Grinding wheel in the Winbro FGC 2

Ultra-productive five-axis grinding is now available from Wellesbourne-based Engineering Technology Group (ETG) with the introduction of the FGC 2 flexible grinding centre manufactured by the Winbro Technology Group.

Manufactured in the UK, the flexible Winbro FGC 2 has fourth- and fifth-axis capabilities that permits complex component form grinding to be undertaken simply, quickly and precisely with unsurpassed surface finishes.

The impressive Winbro FGC 2 has been designed with features that focus on performance, reduced set-up time, high-part accuracy and fast cycle times incorporated throughout the machine.

The FGC 2 machine features both profiled diamond roll and rotary diameter disk dressing capability to provide fast and efficient set ups. Furthermore, the machine can also be supplied with double dresser capability for multiple and extended machining operations.

This provides even greater productivity levels for the end-user. The dressing facility enables the economic and precise dressing of complex fir tree root forms and shroud end features that are commonplace in the aerospace industry. The system takes the user from initial profile dressing through to in-cycle wheel dressing for optimal productivity and process automation.

From the specification perspective, the Winbro FGC 2 offers a spacious X-, Y- and Z-axis work envelope of 800 x 600 x 510mm with a rotary A axis of 360deg and tilting B axis of +/-110deg. The working surface of the table is 1,400 x 650mm providing the end user with a spacious work envelope that can accommodate large workpieces.

Attractive proposition
The extremely productive grinding centre can rapidly traverse around the X, Y and Z axes at 32m/min with an acceleration rate of 5m/sec² making this machine an attractive proposition for a wide variety of industry sectors and component types.

From a precision perspective, the Winbro FGC 2 achieves accuracy levels in accordance with ISO:230-2 with a positional accuracy in X, Y and Z axes of 0.005mm and repeatability of 0.003mm. The machine is driven by a powerful Heidenhain iTNC 640 CNC control unit and a 38kW spindle motor with the BBT40 spindle taper that can achieve a maximum speed of 8,000rev/min.

It is controlled by unique easy-to-use grinding software, is operator-friendly and simple to program three-, four- and five-axis simultaneous machining of components via on-screen graphics. This also includes the positioning of the programmable twin-coolant nozzle system.

The high-pressure coolant is supplied by the fully programmable and steerable twin nozzle arrangement that assures coolant is continually supplied as near to the cutting point as possible and that the wheel is always clean and sharp. Results suggest that this method creates a saving of 30% on wheel life when compared to standard, single-nozzle type machine tools.

Complementing this is an optional unique media-free coolant filtration system that eliminates filter paper consumption. This technology is both environmentally friendly, highly efficient and helps to reduce the operating costs of the Winbro FGC 2.

Both ETG and Winbro understand the need to maximise productivity in a high-pressure manufacturing environment, which is why the FGC 2 machine introduces automatic wheel change technology that keeps productivity levels at a maximum and ‘wheel change’ related downtime to a minimum.

The automated wheel changing technology works in synergy with the automatic tool changer (ATC) that can accommodate up to 12 250mm-diameter grinding wheels or 16 220mm-diameter grinding wheels.