With its powerful and dynamic material removal capabilities and high rigidity characteristics,
GF Machining Solutions’ Mikron MILL P 500U simultaneous five-axis machining centre delivers ‘exceptional accuracies and impressive cutting performance’ when machining high-precision, complex components made from ‘difficult-to-machine’ materials.
Its advanced thermal stability characteristics ensure reliable precision over long machining runs and its performance is further enhanced through the integration and availability of ‘smart’ technology modules.
The Mikron MILL P 500U machining centre is considered ideal for manufacturers of precision components and mould tools in industry sectors such as aerospace, defence, motorsport and automotive sectors.
Even when ramping up speeds and feeds, and taking aggressive depths of cut, the MILL P 500U is more than capable of delivering best-in-class accuracies and process reliability - which, in large part, is down to the machine’s built-in thermo-stability and its symmetrical design.
As well as featuring 1.7g acceleration/deceleration rates and impressive 45m/min rapids, the machining centre is equipped with 36kW Step-Tec high-performance and high-torque spindles (20,000rev/min) and rotary tilting tables that can accommodate workpieces up to 707mm in diameter and up to 600kg in weight.
The rotary tilting table is available with several options: T-slot tables accommodating a payload of 200, 400 or 600kg, and pallet tables accommodating a payload of 200, 400 or 600kg.
Incremental, direct angle measuring systems are mounted on the tilting and rotating axes to guarantee high positional and repeatable accuracies.
Both axes are driven via water-cooled torque motors: one for T-slot tables, two for pallet tables on the A-axis and one on the C-axis. For heavy-duty machining, the rotary and tilting axes can be clamped and, for improved machining stability, the titling axis features clamping on both side supports.
With the 20,000rev/min Step-Tec HPC190 spindle (with a HSK-A63 tool interface), manufacturers have, at their disposal, a flexible, high-performance spindle solution renowned for its stiffness, power, speed and safety.
Also available is Step-Tec’s 36,000rev/min HVC150 motor spindle with a HSK-E50 tool interface; this spindle solution is aimed at mould makers using small cutting tools in conjunction with the machining centre’s dynamic 1.7g acceleration to achieve best-in-class surface finishes.
The Mikron MILL P 500U is built with automation in mind and can be used with a System 3R robot loading/unloading system which, according to GF Machining Solutions, doubles the machines’ productivity by enabling customers to embrace unattended, lights-out operations.
It is also equipped with GF Machining Solutions’ Industry 4.0 smart technology that includes: Machine Spindle Protection (MSP) and rConnect - a digital services platform that also includes Live Remote Assistance (LRA).
MSP protects the machines’ spindles and machine geometry while maximising machine uptime to reduce costs associated with unexpected spindle collisions. It also protects the machine and spindle during job set-up by making it possible to absorb axial and lateral collisions and then restore perfect accuracy — the spindle can return to normal operations without any specific maintenance or recalibration.
Users’ productivity, flexibility and autonomy are further protected and ensured by the MILL P 500 U’s rConnect readiness. The rConnect platform helps manufacturers reduce machine downtime, monitor the performance of their machines, automate their processes, ensure process compliance and connect their GF Machining Solutions’ machines to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and manufacturing execution systems (MES).
Manufacturers simply choose the GF Machining Solutions digital services that best meets their requirements. LRA, for example, delivers highly secure, direct, customer-authorised real-time remote assistance by connecting the customer with their local diagnostics centre and GF Machining Solutions’ Technical HelpDesk operations.
Through the LRA option, Customer Services can inspect a machine tool remotely, with diagnostics carried out by the customer’s own technician or by a GF Machining Solutions’ expert.