social responsibility:
why caring is good
for your business
2/10
a business and technology magazine from sandvik coromant
find the road to
success at imts
Deep holes
are high tech
the real heroes
step forward
One local improvement
that spreads
throughout the world
Heinz-Josef van
der Sande, global
commodity manager
special tools,
Siemens.
the
giant
leap
editorial
Tom erixon President Sandvik Coromant
Customizing standards
In the previous issue of Metalworking
World we discussed how Sandvik Coromant
works with customers to find optimal ways to
use our tools in every solution we suggest, and
how we make sure to implement each solution
to the best benefit of the individual customer.
The trend is towards industry specialization.
There is also another trend that involves
standardization. Many of our global customers
want to identify best practice in production
processes. As a second step, they want to roll
“Customized
solutions and
standardization
are no longer
opposites; they
go hand in hand.”
out those processes in all production units
around the world. Customized solutions and
standardization are no longer opposites; they
go hand in hand. Standardization will give
fewer but better tools, with a longer tool life,
refined supervision and higher quality – in
other words, improved manufacturing
economics.
Take a look at Siemens Energy, a German
manufacturer of turbines for power plants.
Following a heavy machine investment
Siemens worked with Sandvik Coromant on
productivity improvements that were carried
out across several production units in different
parts of the world.
Or read about SwePart Verktyg, a Swedish
2 metalworking world
manufacturer of tools such as deep drawing
dies. SwePart halved its production time,
thanks to standardization and using fewer
tools, a result of working with Sandvik
Coromant on a Productivity Improvement
Program. The specific stamping die is used to
manufacture components for a BMW model
wheelhouse. The manufacturing cost for the
stamping dies for a single car model is an
estimated 1.2 billion Swedish kronor. Imagine
the possible cost savings in standardization.
These are just two of examples of what we
will share with you at this year’s IMTS, taking
place 13–18 September in Chicago. The
solution carried out at SwePart Verktyg along
with other cutting-edge solutions for your
business will be showcased at the Sandvik
Coromant Smart Hub. We look forward to
seeing you there.
something else from the
previous issue: my conviction that progress
comes from meeting challenges. Globalization
and specialization will continue to be two key
areas where Sandvik Coromant creates
customer value.
I wish you pleasant reading!
I will repeat
tom erixon
President Sandvik Coromant
Metalworking World
is a business and technology magazine
from AB Sandvik Coromant,
811 81 Sandviken, Sweden.
Phone: +46 (26) 26 60 00.
Metalworking World is published three
times a year in American and British
English, Czech, Chinese, Danish, Dutch,
Finnish, French, German, Hungarian,
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Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
and Thai. The magazine is free to
customers of Sandvik Coromant
worldwide. Published by Spoon
Publishing in Stockholm, Sweden.
ISSN 1652-5825.
Editor-in-chief and responsible under
Swedish publishing law: Yvonne
Strandberg. Account executive:
Christina Hoffmann. Editorial manager:
Johan Andersson. Art director: Erik
Westin. Technical editor: Christer
Richt. Sub editor: Valerie Mindel.
Coordinator: Beate Tjernström.
Language coordination: Sergio
Tenconi. Layout, language editions:
Jessica Bladh. Prepress: Markus
Dahlstedt. Cover photo: Peter Jönsson
Please note that unsolicited manuscripts
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should be sent to the editorial manager,
Metalworking World. Editorial material
and opinions expressed in Metalworking
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Correspondence and enquiries
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content
metalworking world #2 2010
8
Die casts for the car
industry can be
manufactured much
faster.
38
The windmill
hub is more
than four
metres in
diameter.
Siemens Energy in
Berlin produces
the world’s largest
gas turbine.
17
Metalworking News.........4
China’s richest man has
powerful dreams..............6
IMTS special: speeding
up business........................8
They make good ideas
come true........................ 26
Be careful
– your business
benefits from it...............32
The superhero among
drilling techniques..........12
Metalworking
Outlook.............................36
Same solution
– everywhere...................17
Manufacturing of the
windmill giant..................38
26
Wu Yong Lin is the
general manager
of VDL ETG’s plant
in Singapore.
Technology
Simply
the best
A new, independent test
series verifies that
Coromant Capto has
much better results for
resistance to both
bending and torsion
than competing
tool-holding systems.
7
The best
tool-holding
system
there is.
The thousandhole challenge
Gear
grooming
Challenge
the heat
Heat exchangers
represent a real
machining challenge.
They require thousands
of holes to be drilled
consistently and
accurately.
The cost per machined
gear wheel can be
reduced considerably.
The solution: the
introduction of a new
generation of indexable
insert tools for gear
milling.
Jet engine components
from HRSA are difficult
to manufacture
efficiently. But with a
well-balanced overall
solution the job can be
done.
10
16
30
metalworking world 3
News
five questions to Rick hern,
sandvik coromant us:
“We’re on the road to recovery”
1. What should visitors
focus on at IMTS?
“[IMTS] is more
important than ever, with
the market on the road to
recovery. Visitors
recognize the value of
staying competitive in
difficult times, which
drives them to find new
ways of staying ahead.”
2. What’s your focus?
“To give an experience
that will provide
inspiration, innovation
and a new way of making
processes profitable. We
can show the tools in
action, running on the
latest top machine
brands.”
3. What solutions are
you presenting?
“The trend and future of
4. What else can be
Rick Hern works in the
communications department
at Sandvik Coromant US.
machining is to engineer
the entire process before
it gets to the machine. We
will demonstrate new
techniques and tools to
enable manufacturers to
reach desired process
times and profits before
cutting chips.”
found in the Smart Hub?
“With qualified industry
specialists on hand,
representing all industry
segments, we can look at
even the most challenging
of problems together to
find a solution. After all,
the secret of our research
is the customer’s
development.”
5. Is IMTS important
even for companies
from overseas?
“IMTS is the most
important exhibition this
year in the whole world.
As the market recovers
and picks up speed, it’s
more important than ever
to keep track of what’s
new.”
To learn more, visit: www.sandvik.coromant.com/us.
A bridge for the record
Buildings. Construction of the world’s longest
bridge is due to start in the first half of 2010.
The Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge, linking the Arab
states of Bahrain and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, will be 40
kilometres (25 miles) long and will include a highway and
rail lines. The bridge will be high enough to not obstruct
maritime traffic. It will cost 3 billion US dollars to build
and is scheduled to open in 2015.
The road to success
imts. This year Sandvik Coromant has recreated a city of
smart solutions and innovations with the main avenue leading
visitors through the latest tooling technology. It’s a city that
focuses on success in manufacturing, where visitors can
experience the unexpected. Roadside highlights:
1. Power point
Check out some of the latest techniques within the wind and
condensing industries – in gear milling and other areas.
2. Speaker’s corner
Listen as the man in the yellow coat presents a shortened
version of “The Modern Art of Milling.”
3. Product path
Follow the production of a component in the aerospace sector
from CAD drawing to tryout in a virtual machine to the actual
making of the component.
4. Show time
At the end of the road, experience the unexpected.
The road to success starts here. The Sandvik Coromant Smart Hub
at IMTS will be like nothing you have seen before.
4 metalworking world
Read more about IMTS on page 8.
Productivity Center
opens in Australia
R&D. A new Productivity Center opened in
Melbourne, Australia, in March 2010.
The modern facility is the 25th Productivity
Center Sandvik Coromant has opened. It will be
used to train manufacturers and distributors via
seminars, live demonstrations and advanced
theory-based courses that cover the latest
machining technologies.
All traditional industries will be included, but
special emphasis will be placed on aerospace,
milling and Coromant Capto tool-holding and
multi-tasking opportunities.
Through the new centre, Sandvik Coromant
aims to help Australian manufacturers optimize
their productivity and profitability.
trade shows 2010
•IMTS 2010, 13–18 September, Chicago, USA
•AMB, 28 September–2 October, Stuttgart,
Germany
•TATEF, 12–17 October, Istanbul, Turkey
•China WindPower, 13–15 October, Beijing, China
•Energia 2010, 26–28 October, Tampere, Finland
•JIMTOF2010, 28 October–2 November, Tokyo,
Japan
Yellow coats on the road
anniversary. To celebrate its 25th
anniversary in China, Sandvik Coromant is
taking its show on the road.
A bright yellow truck emblazoned with the
Sandvik Coromant logo will travel to 45 cities
in China between March and November 2010.
The truck will also attend four trade shows.
The purpose of the road show is to
demonstrate to existing and potential clients
the full range of Sandvik Coromant products
and expertise. The show will emphasize
CoroPak and milling tools in particular.
During road show events, the truck will
open up into a demonstration booth to show
off the various Sandvik Coromant tools. Touch
screens will be available to help visitors learn
about machining applications and best
practices.
