Category: Mapal

MAPAL: Hydraulic Chucks with Axial and Radial Adjustment

Hydraulic Clamping Technology with Compensation Technology

The “compensation” chuck is perfectly suited to light clamping tasks with multi-bladed reamers. It builds on hydraulic clamping technology and the radial run-out can be set exactly using three adjustment elements. The radial run-out is corrected using a hex wrench depending on the direction of the error. The setting range is up to 10 μm. Wedges in the chuck align the tool, jamming of the tool is prevented. The system is self-locking, unintentional movement during fine machining is impossible. A fixed ring seals the alignment system. It is therefore low maintenance and not susceptible to dirt.

Radial Tool Length Adjustment

In the area of clamping tools with HSK connection, MAPAL offers hydraulic chucks with radial tool length adjustment.  With this setting method, radial run-out accuracy ≤ 3 μm can be ensured.

Technical Data

– Material 1600-1800 N/mm2 tensile strength
– Adjustment travel 10 mm
– Hardness 52 + 2 HRc
– DIN 1835 Form A, B, C, D
– Balanced tool holders
– DIN 6535 Form HA, HB, HE
– Laser inscription
– Coolant pressure max. 80 bar
– Max. spindle speed 40,000 min-1
(note spindle speed limit for connection, fine balancing recommended!)
– Optimum operating temperature range 20-50 °C;
higher temperatures on request, do not use above 80 °C
– Shanks suitable for clamping (tolerance h6) with and without reducing sleeves:
– DIN 1835 Form A, B, E
– DIN 6535 Form HA, HB, HE

Please contact us for more information on MAPAL Hydraulic Tool   Clamping Solutions.

 

New MAPAL Tool Holders Programme

At a Glance
  • New design concept for chucks with added value
  • Brilliant surface finish and clear handling information
  • Expansion to the entire chuck programme planned
Advantages
  • Corrosion-resistant chucks
  • Self-explanatory, straightforward handling – foolproof
  • Greatest possible stability with optimal usage of resources

Carefully considered Design taps Potential

Not only the appearance of the chucks was revised, above all added value for the customer was to be generated by means of carefully considered industrial design. Why? An ingenious design is not only a visual highlight, it also taps economic and ecological potential. Starting from this point, the product designers prepared, together with those responsible for the products at MAPAL, a new concept that is also based on function and FEM analyses.

The chucks designed according to this concept shine proverbially with a new brilliance. One of the elements in the new concept is the brilliant surface finish. This surface finish, produced by a specially developed polishing method, ensures that the chucks are more resistant to corrosion than in the past.

Easy, Self-explanatory “foolproof” Handling

A further requirement on the new design was so-called “foolproof handling”; that is the easy, self-explanatory handling of the chucks. Controls were to be identifiable as such more quickly with directly understandable handling information. These requirements were addressed, on the one hand, by the blue colour for the controls, such as the actuating screw on a hydraulic chuck and, on the other hand, by internally developed symbols that contain corresponding information, independent of the related language.

Last but not least the shape of the chucks, their weight and use of material were studied and optimised. The new shape addresses the requirements for the greatest possible stability with optimal usage of resources. Even the smallest weight savings on chucks have major effects that become apparent in use over the long term. Among other aspects, the lighter the chuck, the less energy is required during the acceleration and braking of the spindle.

Corporate design creates Recognition

Due to the new corporate design, the complete clamping technology range can be immediately identified as a MAPAL product – with a promise of quality and function.

 

MAPAL: Milling Fibre-Reinforced Plastics

The High Requirements of Milling Fibre-Reinforced Plastics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Machining Task

The machining of CFRPs (carbon fibre reinforced plastics) places high requirements on the tools used, their geometries and coatings. Due to the abrasiveness of carbon fibres in relation to the cutting material, standard tools very rapidly become blunt and the end of tool life is reached after only a few parts. To be able to cut carbon fibres that are laid in a matrix form, increased performance at the cutting edge is required. This statement applies above all if the carbon fibre content is more than 60 %. On milling the peripheral contour on a 21 mm thick structural part for a sports car, the customer had a clear requirement to double the tool life from the previous 10 parts to 20.

