Sandvik Coromant has launched a new high-feed milling tool for milling cavities, or pockets, in ISO S, M and P materials. Ensuring secure and vibration-free machining, especially at long overhangs, the CoroMill MH20 complements existing products in the CoroMill range, and fills a gap in the high-feed indexable milling product line.
Designed to deliver reliability with minimal vibration, the CoroMill MH20 has been adapted for applications where components are
difficult to machine, such as in the oil and gas, mould and die and aerospace sectors.
The tool’s ability to machine at long overhangs makes it especially beneficial to the aerospace sector when machining deep, narrow pockets to produce the components that form an aircraft’s frame, such as its supporting beams found within the sub-segment aerospace frame. These beams are often machined from forged titanium and when paired with the requirement for long overhangs, this creates a difficult machining environment with a high risk of vibration.
In contrast to the conventional four-edge concept, the CoroMill MH20 is designed with a two-edge insert. This is especially beneficial as it means the weakest section of the insert is far away from the main cutting zone, delivering greater reliability and protection against wear. It also means that machining against a corner or wall will not impact the next edge or leading corner, ensuring an equal performance per edge.
Another area of innovation is the milling tool’s insert cutting edge geometry. While the sloped edge design delivers a gradual and light-cutting action that requires less power consumption to enable the use of smaller machines, the optimised edge line of main cutting edge and insert corner radius delivers further process security and enables reliable, unmanned machining.
Sangram Dash, application manager at Sandvik Coromant, said: “Machining components for industries like aerospace, oil and gas and mold and die can be challenging. In the aerospace sector alone, manufacturers must handle conditions such as thin floors and walls, deep pockets and tight corners. When designing the CoroMill MH20, we kept the stringent requirements of all these sectors at the fore.
“For example, the tool is capable of completing several different operations to reduce the number of tools, changeovers and tool handling required during manufacturing, thus reducing cycle times and improving manufacturing economics. Furthermore, for the first time within high feed concepts, Sandvik Coromant is introducing dedicated insert geometries for different ISO areas to deliver greater optimized process security and productivity.”
He added: “In particular, engineers working in aerospace machining cannot afford to make mistakes, especially when the quality control standards for aircraft engine components are so high, so being able to deliver reliable tools with consistent tool life is a top priority for Sandvik Coromant.”
When designing the CoroMill MH20, extending tool life with higher reliability was paramount. In fact, when compared to another Sandvik Coromant high feed milling tool, the CoroMill 415, it demonstrated a 32% increase in tool life and improved component quality when machining a titanium aerospace wing support component. In addition, it performed very well when machining steel and stainless steel workpieces.