Listening to the customer
imts. Sometimes a small
dimensional or geometrical
consideration can have a
greater impact than a new
coating technology. A case in
point:
The gripper grooves on the
Coromant Capto coupling are
for automatic tool changing,
but in lathes the tools are
always changed manually so
the gripper grooves are
non-functional.
For a new line of
high-performance lathes
being developed by Mori
Seiki in Chicago, space inside
the machine was getting
tight. The company
contacted Sandvik Coromant
to see what could be done.
“By removing the gripper
grooves we could shorten the
tools to allow for extra turret
swing clearance,” says Craig
Dimond, machine investment
manager at Sandvik
Coromant US.
This solution is possible on
all lathes.
Detlef Streichert, team
leader, technical sales, at
DMG/Mori Seiki USA, says:
“Removing the gripper
grooves meant that we could
use a larger Coromant Capto
coupling size, which allowed
for more rigidity and
flexibility as well as higher
productivity and security.”
This unique solution, along
with others, will be on display
at the upcoming IMTS in
Chicago.
Detlef Streichert, DMG/
Mori Seiki USA (left), and
Craig Dimond, Sandvik
Coromant US.
metalworking world 5
quick time
text: Jan Hökerberg photo: getty images
The dream builder
Wang Chuanfu’s BYD is leading the development of electric cars.
Wang Chuanfu, 44, has gone
from rags to riches in just a
few decades. He grew up
anything but wealthy on a
rice farm in China’s Anhui
Province and had lost both
his parents to illness by the
time he was 15.
At 28, he took a loan from a
cousin and founded what is
today the world’s largest
supplier of mobile phone
batteries. Around the same
time, Wang bought a
bankrupt state-owned car
company in Shenzhen and
gave it the name BYD, which
stands for Build Your Dreams.
In 2008, BYD put the
world’s first plug-in electric
car on the China market, and
in late 2009 Wang was named
China’s richest person.
The company has plans to
introduce the car in Europe
by 2010 and then in North
America. Several models of
different sizes have been
developed.
“Many people have asked
me why I bought a car
company,” Wang told
Automobile Magazine. “I have
two reasons. First, the
market is huge in China.
Second, we have the world’s
[leading] battery technology.
We believe the age of
gasoline will pass and power
will come from new energy
sources.”
Speaking about losing his
parents early, Wang recently
told the Wall Street Journal, “It
helped me grow up fast and
made me independent. But
my older siblings supported
me and encouraged me to
attend college. When I was in
university, I had some
scholarships, and I was able
to finish my degree.”
RICHEST IN CHINA.
In November 2009, when
Forbes magazine published its
ranking of China’s richest
people, car and battery maker
BYD’s chairman Wang Chuanfu
was at the top of the list, with a
personal wealth estimated at
USD 5.8 billion.
metalworking world 6
technology
text: Turkka kulmala
Solution: Get verified
test data from an independent
survey.
Challenge: To find the
best possible tool-holder
system for your needs.
Seeing is believing
1
Tilting angle mm/m
1.5
20
10
0
0.5
Independent test data verify
that Coromant Capto has
extreme resistance to both
bending and torsion – much
better than competing
tool-holding systems.
ISO 40 (15 kN)
HSK-A 63 (22 kN)
C6 (22 kN)
C6 (55 kN)
-10
0
Bending moment (Nm)
-0.5
-500
summary
Illustration: RWTH Aachen University
ISO 40 (15 kN)
HSK-A 63 (22 kN)
C6 (22 kN)
C6 (55 kN)
2.5
2
“This is yet another proof that Coromant
Capto is the best option for standardization
across all machines in the workshop,” says
Ronald Schreiber, manager for Coromant
Capto at Sandvik Coromant.
Among other things, the study showed
that the greater wall thickness of Coromant
Capto in comparison to HSK allows for
higher clamping forces. These higher
clamping forces translate into increased
bending stiffness (see left graph below).
Independent comparative data on
tooling systems are difficult to come by.
Twisting angle mm/m
The well-reputed RWTH Aachen
University in Germany has recently carried
out a new study on Coromant Capto and
comparable holding systems. The test series
conducted by the university’s machine tool
laboratory (WZL) in 2009 compared
bending stiffness and torque resistance of
Coromant Capto with comparable sizes of
other standardized tool-holder systems.
The results were striking: None of the
competing tool-holding systems could
achieve even close to the same results as
the Coromant Capto coupling.
0
500
1000
1500
Bending characteristics
2000
2500
3000
The graph shows that Coromant Capto C6 has 1.65 times better interface
stiffness than HSK 63. The toppling of the face contact was 2.88 times
better. Corresponding figures for Coromant Capto C10 were 1.51 for the
interface stiffness and 2.15 for the toppling of the face contact.
-20
-3000
Torque moment (Nm)
-2000
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
Torsional characteristics
The graph shows that Coromant Capto C6 has 2.29 times better
torque resistance than HSK 63. The twisting angle was 7.08 times
better. Corresponding figures for Coromant Capto C10 were 1.85 for
the torque resistance and 4.0 for the twisting angle.
metalworking world 7
focus imts
text: henrik ek
A new set of eyes
Tyringe, sweden. People say much of the car industry was
largely unaffected by the recession – mostly because it was already
in crisis. For those who managed to tighten their production,
however, there was serious money to be saved.
To see things with fresh eyes isn’t
always possible. Firstly, who would know
better than a company’s own staff what is best
for the production? Secondly, would you trust
anyone outside your company with your most
intimate production details?
But for SwePart Verktyg out of Tyringe, in
southern Sweden, a new set of eyes proved to
be exactly what was needed.
“It was a big decision, but it came naturally,
as Sandvik Coromant had been a long-time
partner,” recalls Rolf Mastenstrand, CEO of
SwePart Verktyg. And it turned out to be a
milestone for his company.
SwePart Verktyg produces deep drawing
dies for car manufacturers. The die casts are
used to shape sheeted metal into anything from
small interior parts to outer body panels. The
company was founded in the early 1940s and
was acquired by NovaCast, a Swedish
contractor of foundry technology in late 2008.
The long tradition of stamping die production has earned SwePart Verktyg a well-regarded name, as well as customers such as
Volvo and BMW.
The die casts the company ships are made of
grey cast iron, nodular cast iron or a composite
material – the patented Camito Concept, a
combination of tool steel and grey cast iron.
There are many ways to manufacture these die
blanks and, as it turned out, lots of ways to
improve when it comes to milling.
The production at SwePart Verktyg had
grown somewhat unattended, and production
8 metalworking world
SwePart Verktyg
employees check the
CNC programme.
Sandvik Coromant
evaluated the company’s
entire manufacturing
process.
cycle times and man-hours became an issue.
So in 2009 SwePart Verktyg decided to finally
put its trust in the Sandvik Coromant team’s
tooling knowledge. It ended up in an extensive
checkup of the whole cycle, from the milling
and crafting itself to the tools used and the
software features behind it.
“First of all, Sandvik Coromant came to our
shop with their team, not the other way
around,” Mastenstrand says. “They used our
equipment for us to get the feel of the
improvements. They went through everything
to see what we used to do and how it could be
done differently.”
In addition to a number of technical improvements, the team looked at the organization.
For each new
car model as
many as 1,000
dies are used.
Rough milling of the
matrix, one of three
parts in a deep
drawing die.
Finish milling
of the punch.
Manufacturing of die casts
for the car industry
• For each car model there are
between 750 and 1,000 dies
used, for everything from
interior pieces to outer
panels such as the hood and
the rest of the car body.
• Just the collection of dies to
shape sheet metal runs
manufacturers some 160
million US dollars per model.
Counting dies for other
components in plastic, glass,
forging, die-casting or
rubber, the tally runs to
about USD 270 million.
• The deep drawing die
consists of three main parts:
the blank holder, the matrix
and the punch. The punch
and the matrix form the
sheet metal into a 3D shape.
The blank holder makes this
process possible by holding
the sheet metal.
standardizing our processes to save,
“Before, SwePart Verktyg had
both in terms of time and real
three different buyers for tooling,”
expenses,” says Mastenstrand.
says Wäinö Kaarto, manager at the
Even though each die sold to car
R&D centre in Olofström, run by
manufacturers is only a single
Sandvik Tooling. “We got it down to
product, cycle time is crucial, just as
one.”
it is for companies
Among the overall improvements,
having products in
the project ended up cutting
series production.
machining time from 211 hours to a
Rolf Mastenstrand
check out
“A faster flow
120 hours per part.
through our
“Usually each hour runs up an
the solution
system means we can
estimated cost of 200 to 280 [US] dollars,”
at imts
promise faster delivery,
Kaarto says. “Do the math and you’ll see that
which always sits well with
there are substantial savings to be made.”
our customers,” says MastenIn the end Sandvik Coromant and SwePart
strand. “No one wants to spend money on
Verktyg also got the company down from 260
empty hours.
insert types, milling cutters, drills and tool
“I wouldn’t say the recession accelerated the
holders to 151. The number of suppliers was
decision to do this,” he continues. “We’re in
cut down from 19 to just three (all figures are
the car industry after all, and there’s always a
valid for three machines only).
crisis going on. It’s not so much about the
A new software strategy was implemented,
market situation going up or down. Rather it’s
and better-quality inserts made it all a more
a constant demand to be more efficient in order
cost-efficient production.
to survive.”