The Challenge

The challenge is to keep the milling tool sharp and therefore to prevent delamination at the part edges produced. In this way expensive, manual re-work is saved. At the same time, the issue is to reduce the machining time and to realise long tool lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mapal Solution

The eight cutting edge, diamond coated solid carbide end milling cutter OptiMill-Composite-Speed has a high performance geometry with a serration. This serration makes possible improved chip removal and therefore an extremely high volume of chips in one machining step. As a result the machining is undertaken using only one tool in one step and the roughing step necessary previously is saved. With twice the feed and three times the material removal rate the tool life is increased fourfold and the quality requirements in relation to surface roughness reliably achieved. As a result the customer’s expectation in relation to tool life were exceeded by a further 20 parts.

The MAPAL Effect

  • Four times the tool life reduces the tool costs
  • Doubled feed halves the machining time
  • Only 1 machining step

 

 

 

MAPAL – Miniaturised Clamping Chucks

Thanks to additive manufacturing, MAPAL now offers hydraulic chucks in miniature format with HSK E25 connection, for example for the direct clamping of tools with a diameter of 3 mm. These meet all the demands on chucks for the miniature sector with respect to radial run-out accuracy, balancing value, cooling lubricant supply and handling.

In order to guarantee perfect radial run-out accuracy, innovative clamping chamber systems are integrated into the new chucks that fit tightly against the shank of the tool. They are fitted with dirt grooves as protection against micro-soiling. The demanded balancing value is ensured thanks to the internal balancing geometries and supporting structures that also aid the optimisation of weight and strength. The miniature chucks allow homogeneous acceleration and deceleration of the whole tool system of chuck and tool for less loading of the spindle.

The innovative manufacturing method has also enabled the chucks for the miniature sector to be equipped with decentralised coolant outlets. These outlets are designed using parameters such as coolant pressure, setting dimension and spindle speed so that they deliver the cooling lubricant precisely to the cutting edge. In the best case, a metered total-loss lubrication system is achieved that eliminates the need for subsequent cleaning of the parts.

The new miniature chucks from MAPAL allow quick and simple clamping of the tool. Neither training courses nor high setup costs or expensive peripherals are required for implementation of the chucks.

New possibilities – not only for Tool Clamping

The new small hydraulic chucks also offer new possibilities for the clamping of workpieces. For example, for the clamping of artificial hip joint balls. Specially formed clamping chambers inside the chuck and a special outside geometry ensure that the balls are very precisely and at the same time gently clamped. Particularly in medical technology, topics such as reproducible precision are taking on enormous importance – and this is ensured during machining thanks to the new chucks.

Please contact us for more information.

 

MAPAL – Machining of Unstable Structural Parts

 

Thin-walled parts are used in a wide variety of applications. These components are often manufactured close to the net shape, but nevertheless require a great many machining operations. The particular challenge for these machining processes is that due to their design, these parts are very unstable and susceptible to vibration. That creates special demands upon the design of the process and the tools.

These parts are preferably machined in a single clamping system. In order to meet this demand and to make as many of the surfaces to be machined as accessible to the tools as possible, certain allowances have to be made in the clamping system. As a consequence, the workpiece is not optimally supported and tends to vibrate. Thin webs, voids and interruptions to be machined and widely fluctuating stock removals from the cast blank also call for special tool solutions. For large parts with many machining steps, this would require a huge number of tools. The merging of these steps using combination tools in order to reduce the non-productive times and the number of tool slots is an ideal solution.

Thanks to its vast understanding of the processes for the machining of unstable structural parts, MAPAL is able to offer cost-effective and reliable processes. Three aspects are of particular importance here. Firstly the adjustment of the cutting rate is a factor for reducing or avoiding rising vibration. Both vibration of the tool – which would result in short tool lives and poor machining results – and vibration of the workpiece have to be prevented. The latter would result in a recoiling of the part against the cutting edge and could cause damage to the tool. The second important adjustment in the tool design is the evaluation of the tool body. Vibrations can be reduced here by an appropriate design and choice of material. Furthermore, an intelligent arrangement of the cutting edges in form and position helps to keep the cutting forces low. And finally the machining process itself offers possibilities for reliable machining of parts susceptible to vibration. Reorganization and the choice of alternative sub-processes create a change in the distribution of forces that can increase the process reliability. For example, the use of a circular milling operation instead of a solid drilling operation can help to stabilize the process.

Please contact us for more information on machining of Structural Components.

– This article is an excerpt from Mapal Innovations – Process Solutions