80S 5-axis machining centre, which has increased productivity more than five-fold
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 6 Sep 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Higher rigidity, much faster axis positioning, quick toolchanging and the 15,000 rpm spindle on the machine have contributed to the improved performance.
Barry Lomas, head of operations at Manthorpe, commented, "The Toyoda machine was bought specifically for this contract to allow us to meet the productivity targets set by the customer.
The new, improved manufacturing method for the intermediate case comprises turning on a vertical-spindle lathe followed by transfer to the machining centre for completion in two operations.
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HMC developed for mould and die work
Spindle speed options up to 40,000 rpm and cutting feed rates up to 30 m/min are notable features of the new Toyoda FH63M horizontal machining centre developed for mould and die machining.
M-C designed for mould and die machining
During a recent Open House, Toyoda Machinery and Engineering Europe demonstrated its FH63M machining centre, which is purpose-built for mould and die work.
The machining sequences mainly comprise precision drilling, boring, reaming and tapping of features on the flanges and circumference of the casing." Prior to commissioning of the Toyoda machine, the component had been machined on an existing, large-capacity machining centre based on a refurbished 4-axis model with a fifth axis indexing facility which required setting up specifically for the job.
Moreover its designated role is machining of Inconel 718, stainless steel and Jetheat, a purpose to which its 1,800 rpm spindle is better suited.
"Although the original method was correct and the machine had the physical capacity, the feeds and speeds were not high enough to achieve maximum productivity when machining aluminium," commented Barrie Hollis, operations manager.
"The case has a very large number of features which are tied to positional tolerances of ñ 0.05 mm; ability to position quickly and accurately is highly important in terms of both quality and productivity.
Likewise the fast toolchange on the Toyoda (2 seconds) makes a vast difference on jobs like this where a lot of tooling is used.
The additional five-axis work we had already committed to made the business case for the new five-axis machine easy to justify." Manthorpe Engineering is part of the privately owned Manthorpe Group, which has four constituent companies.
Two of which - Manthorpe Engineering and Purpose Engineering - are engaged in aerospace work while the others - Wagstaff and Appleton and Manthorpe Building Products - manufacture packaging equipment and plastic moulded building ventilation components respectively.
Manthorpe Engineering produces both machined components and specialist fabrications.
It has particular expertise in manufacture of ground support equipment and engine test equipment.
On the machining side, throughput is fairly evenly split between aerospace, power generation, marine gas turbine and commercial work.
The contract for which the Toyoda machine was bought relates to components for a stand-alone power generation application.
One of the attractive aspects of the Toyoda FH80S was the flexibility afforded by its physical capacity.
Components up to 1000mm diameter and 650mm high can be accommodated on the table, while the pallet surface is coincident with the centreline of the tilt axis, making programming more straightforward as no offset is needed.
The 15,000 rpm spindle option chosen by Manthorpe, coupled with programmable feedrate at up to 15 m/min, provides a competent, high speed machining solution for virtually any material or application.
The intermediate case is manufactured from an aluminium casting and weighs 75kg when completed.
Batch quantities rarely exceed three casings.
The two variants of the component require a total of 110 tools, which is catered for comfortably within the 120-tool capacity of the machine's magazine.
Barrie Hollis commented, "The case requires two machining operations on the Toyoda to complete, so each of the pallets is dedicated to one of these operations.
With five axis positioning available we can access all features except the clamped face of the component.
We use angle heads to reach specific features.
"In operation the Toyoda is much more rigid than the older machine; the trunnion-type table in particular is extremely rigid.
In addition we have the benefit of 70 bar through-tool coolant, plus spindle coolant delivery and flood coolant to remove swarf from the machining area.
We also have tool breakage detection, although the high value of the parts means the machine always has an operator in attendance." Even with the capabilities of the Toyoda machine, total cycle time to complete machining of a casing is ten hours but this is a huge reduction compared with previous practice.
So much so, in fact, that Manthorpe Engineering is trialling other components for production on the machine.
"The machine's flexibility offers us the capability to consolidate the number of set-ups and use relatively simple fixtures," Lomas remarked.
"On one Jetheat component we have been able to reduce the number of set-ups from three to one, while the cycle time has also reduced significantly.
With tougher materials like this, through-tool coolant delivery is a major advantage as it allows us to gain maximum performance from the tooling." .
(This was Manufacturingtalk's Top Story on 19 August 2002).
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