“For us it was about systemizing and
Setups minimized
Making a die out of nodular cast iron requires
a number of steps.
What the Sandvik Coromant team noticed
when looking into SwePart Verktyg was that
time consumption in the rough milling and
the semi-finish could be improved by, for
example, using CoroMill 210, a high-feed
milling cutter, for many of the part operations
in the punch.
“You don’t usually choose high-speed
milling cutters such as CoroMill 210 for this
kind of operation, but in this case we were
forced, due to very long overhangs, to direct
the cutting forces more specifically in the Z
direction to avoid tool deflection and
vibration problems,” says Wäinö Kaarto,
manager at the R&D Centre in Olofström, run
by Sandvik Tooling.
Instead of high-speed steel drills,
commonly used at SwePart Verktyg,
Sandvik Coromant recommended CoroDrill
880 with a 10–15 times productivity
increase, compared with the former tooling.
The drilling was done in dry conditions, which
works particularly well in grey cast iron and
in most nodular cast iron grades. This saved
some eight to 10 hours of the total lead time.
“We also used photo scanning to get as
exact measurements as possible. This
decreased the setting times to a minimum.
Very often the tools were as close as 20
millimetres from the component when
changing position in rapid traverse.”
metalworking world 9
technology
text: Elaine mcclarence
Challenge: To drill holes to tight
Solution: Employ deep hole
tolerances in heat exchanger plates for
nuclear power steam generators with
consistently accurate results.
machining techniques using tooling
solutions from Sandvik Coromant.
Taking the heat
When it comes to making
components for the nuclear
power industry, demands are high
both for precision and robustness.
For shell-and-tube heat exchangers that sit at the heart of the
power generation process,
accuracy in machining is vital if
this equipment is to perform
safely and efficiently.
Heat exchangers present many
production challenges, particularly when it comes to drilling
operations. A single steam
generator unit in a nuclear power
plant can measure more than 21
metres in height and weigh up to
800 tonnes. These heat exchangers accommodate up to 16,000
tubes measuring typically 19.27
millimetres in diameter. This
translates to the need to drill
thousands of holes accurately and
with consistent dimensions to
close tolerances to accommodate
cooling tubes with the tightest
possible fit.
The tube sheets are normally made in
Demanding drilling operation
The Single Tube deep hole drilling System (STS) is used to
perform the demanding drilling operation in the tube sheet.
low-carbon steels and are clad with
nickel-alloyed corrosion-resistant steel to a
depth of about 10 millimetres and with a
total thickness of around 600 millimetres, so
10 metalworking world
1. The tube sheet is normally
made in low-carbon steels clad
with nickel-alloyed steel.
2. Coolant is led in between
the drill tube and the drilled
hole.
1
3
3. The drill head has three
inserts working together.
the tooling solution needs to be able to
handle these two (from a machining point of
view) very different materials without
degrading the drilling operation and the final
results. Sandvik Materials Technology, a
sister company of Sandvik Coromant, is a
2
4
Clad
material
4. Chips are directed
together with the coolant
through the drill tube.
leading supplier of such tubes, which means
there is considerable knowledge within the
group about the material characteristics and
machining solutions for this application.
Machining usually takes place on
dedicated horizontal three-spindle deep hole
The role of heat exchangers in nuclear power generation
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are typically
used for high-pressure applications (with
pressures greater than 30 bar and temperatures greater than 260 °C). In commercial
nuclear power generation such heat
exchangers, called steam generators, are used
to convert water into steam using the heat
produced in the nuclear reactor core. They are
used in pressurized water reactors between
the primary and secondary coolant loops.
Heat transfer takes place between the
reactor core and the circulating water; the
water is then pumped through the primary
tube side of the heat exchanger by coolant
pumps before returning to the reactor core.
This is referred to as the primary loop. The
water flowing through heat exchanger tubes
boils the non-pressurized water on the shell
side to produce steam in the secondary loop
that drives turbines to generate electricity.
These loops also have an important safety
role because they constitute one of the
primary barriers between the radioactive and
non-radioactive sides of the plant. Consequently, the integrity of the tubing and fit in the
plate is essential in eliminating water leakage
between the two sides of the plant.
Reactor
Steam
generator
One tube sheet plate
can accommodate up
to 16,000 holes.
drilling machines using the single-tube
system, STS. This drilling system consists
of a drill head that is attached to a tube by
an external fast lead thread.
The drill head has three inserts – one
peripheral, one intermediate and one central
– working together to produce the hole.
Usually the drill has optimized carbide
grades, often with a PVD coating to suit the
material being machined.
The drill tube is smaller in diameter than
the drill head, which forms an annular space
The steam generator units can
measure more than 21 metres in
height. It is used to convert water into
steam using heat produced in the
reactor vessel.
between the hole being drilled and the OD
of the drill tube or boring bar. This space, in
conjunction with a coolant induction unit or
a pressure head, directs a high volume of
coolant to the drill head cutting edge. The
coolant provides lubrication for the drill
head and ensures that all of the chips
produced by the drill head are directed
through the drill tube. The good chip
control combined with the drill head design
provides a high-quality solution that gives
consistent results with precision holes to
accurate tolerances.
Kjell Thorsson
Containment wall
Reactor
vessel
Tertiary loop
The tertiary loop picks up cool
water and carries it through the
condensers to cool and condense
the turbine outlet steam.
Summary
Heat exchangers play a vital part at the
heart of nuclear power generation, but they
represent a real machining challenge
requiring thousands of holes to be drilled
consistently and accurately.
Sandvik Coromant has developed
specific deep hole drill heads that live up to
the demands for repeatable precision
machining in difficult materials.
metalworking world 11
text: nick huber, henrik ek
photo: dave young
Get the hole
picture
It’s the modest superhero of drilling technologies.
When companies try to make their businesses more
efficient, materials and crafting techniques play a key role.
For many, deep hole machining has become the answer.
The increased use of titanium, along with new
alloys and parts made of these materials, is resulting in
the need for intricate new operations. This in turn is
increasing the demand for deep hole machining (DHM).
The term refers to engineering techniques used to
produce holes that are long compared with their
diameter (see sidebar).
“DHM requires more specialized equipment than
normal machining and is typically used for engineering
projects that require deeper and more accurate machining,” says Tony Evans, senior manager, Deep Hole
Machining business development, sales and marketing,
at Sandvik Coromant UK.
Industries such as aerospace, energy and oil exploration have become big DHM users. They use specialized
machining to create components ranging from aircraft
landing parts to drill collars for oil exploration.
In the aerospace industry, for instance, companies
are trying to reduce the weight of planes in order to
cut fuel costs. Working with lighter materials such as
titanium is more of an engineering challenge and often
requires DHM cutting tools.
12 metalworking world
“Demand for deep hole machining is being driven by
the energy industry, amid plans for increased investment
in nuclear energy by governments worldwide,” says
Evans. “In the nuclear power industry deep hole
machining is used to machine heat exchanger plates
within nuclear reactors, which can have up to 16,000
holes drilled in them.”
Normal drilling can often wander off the centre line
when producing a hole. Companies that are drilling
deeper holes, for example a 100-millimetre drill hole
that is 10 metres deep, can’t afford the hole to drift or
become bigger or smaller. If the drill drifts by, say, 50
millimetres, it could result in a company drilling
through the side of a jet engine shaft or an oil pipeline.
“Jet engine part manufacturers need special tools that
produce a machined transition from internal holes of
different sizes in either steel or titanium alloy,” Evans
says. “These transitions have to be as smooth as glass to
avoid unnecessary friction. Standard machine tools may
not be capable of producing the required finish.”
While new methods have to be implemented in order
ß
istockphoto
The number of big
users of deep hole
machining within
industries such as
aerospace, energy and
oil exploration have
boomed, thus driving
up the demand for
better tooling.
metalworking world 13
Setting up the
deep hole
machine for an
operation.
Deep hole machining is
used for holes that have
a depth between six and
300 times their diameter.
Deep hole
machining
Tony Evans at Sandvik
Coromant UK sees a bright
future for deep hole
machining.
“We can offer training for our
customers to help them develop
their own engineering skills.”
