A claimed world first in high-speed five-axis machining-centre technology from Magdeburg Machine Construction Co sees carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) — with its advantageous low weight and thermal characteristics — take the place of aluminium to house the spindle drive mechanism of the MAP PRO.X1000 — a portal-type (aluminium) machining centre with linear drives and a 71kW (272Nm of torque) 14,000rev/min spindle.
The VMC can achieve rapid-traverse rates of 120m/min, with an acceleration rate of 20m/sec
2 in the vertical Z axis and 12 m/sec2 for the X and Y axes. The machine is available in the UK from Rushden-based 2D CNC Machinery Ltd
(www.2DCNC.co.uk).
#ukmfg #engineering #VMCs #tooling Compared with titanium and steel, the same weight of CFRP has a five-fold tensile strength advantage; and 1kg of CFRP replaces around 5kg of steel. CFRP has a density of 1.6g/cm
3 (and excellent fatigue strength); the corresponding values for titanium and steel are 4.5g/cm
3 and 7.8g/cm
3 respectively.
The highly dynamic linear axis of the new MAP machine took more than two years to develop and allow machining time to be reduced via the use of higher cutting speeds while at the same time meeting the highest standards of precision for size, geometry and surface finish.
In addition, the use of CFRP for the spindle housing significantly reduces any thermal growth during machining; the material also provides increased damping effects that improve tool life and consistency of machining. Maintenance costs are also reduced, due to the high fatigue strength of the material and its freedom from the effects of corrosion; and with a significant reduction in moving mass, lower energy requirements provide further cost savings.
Meanwhile, the cooled linear drives and linear scales are mounted outside the working area for further increased thermal stability. The positioning accuracy is 0.005mm.
The MAP PRO.X1000 has a work envelope of 800 x 1,015 x 800mm. The A axis on the trunnion-mounted 500mm-diameter rotary-table C axis rotates between +120 and -120deg. The spindle is available with taper options of HSK-A100 or HSK-A63, and control is via Siemens 840D with options of Heidenhain or Fanuc systems.
The integrated tool magazine is modular and thus expandable to provide capacities for 30, 78, 138 or 198 tools; the chip-to-chip time is 3sec. Options include a rotary/tilting table with a face plate that accommodates an 800mm-square pallet, zero-point clamping and a turning function through a continuous C axis. A three-station pallet changer or seven-station pallet pool can also be specified.