Tony Evans, Sandvik Coromant, UK
ß
14 metalworking world
to stay competitive, not all companies feel they can
afford the testing and the education needed for the
workforce in the current economic situation.
Sandvik Coromant, which has just opened up a new
Application Center in the UK, hopes to relieve some of
the pressure manufacturers are under. Centres for deep
hole machining are not new, but other centres typically
only design cutting tools for customers on paper. At
Sandvik Coromant UK (formerly BTA Heller, the
British company that Sandvik Coromant acquired last
year), customers can get their DHM processes put to the
test.
The new Application Center provides specialist
training and support for customers in the engineering
Deep hole machining (DHM) is used for deep hole
drilling work, roughly defined as holes that have a
depth of between six and 300 times their diameter.
DHM also refers to a type of cutting tool and the
machinery used to operate the tool, such as deep
hole borers, turning centres and machining centres.
A DHM tool is capable of drilling deeper holes than
normal cutting tools.
To improve the accuracy of cutting tools, DHM
uses self-piloting technology to keep them on
centre. Normal drills are not self-piloting, and using
the wrong type of drill can cause it to break or
cause damage to expensive machines parts. Deep
hole cutting tools also need to be pumped with a
high volume of cutting fluid to help flush out metal
chips that are created during drilling, which can
damage the drill part if allowed to build up.
group. In addition, the centre is developing new
products for fast-growing markets such as nuclear
energy.
The new Application Center can build and test cutting
tools, giving manufacturers the peace of mind that the
tools will work when they are delivered and that the
manufacturers will receive expert support in the field
from Sandvik Coromant engineers.
“The skills in our Application Center do not exist in
the open market,” says Evans. “We can use our centre
for testing products and developing them for customers.”
For example, an aerospace company that receives a
big order to produce landing legs in titanium can use the
Application Center’s tooling and staff expertise to
develop the new DHM processes quickly and cost-effec-
The special-purpose
DHM machine can drill
holes ranging from 10
to 150 millimetres in
diameter.
tively. The centre can build the DHM tools and test them
to guarantee their performance.
Manufacturers at the centre can even watch live
footage of the machine drilling through four video
cameras, which are attached to a deep hole bore with a
2.5-metre drilling capacity (see box).
Thanks to the video system and the Sandvik
Coromant network, you can now see the machining
process whether you are in Singapore, Australia, the
United States or Russia.
The Application Center can work out a way to design
the tool and demonstrate it.
The video footage option is also useful for companies
that want to see how a tool is used. Even large companies may need external support for big and technically
challenging engineering projects.
“Companies may have the specialist engineering
capability but may not have the time to train staff in a
new skill,” Evans explains. “We can offer training for
our customers to help them develop their own engineering skills.”
Despite the global economic gloom, he says, the
short- to medium-term outlook for deep hole machining
is bright.
A high-tech machine
The special-purpose deep hole boring
machine in the Sandvik Coromant Deep
Hole Machining Application Center in
the UK has been refurbished by PTG
Heavy Industries to Sandvik Coromant
specifications. The machine has a
2.5-metre drilling capacity and can drill
holes ranging from 10 millimetres to
150 millimetres in diameter and has a
thrust of 4,500 kilograms.
It is used for testing and developing
DHM products, services and support.
Its features include a full-length digital
scale on a Z axis, four video cameras
and real-time video and data
streaming to allow customers to
view tests on the Web, as well as
data capture of all machining
information to allow analysis of
cutting data.
metalworking world 15
technology
text: Christer Richt
Challenge: To provide gear
cutting with a lift in performance.
Solution: Use new cutting tool
developments to benefit the milling
of gear wheels.
A new mesh between
milling tools and gears
Some 90 percent of gear wheel manufacturing involves metalcutting, so there is a
huge potential for improvement in
productivity, production security and
quality consistency.
With this potential as a background,
there are a number of trends driving gear
milling:
• A move from solid to indexable insert
cutters
• Higher cutting data and less use of coolant
• A shift to disc cutters and hobs with
indexable inserts
• Increased use of duplex-type milling
cutters
• One cut instead of two cuts.
Until recently, solid cutters have dominated
much of gear cutting. Their downside is that
machining rates and tool life are limited.
They are also heavily reliant on the use of
coolant.
Cemented carbide has a very advantageous combination of wear resistance and
toughness, a combination that has been
dramatically improved upon through the
development of coated indexable inserts.
During the past few years a completely new
insert generation has been introduced for
milling operations. This is the result of
substantial new developments in insert
substrates, coating materials, coating
manufacturing and post processes, which
also benefit gear milling.
Gear milling cutters usually have large
diameters, equipped with many teeth, and
are used in different alloy steels of varying
degrees of hardness and where gear-tooth
profiles vary. Above all, this requires
16 metalworking world
Gear milling
with a new
generation of
indexable insert
milling cutters.
combinations of different toughness types
complemented by suitable levels of wear
resistance in the insert grade.
The development of gear-milling
machinery towards higher spindle speeds
and thus higher cutting speeds and greater
stability has also emphasized the need for
better tool technology.
Sandvik Coromant has developed new
high-performance gear-milling tools. For
gear hobbing, solid cutter bodies with a
full-profile insert along with segment hobs
that have a new tangentially mounted insert
are providing the means for higher
metal-removal rates with longer tool life.
As the finishing capability of indexable
insert tooling continues to improve, gear
cutting is heading for new levels of
productivity.
summary
With the introduction of a new generation of
indexable insert tools for gear milling, the
cost per machined gear wheel can be
reduced considerably. Such was the case
with an external planetary gear, module 7.
By switching from an HSS solid to an
indexable insert hob, the cutting time was
reduced by 50 percent and the tool life was
more than doubled. The company in
question was able to release more than
7,000 hours of machine time.
Manufacturing a
part of a turbine
housing at a vertical
turning machine in
the Siemens Energy
Berlin plant.
special report:
global solutions
text: Tomas lundin
photo: Christoph Papsch
A giant leap
Global cooperation. Germany’s Siemens is one
of the world’s most successful companies in its field.
This is the story of how the production of record-large
turbines could be emulated to produce other components
in facilities around the world. ß
metalworking world 17
special report:
global solutions
The world
awaits
berlin, germany. The largest gas turbine in the world has a
power output equal to that of 13 jumbo jet engines.
To manufacture the giant, Siemens Energy in Berlin invested in
new machine tool technology. Now the world awaits.
Daylight streams in through the
century-old floor-to-ceiling windows at the
Siemens Energy plant in Berlin. The plant was
founded in 1904 by German electrical
company AEG, which once manufactured
some of the world’s largest steam turbines.
Today the plant makes the largest gas turbines
ever built – giants that weigh a whopping 440
tonnes. The power output of just one of these
turbines equals that of 13 jumbo jet engines,
and it cuts the production of carbon dioxide
emissions by 43,000 tonnes annually,
compared with conventional technologies.
The hall stretches more than 200 metres in
length. From the second floor, 20 metres
above the ground, you can see half-finished
turbine housings, portal cranes, milling
machines and fine-twirled pieces of scrap
metal.
At one end of the plant is a sand-filled
construction site where workers are casting
foundations for two of the massive new
machine tools that will be used to manufacture the giant turbines. The machines are
scheduled to be up and running this winter.
“They’ll be two of the largest machines
we’ve ever had here and therefore need a
strong foundation,” says Markus Zapke, head
of technological development for the rotor
manufacturing department and one of the
forces behind the company’s new 14 million
euro investment.
The Siemens plant employs some 2,800
18 metalworking world
Hamilton, Ontario. Since the early
1970s it has delivered more than 650
gas turbines to customers in more
than 60 countries.
Siemens is the world’s secondlargest gas turbine maker, and like
similar companies in the sector it
has suffered from the recession.
Customers have cancelled or
postponed orders for financial
reasons, reducing the production
volume.
and downs of trade
cycles, however, Siemens is
generally favoured by global mega
trends. Demographers project that
there will be an additional 1 billion
people in the world by 2020,
bringing the global population to 7.5
billion. With such a population
increase comes an inevitable
increase in energy consumption,
estimated at 5.2 percent a year in developing
countries and 1.4 percent in industrialized
countries.
According to Siemens’ own projection,
fossil fuels will continue to dominate for the
foreseeable future. By 2030, renewable
energy sources (excluding hydro power) will
provide only 14 percent of the global energy
consumption, while fossil fuels will account
for 60 percent of the market. This is why the
use of natural gas is advancing at the expense
Despite the ups
Markus Zapke is the
head of technological
development for the
rotor manufacturing
section, Siemens
Energy, Berlin.
people and is located in the middle of the
German capital, a city of 3.5 million people.
From here the massive turbines must be
transported through the small alleys of the city
down to the west harbour and the river Spree,
where they journey out to the world at large
via rail or barge.
During the economic boom the facility
shipped some 50 turbines a year. Siemens
used to build 70 to 80 turbines a year,
including the output of the Canadian plant in
ß
One of the giant
parts of the turbine
on the move.
metalworking world 19
special report:
global solutions
about siemens
Siemens was founded in 1847 in Berlin by
Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg
Halske. Today it is a global industrial giant,
with 405,000 employees and turnover of
76.65 billion euros in 2009. The company
has three primary segments:
• Industrial, ranging from automatization
to Osram’s light systems. This segment
accounts for 45 percent of the
company’s sales.
• Energy, including renewable energy
sources as well as oil, gas and fossil
energy generation. This segment
accounts for 33 percent of sales.
• Health care, comprising products within
the IT segment as well as machines such
as X-ray units. This segment accounts
for 15 percent of sales.
Solutions that involve overlapping
segments account for the remaining 7
percent.
Siemens’ largest market is Europe,
Africa, Middle East and the CIS states,
which represent 41.5 percent of the
company’s business. North and South
America trail with 27 percent, followed by
Asia with 16.5 percent. Germany accounts
for 15 percent of the business.
Machine operator
Ralf Wenghöfer
processing the
outer casing of a
turbine on a milling
machine.
20 metalworking world
metalworking world 21
special report:
global solutions
Gas-fired power
stations like this
one in the United
States produce
less CO2 than those
that use coal and
oil.
getty images
Turning the
grooves for the
vane rings in the
turbine housing.
The entire turning
process for the
housing has gone
from six to 4.7
days.
One of the
massive
turbines on
the move
through
Berlin.
siemens
Machine
operator
Thomas
Drzyzga.
ß of coal and oil, both of which produce more
CO2 emissions than gas.
In addition, gas can help advance the
development of renewable energy sources.
Used as the backup power supply, these plants
can be connected to the grid quickly when
wind or sun power is insufficient, whereas coal
and nuclear plants are less flexible and
therefore not as suitable to compensate for the
variable supplies of clean energy.
The trend also points towards bigger and
more efficient gas turbines, which in combined-cycle power plants generate a 60 percent
efficiency. Siemens’ latest gas turbine, the
SGT5-8000H, installed in a combined-cycle
gas-and-steam power plant, reduces emissions
of carbon dioxide by 43,000 tonnes compared
with conventional plants. The turbine is
expected to go into series production in the
turbine hall in Berlin by year end.
“We have known for a while that the trend
leans towards larger turbines,” says Michael
Silber, responsible for tool technology of the
rotor manufacturing. “The problem was that
they couldn’t be built in an optimized fashion
with today’s machine equipment and the limits
22 metalworking world
”The Sandvik Coromant method
increased the efficiency and made
the whole investment plausible.”
Markus Zapke, Siemens Energy, Berlin.
in capacity we have here in Berlin.”
Instead of performing its own project
analysis, Siemens decided to outsource a
study to external experts. In a fierce competition Sandvik Coromant was awarded the
contract for the study. Sandvik Coromant
recommended that Siemens switch from the
usual production process to a combined
turn-milling technology.
project looked flawless.
However, before Siemens signed the
multimillion-euro deal it wanted to see
something in reality. So in December 2009 the
giant turbine housing was loaded onto a truck
and driven 600 kilometres south to the Leipert
Maschinenbau factory north of Stuttgart.
There the production process could be fully
On paper the
tested, using a Waldrich Coburg PowerTurn –
the same unit Siemens was considering for its
Berlin plant.
“Reality exceeded expectations,” recalls
Zapke. “The Sandvik Coromant method
increased the efficiency and made the whole
investment plausible.”
The turning process of the two-piece
turbine housing, including machining the
grooves for the vane rings, would go from six
to 4.7 days when fully implemented, according
to Sven Giebeler, the Sandvik Coromant
project engineer who was the brain behind the
idea and who delivered the calculations.
Zapke at Siemens says he’s satisfied, but he
underscored the fact that more can still be
done.
“There is room for more improvements in
From left to right: Markus Zapke
(Siemens), Christian Lendowski
(Sandvik Coromant), Michael Silber
(Siemens), Sven Giebeler (Sandvik
Coromant), Olaf Zahn (Sandvik
Coromant).
the processes that aren’t linked to the machine
and the technology,” he says.
Zapke points out that Siemens isn’t looking
for a tool supplier per se (the contract was for
the study only), but rather a “process optimizer.” For that, he adds, Sandvik Coromant
“is in the absolute top group among companies
and has the greatest potential to succeed.”
The Sandvik Coromant way of fulfilling
such high expectations is through its Productivity Improvement Program, in which experts
at Sandvik Coromant widen the perspective
beyond just machine and tooling optimization.
At Siemens in Berlin, such efforts are taking
place in the departments that produce rotor and
turbine housing components.
“We started off by looking into what was
going on to the right and to the left of the
machine itself,” says Olaf Zahn, Berlin section
chief at Sandvik Coromant. “After a proper
analysis we found more processes that could
be optimized. And that is what Siemens
continues to search for.”
“Sandvik Coromant is clearly on the right
path,” says purchasing manager Silber. “Their
tools are cost-efficient, but we are paying also
for strong technology, comprehensive service
and real system knowledge.”
technical insights
Production time cut by half
The rotor manufacturing
department of the Siemens
Energy facility in Berlin
handles turbine housings for
gas turbines. Large diameter
disc milling cutters are
usually used to cut the big
grooves.
To speed up the manufacturing process, the company
purchased two giant machine
tools, to be started up this
winter. One of the two
machine tools is built by
German Waldrich Coburg,
since 2005 a subsidiary of
China’s Beijing No. 1 Machine
Tool Plant. It combines milling
and turning and has a ram
with an interface for turning
and rotating tools.
When Siemens Energy
invested in a Waldrich Coburg
PowerTurn it opened the door
to new opportunities for
machining the two main
pieces of the turbine housing
as well as providing grooves
for the vane rings and
preparing them with a streamlined finish.
Sandvik Coromant and its
department of Machine
Investments developed a
production process where
grooves can be cut in a
combined turn-milling
process.
“For each individual groove
we designed a customized
tool that creates a finer-tuned
process and more precise
measurements in the end,”
says Christian Lendowski,
senior key account manager
at Sandvik Coromant.
Since each tool can be
adjusted to each cutting
process, Siemens has
improved productivity by up
to 40 to 50 percent compared
with a side and face milling
cutter.
Another upside of the
smoother process is that the
tools are simpler to use.
Compared with a disc milling
cutter, the individual milling
tools are lighter, which also
makes them easier to switch
in the machine.
“Altogether our method of
processing grooves increases
efficiency by some 20
percent,” Lendowski says.
metalworking world 23
special report:
global solutions
Going global
Siemens has used Sandvik Coromant to speed up
production in three German factories. Now it’s time to do
the same for its Chinese plant, which serves the
country’s expansive wind power market.
two years the partnership
generated 1.2 million euros in savings in total
for Siemens, van der Sande says.
The cooperation is continuing now with
common projects such as preventive optimization of workpieces and best possible machining as well as projects ranging from logistics
to training of personnel.
“The positive experiences seen in the area
of productivity workshops, partly presented by
staffers from other Siemens plants, is generally
During the first
24 metalworking world
Heinz-Josef van der
Sande, global
commodity manager
special tools at
Siemens, challenged
Sandvik Coromant.
met with great interest from participating
production and tooling managers,” says van
der Sande. “It’s ‘best practice’ that runs the
smoothest.”
Two years ago the time had come for China.
At that time, Christian Lendowski, senior key
account manager at Sandvik Coromant, visited
numerous Siemens plants in China with van
der Sande.
“We were trying to transfer the work
philosophy used in Europe to the workshops in
China,” says Lendowski. Lendowski will
report on the partnership to Siemens executives in Germany this fall.
The Siemens plant in Tianjin, 100 kilometres
southeast of Beijing, was built in 1996 by
Germany’s Flender, the world’s leading maker
of gearboxes and transmission technology for
power transmission. Siemens acquired Flender
in 2005 and has continued to make large
investments in the plant. The facility is now
Asia’s largest assembly hall for this specific
product line, with an area of 27,000 square
peter jönsson
Sandvik Coromant and Siemens have
long worked together, but about four years ago
the partnership reached a new level. Hard
financial negotiations were about to hit a dead
end when Heinz-Josef van der Sande,
Siemens’ global commodity manager special
tools, challenged Sandvik Coromant with the
question: “What crucial advantages can
Sandvik Coromant offer its customers
compared with other companies?”
Sandvik Coromant took the challenge and,
working with Siemens, wrote up the targeted
savings in the already existing productivity
agreement. On top of that the company
arranged workshops at Siemens’ plant for
mechanical and electrical power transmission
equipment in Bocholt. The cooperation
resulted in six-digit-euro cost reductions, says
procurement manager Jörg Niessing.
Daniel Bergerfurth, production manager
business unit parts manufacturing, envisages
new projects in the future: “Our long-term
partner’s courage to question traditional
processes through new technology will enable
us to reach our common goals.”
Workshops were also arranged at other
locations (see sidebars), and new methods
were developed and tested for further savings.
Productive solutions — everywhere
Siemens Wittgensdorf:
Faster access
to tools
Siemens Mülheim:
Playing A key role
Siemens Energy in Mülheim an der Ruhr,
Germany, produces turbines similar to the
The Siemens plant in Wittgensdorf, Germany, is
ones in the company’s Berlin plant, but for
producing transmission components such as
steam instead of gas. With a staff of 4,600,
planetary gears for wind power rigs. The German
including 1,100 engineers, the plant plays a
wind power market has increased steadily in the
key role in Siemens Energy’s global network
past few years. It employs some 90,000 people
of production plants and development
and has a world market share of 30 percent of
centres.
delivered wind power plants.
Under the technology partnership
To meet the massive demand, the plant in
agreement between Siemens Energy and
Wittgensdorf and Sandvik Coromant started a
Sandvik Coromant, a recent research and
Productivity Improvement Program to make better
development project was introduced to
use of the plant’s capacity, which ended up with
optimize the milling process of the steam
new optimized processes for each of the four
vertical turning machines.
Beyond putting in specially made tools for the
roughing process, Sandvik Coromant developed
new methods for faster access to the tools. The
result was impressive: a 17 percent time reduction
and annual savings of 360,000 euros.
“The decision to optimize the production
process along with a tooling producer was the
right move,” says Ulrich Steinbach, head of the
From Germany the
foundry in Wittgensdorf.
turbines. The project was planned and
executed in the plant in Mülheim, although
extensive testing was done by Sandvik
Coromant in Sandviken, Sweden. The result
was a cost-reduction strategy that increased
both quality and productivity.
“The genuine and close cooperation, along
with competent partners on both sides, was
crucial to the success of this project,” says
Stefan Güllenstern, section chief for
industrial engineering at Siemens in Mülheim
an der Ruhr.
cooperation between
Siemens Energy and
Sandvik Coromant
was expanded to
include a plant in
China.
Zhao Pu, steel
machining manager at
Siemens’ Tianjin plant,
got help in minimizing
risks in production.
metres. Further investments totalling 500
million renminbi (58 million euros) were
announced in 2009, and within the next three
to five years the facility will add a further
35,000 square metres.
wang jing
Production in Tianjin ranges from wind
power solutions to mechanical components in
escalators, elevators, cranes, steel and concrete
plants in which Siemens, through Flender, is
now well positioned in China. Other politically
prioritized markets that are growing right now
are high-speed trains, subways and wind
power. According to Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of
Siemens Energy, China will soon be “the
world’s largest market for wind power.”
Sandvik Coromant has worked intensively
with Siemens in Tianjin for the past 10 years
and has long experience in introducing new
tools, better productivity solutions and training
for employees.
In early 2009 Siemens invested in two new
horizontal milling centres from Mori Seiki,
and Sandvik Coromant provided most of the
tooling for the new machines.
“Sandvik Coromant helps us minimize risks
in production when it comes to tooling
performance, production quality and delivery,”
says Zhao Pu, steel machining manager at the
plant in Tianjin.
Especially important is the day-to-day
closeness in the partnership.
“The Sandvik Coromant engineers
productivity improvement efforts contribute to
our company’s reduction in production costs,”
Zhao says.
metalworking world 25
text and photo: simon de-trey
unsung
heroes
Singapore. Without equipment contract
manufacturers, many of the world’s billions of technical
consumer devices would be nothing more than nice ideas
on paper.
The next time you are relaxing in front of your
vibrant new LED screen TV or listening to your digital
music player or using any one of a thousand other
cutting-edge electronic devices that depend upon
integrated circuits, spare a thought for those companies
that bring these gadgets into being. One such company
is VDL Enabling Technologies Group in Singapore.
VDL ETG’s customers are Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs) based primarily in the United
States and Europe; VDL supplies them with precision
machined components – assembled and tested modules
and systems that make integrated circuits that are used
in the finished products in electronic devices all over the
world.
“We are the unsung heroes really,” says Wu Yong
26 metalworking world
Lin, general manager of VDL ETG Singapore’s plant.
“The machines may have someone else’s brands on
them, but its great to know that we contribute a high
percentage of the work in them.”
He continues: “It’s exciting to be involved in
producing the latest energy-efficient and green-energy
products. Currently LED lights used in flat panels for
TVs are the new big thing, and we have recently gained
a major new customer in this field. Solar energy is also
upcoming.”
Wu explains that the LED and solar sectors account
for 60 to 70 percent of the company’s business in
Singapore; the remainder is in the semiconductor sector.
“Since January,” he says, “we have been recruiting
more staff and ramping up production, and things are
About VDL
VDL Enabling Technologies Group
in Singapore has a history that goes
back 40 years, to when the
company was known as Philips
Machine Factory and later Philips
Enabling Technologies. It became
part of the VDL Group in 2006.
Under the Philips flag the
company developed into a
worldwide supplier of advanced
mechanical components, modules
and complete systems. Inclusion in
the VDL Group has offered it even
faster growth and more opportunities to be one of the leading
contract manufacturers in the
semiconductor, LED and solar
capital equipment markets.
Wu Yong Lin, general
manager of VDL ETG’s
plant in Singapore. The
company works closely
with well-known
consumer brands of
technical devices.
metalworking world 27
A stainless steel
welded chamber
face-milled with
a CoroMill 490
cutter.
Ho Lip Wei (right),
Sandvik’s productivity
improvement engineer,
discusses a job with
Xuan Zhan, a process
engineer with VDL ETG.
“It’s exciting to be involved in
producing the latest energyefficient and green products.”
Wu Yong Lin, general manager of VDL ETG, singapore.
very upbeat for 2010 and 2011.”
The OEM sector is highly competitive, Wu says, “not
just domestically but also worldwide, so you need to
have an edge.”
VDL ETG’s edge comes from its four core competencies – vacuum chamber high-speed machining, vacuum
chamber high-precision welding, assembly of highly
sophisticated modules and integrated systems, and final
testing and integration to meet customers’ requirements.
“Our depth of knowledge and expertise in these four
competencies give us our competitive edge,” he says.
As confident as VDL ETG is in its own areas of
expertise, the company still recognizes the need for
partners. “We cannot fight the battle alone,” says Wu.
“There’s a lot of back-up infrastructure that we need –
for example special process treatment, heat treatment,
highly explosive gas support and cutters for machining.”
This is where Sandvik Coromant entered the picture
as a tool supplier from VDL ETG’s earliest days. “But
our really significant relationship with Sandvik
Coromant dates back to 2003,” says Wu. “This was
when we got our first big and highly complex 5-axis
milling machining centres, and we called in Sandvik
Coromant to advise us on improving machining cycle
time.” The collaboration optimized the potential of the
5-axis machine with the adoption of the full range of
Complete machining in one setup
Ho Lip Wei, a productivity
improvement engineer at Sandvik
Coromant, has been working
closely with VDL Enabling
Technologies Group in Singapore
since 2007. Recently he helped
the company rethink its approach
to an existing two-stage project
involving machining and grinding
a large cast iron column for the
solar manufacturing industry.
28 metalworking world
“Initially we tried CoroMill 490,
which VDL ETG already had in its
tool inventory,” Ho recalls. “All
that was needed was to change
the insert grade, and CoroMill
490 straightaway produced a
better surface finish and flatness
that met the customer’s
specifications.” Elimination of the
need for the grinding process
saved 10 percent of the total
throughput time for the job, as
well as the need to outsource the
job (VDL ETG did not have the
capacity to grind this item
in-house). Ho proposed another
refinement as well: changing
from the CoroMill 490 to the new
CoroMill 345.
“I knew that with its 45 degree
cutting angle and eight cutting
edges it could cut faster than the
CoroMill 490, and in fact it
reduced the machining time by a
further 30 percent,” Ho says.
Wu Yong Lin, general manager
of VDL ETG’s Singapore plant,
comments: “This is a clear-cut
example of how new cutting
technology can improve on
traditional approaches and
help us finish machining in one
setup.”
istockphoto
Precision Engineering in Singapore
Crucial enabler for
diverse industries
Bob Shaw, senior manager in the
Precision Machining Department
at VDL ETG’s plant in Singapore.
In Singapore precision
engineering is a crucial
enabler for industries as
diverse as aerospace, oil
and gas, medical devices
and electronics. It is an
essential ingredient in
the manufacture of
components ranging
from the smallest
semiconductor chips to
the largest drill bits used
in oil exploration.
Precision engineering
activities began in
Singapore in the 1970s
to support the first
manufacturing
investments and the
government’s Economic
Development Board.
Singapore has been
proactively supporting
precision engineering
from the outset with a
range of advantageous
incentives such as
productivity and
innovation grants that
guarantee a dynamic
sector. Today there are
some 2,700 companies,
ranging from small and
medium-sized
enterprises to large
multinational corporations. And it’s not just
hardware. Singapore
also plays host to the
headquarters and R&D
functions of many of
these companies.
Sandvik Coromant tools and technical support. “This
collaboration increased productivity on the project
– in some cases by 80 to 100 percent,” says Wu. “This
good partnership in making improvements through use
of the latest cutting technology is ongoing in VDL ETG
Singapore.
Bob Shaw, senior manager in the
Precision Machining Department at VDL ETG, knows all
about this partnership. “My
process engineers and I work
closely with Ho (Ho Lip
Wei, Sandvik Coromant
productivity improvement
engineer) on a regular
basis,” he says, “so when we
receive a new project we
discuss with Ho the best kind of
cutters to use on the job and then
we do a test. After two or three trials
we usually know the result, such as how
fast it can cut and the tool life and consistency,
and we can decide on the ideal approach.”
Shaw says it’s much more cost-effective to let
Sandvik Coromant zoom in quickly to the right solution
that produces the highest productivity for a particular
job. “Productivity and competitiveness are key in our
business,” he says. “All our customers are pushing for
cost reductions and lead-time reductions, so our goal is
always to cut faster with longer-lasting tools while at
least maintaining if not improving quality standards.
This will reduce our overall component manufacturing
An operator clamps a
component before
machining it.
costs and cycle time and make us more competitive.”
Shaw explains how Ho helped VDL ETG choose the
right cutter for machining a cast iron column.
“After discussions we adopted the CoroMill 490 and
were able to just mill the component and do away with
the previous approach of milling and grinding to achieve
our requirements in less time,” he says. Ho suggested
substituting the CoroMill 490 with the new CoroMill
345, and that reduced the machining time by 30 percent,
Shaw says, adding: “We cannot achieve brilliant things
like this alone, looking at a catalogue.”
metalworking world 29
technology
text: turkka kulmala
Challenge: To efficiently
machine aerospace engine
components from HRSA.
Solution: Develop a balanced overall
process that encompasses the machine,
tools, geometries and tool materials as
well as the machining strategy.
Running red hot
Heat-resistant super alloys (HRSA) are
the dominant materials in jet engine
compressor and turbine components. The
foremost grades used for these applications
are the nickel-based types such as Inconel,
Waspalloy and Udimet.
The properties of HRSAs vary greatly
depending on the composition and production process. Heat treatment in particular has
great significance; a precipitation-hardened
– i.e., “aged” – component can show double
the hardness of a soft annealed or untreated
workpiece.
Ever tighter emission regulations require
higher service temperatures from new engine
types and call for new materials for the
hottest components. Furthermore, the total
amount of HRSA in a jet engine compared
with other materials is increasing.
The benefits of HRSAs present a
manufacturing challenge, however:
High-temperature strength leads to high
cutting forces. Low thermal conductivity and
excellent hardenability result in high cutting
temperatures. Work-hardening tendencies
give rise to notch wear.
The components – turbine discs, casings,
blisks and shafts – make demanding
30 metalworking world
Turbine casings are typically made of Inconel
or Waspalloy.
workpieces, many of them thin walled and
all including complex shapes. The safetycritical engine components must comply
with stringent quality and dimensional
accuracy criteria.
success include a
powerful machine, rigid tools, high-performance inserts and optimal programming.
The prevalent methods vary. Usually disc,
ring and shaft components are turned;
casings and blisks are often milled.
The machining of HRSA is generally
The preconditions for
divided into three stages. During first stage
machining (FSM) a cast or forged blank
receives its basic shape. The workpiece is
usually in a soft condition (typical hardness
around 25 HRC), but it often has a rough,
uneven skin or scale. The main priority is
good productivity and efficient stock removal.
Between the first and the intermediate
stage machining (ISM), the workpiece is
heat-treated to the much harder aged
condition (typically around 36–46 HRC).
The component now receives its final shape,
except that the stock allowance is left for
finishing. The focus is again on productivity,
but process security is also important.
The final shape and surface finish is
created during last stage machining (LSM).
The emphasis here is on surface quality,
accurate dimensional tolerances and
avoiding deformations and excessive
residual stress. In critical rotating components, fatigue properties are the most
important criteria and leave no room for
surface defects that could initiate crack
formation. The reliability of critical parts is
guaranteed by applying a proven, certified
machining process.
Want to learn more? Visit www.aero-knowledge.com
General requirements for indexable
inserts include good edge toughness and
high adhesion between the substrate and the
coating. While negative basic shapes are
used for high strength and economy, the
geometry should be positive.
Coolant should always be applied when
machining HRSA, except for milling with
ceramic inserts. When turning with ceramic
inserts a copious volume of coolant is
important, while the accuracy of the stream is
essential when turning with cemented carbide.
When using carbide inserts, a high coolant
pressure yields further benefits, including
longer tool life and efficient chip control.
Machining parameters vary, depending on
the conditions and the material. During
FSM, good productivity is mainly realized
through the use of high feed rates and large
depths of cut. In ISM, ceramic inserts are
often used for higher speeds. Final stages
focus on quality, and the depth of cut is
small. Since a high cutting speed can impair
the surface quality, carbide inserts are
applied for finishing.
Plastic deformation (PD) and notching are
the typical wear mechanisms in carbide
inserts, but top slice wear is common in
ceramics. Vulnerability to PD decreases by
increasing the wear resistance and hot
hardness. A positive geometry and a sharp
edge are also important in reducing heat
generation and cutting forces. Remedies to
notch wear on the main cutting edge include
a small entering angle, for instance by using
a square or a round insert, or a cutting depth
that is lower than the nose radius.
PVD-coated inserts are more resistant to
notching on the main edge; a CVD-coated
insert has a better resistance against notch
wear on the trailing edge. In finishing,
notch wear on the trailing edge can impair
the surface finish.
The amount of
heat-resistant super
alloys in jet engines is
increasing.
Coming up
The assortment of new Sandvik Coromant
carbide inserts to be launched in CoroPak
10.2 for intermediate and last stage
machining of HRSAs includes sharp, highly
positive geometries for finishing and medium
machining as well as geometries for
operations requiring more toughness. All
geometries will be available in both PVD- and
CVD-coated grades for superior performance
in operations from light roughing to
finishing.
Turbine discs
generally feature
profiled pockets
with various
difficult clearance
requirements.
Summary
Efficient machining of jet engine
components from HRSA requires a
well-balanced overall solution,
taking into account factors such as
workpiece condition, tool material
and the related cutting data
recommendations, use of coolant
and optimized machining
strategies.
metalworking world 31
For India’s Tata Group,
business success is not
in contradiction with its
pioneering commitment
to social responsibility.
text and photo: simon de trey-white
social
business
“Corporations cannot be socially responsible,” renowned
economist Milton Friedman stated in a much-repeated
quote. “Only people can have responsibilities.”
But the giant Tata Group has followed a different
approach with spectacular success.
32 metalworking world
As old as the
business idea itself
India’s Tata Group, in business for more than a
century, is one of the world’s biggest and most successful corporations. Tata Steel, its flagship company, has an
existing annual crude steel production capacity of
around 30 million tonnes and an employee strength of
more than 80,000 across five continents. It is now
among the top 10 steel producers in the world. In
addition to its exceptional global success, however, Tata
Steel is well known for its pioneering and consistent
commitment to social responsibility.
Kshetramohan Sardar, a 55-year-old farmer from Jojo
Village, knows a thing or two about Tata Steel’s CSR.
“I’d never thought to commercialize and modernize my
agricultural practices before,” he says. Sardar’s village
is in east central India, in Jharkhand, one of India’s least
developed states, but it is fortunate to fall within the
catchment area of Tata Steel’s monumental social
outreach programme that radiates out from its base in
Jamshedpur to include 800 villages in and around its
manufacturing and raw materials operations.
“People from Tata Steel came to our village and
offered to show us better, more profitable ways to farm,”
Sardar recalls. The people Sardar is referring to were a
team from Tata Steel’s Rural Development Society
Companies have had to think about
corporate social responsibility issues
since the very beginnings of business.
For example, commercial logging
operations and laws to protect forests
can be traced back almost 5,000 years.
In around 1700 BC King Hammurabi of
Mesopotamia is known to have
introduced a code in which builders,
innkeepers and farmers were put to
death if their negligence caused the
deaths of others or even major
inconvenience to local citizens.
With the arrival of industrialization,
CSR became more important as the
impacts of business on society and the
environment increased. As early as the
1920s, discussions about the social
responsibilities of business had evolved
into what could be recognized as the
beginnings of the modern CSR
movement. The term itself was not
widely adopted until the 1970s, and the
concept was not formally expressed until
recently. An exact definition is still
evolving.
(TSRDS). “They took me to another village,” Sardar says,
“and I saw happy farmers and acres of land covered
with green vegetables. It was an eye opener for me. I
came back determined to make my land green too.”
and guidance of the TSRDS team he
revolutionized his working practices, switching to a
high-yield rice variety, adopting a transplantation
system for rice seedlings and diversifying into growing
vegetable crops all year round. Construction of ponds,
With the support
metalworking world 33
TATA Group
Kshetramohan
Sardar, a 55-yearold farmer (left),
benefits from Tata
Group’s social
responsibility
programme.
Founder J.N. Tata
insisted on building
an entire city for the
company’s workers,
complete with
all comforts and
conveniences.
irrigation wells and other water-harvesting structures, all
paid for by a loan from Tata Steel, helped to improve the
land’s productivity.
The results were dramatic. “My rice yields per acre
have more than doubled,” Sardar says, “and together
with the added value of spring crops this has brought in
an additional 30,000 to 35,000 rupees [approximately
500 to 600 euros] a year. I repaid the loan in six
months.”
Satish Pillai, chief of Tata Steel’s Corporate
Sustainability Services (CSS) at Jamshedpur, is the
architect of the scheme that benefited Sardar. “Kshetramohan Sardar is one of the progressive farmers who
have set an example for fellow villagers of how even a
small holding of land can still give a high return,” he
says. Pillai describes how CSS came to be so important
to Tata Steel: “It began with our founder, J.N. Tata, who
believed that in a free enterprise, the community was not
just another stakeholder in the business but was in fact
the very purpose of its existence.” This vision has been
passed down and implemented by successive genera-
tions of Tata Group leaders. “We don’t see our CSS
work as conflicting with or detracting from our business
activities,” says Pillai. “It’s not a post-profit exercise but
rather pre-profit and integral.”
Indeed the record of Tata Steel’s CSR even predates
the construction of Jamshedpur in 1908, as J.N. Tata
had planned it down to the last detail years before.
Rather than merely throwing up a row of workers’
huts, Tata insisted upon building an entire city for his
workers, complete with all the attendant comforts and
conveniences. “Tata Steel in Jamshedpur has brought
the best out of its employees by providing exemplary
facilities such as a clean water supply, roads, housing,
SANDVIK AND CSR
“An essential part of our history”
In 2010 the Sandvik Group
celebrates its 50th year in India.
The company is very active with its
own CSR activities.
“CSR is an essential part of our
historical corporate identity,” says
Nitin Pathak, senior executive of
marketing communication at
Sandvik Coromant India HQ in
Pune, India. There is a global
Sandvik vision, Pathak explains, but
at the local level individual
34 metalworking world
companies take responsibility for
initiatives and their implementation. “This reflects the fact that
each community is different, and
our involvement with each
community must be according to
its requirements,” he says.
In the Pune area, Sandvik Asia
Private Limited currently has five
ongoing projects benefiting both
employees and the community.
“Sandvik Helping Hand is a
donation drive in partnership with a
local NGO where employees can
donate items such as clothes, toys,
books, etc., for the underprivileged,” says Pathak. “Then there is
sponsorship of computers in local
schools to promote IT literacy,
support for underprivileged
children’s education, drop-in health
clinics in the community and a
Family Circle initiative that provides
lifestyle training activities for
employees’ families.”
The Sandvik Coromant recycling
concept is also in operation in India.
“It’s actually a customer-focused
CSR initiative,” says Pathak,
“whereby we collect used carbide
inserts from customers for recycling
at the Sandvik Coromant global
state-of-the-art recycling plant in
Chiplun, Maharashtra. Management
of dwindling resources is a duty
owed by all manufacturers.”
Tata Steel is the Tata
Group’s flagship
company. It produces
around 30 million
tonnes of steel per year.
Satish Pillai, chief of
Tata Steel’s Corporate
Sustainability Services in
the city of Jamshedpur.
health care, education and so on,” says Bidyut
Chakrabarty, professor of political science at Delhi
University and an expert on CSR. “These facilities are
either heavily subsidized or free to Tata Steel’s
employees.”
Chakrabarty sees a profound difference between Tata
Steel’s approach and modern CSR. “The Tata model is
an example of the Hindu concept of trusteeship enacted
in business,” he says. “Although J.N. Tata was a Parsi
and not a Hindu, he was heavily influenced by Swami
Vivekananda, a highly influential Hindu social reformer
of the 19th century. Vivekananda championed the idea
of a trusteeship approach to business, and these notions
were later taken up by Gandhi and popularized in the
1920s.”
Today, says Chakrabarty, CSR takes many forms, not
all of which are equal. “Some CSR can simply be a
sugar-coating designed to conceal a company’s real
agenda, so CSR activities must be critically evaluated
and not taken at face value,” he warns.
But CSR is here to stay, Chakrabarty says. These
days the business model that is concerned only with
maximizing shareholder returns has fallen from favour
due to the changes in society and in people’s expectations and awareness. “The CSR business model is now
almost universally adopted as companies face pressure
to present the right image for commercial advantage in
the wider scenario of global capitalism that came to the
fore after the collapse of the former Soviet Union,” he
says.
When it comes down to either maximizing profits or
adhering to CSR standards, Chakrabarty is unequivocal.
“There is no conflict,” he says. “Both business models
will achieve the same results, but having CSR policies is
a better, more tactful and contemporary approach. If you
look after your potential customers, there is more chance
of them buying your product or services.”
The city of Jamshedpur, situated in
northeastern India,
was planned in detail
for Tata workers.
metalworking world 35
outlook
istockphoto
Training for the future
EDUCATION. Sandvik Coromant
South Africa is supplying the cutting
tools and technology for a new
training centre that was opened in
January 2010 at Hi-Tech Machine
Tools premises near Johannesburg.
Hi-Tech Machine Tools, the
exclusive South African agent for
Mazak CNC, built the facility to bring
more well-qualified workers into the
New nuclear
reactors can burn
what is today
considered nuclear
waste.
Recycling
nuclear waste
power generation. A new
generation of nuclear reactors is
being developed that can burn
through more fuel than is possible
with reactors today. The new reactors,
predicted to be a reality by 2040, will
offer opportunities to recycle nuclear
waste that now is being buried deep
inside mountains, according to the
Swedish National Council for Nuclear
Waste.
Today’s reactors use only 5 percent
of the energy contained in uranium
235. The rest of the material in the
nuclear fuel rods, in the form of
uranium 238, plutonium 239 and
curium, cannot be used and must be
disposed of. This nuclear waste takes
more than 100,000 years to break
down.
With the new hybrid fourth
generation reactors, however, higher
energy means that these waste
elements can become fissile.
A new cutter for slewing rings
machined where the
milling. Japanese
existing cutter could only
company Nippon Roballo,
machine one. Because of
part of ThyssenKrupp, is a
its unique design, the
leading manufacturer of
cutting force could be
large-diameter slewing
reduced, yielding
rings used in wind power
diminished power needs.
generators, tower cranes
In addition, the machining
and ship-deck cranes.
noise was lower. As a
Sandvik Coromant has
supplied the company with Kiyotoshi Fuchigami corollary, the cutting data
could be increased.
tools for drilling and turning
“Based on this experience, I trust
for many years. In 2008, a ProductivSandvik Coromant to bring innovative
ity Improvement Program led to the
solutions that are different from those
development of a whole new
of other manufacturers,” says
gear-milling cutter concept that
Kiyotoshi Fuchigami, director of
yielded many advantages.
manufacturing at Nippon Roballo.
Two slewing rings could be
36 metalworking world
workforce in South Africa, the
continent’s largest economy.
The average age of properly
qualified turners and toolmakers in
South Africa who trained as
apprentices is 62. Although
apprentice training in the engineering
and machining sector is not common,
well-trained, skilled workers continue
to be highly sought after.
Find the latest
updates on YouTube
MEDIA. YouTube, the No. 1 source for video clips on the
Internet, is the second-largest search engine next to Google. Many
manufacturers actually use it to search for information about tools,
technical solutions and applications. Now, as of May 2010,
YouTube is also a source for information about the latest solutions
from Sandvik Coromant.
At www.youtube.com/sandvikcoromant, you will find valuable
application knowledge for different kinds of machining, as well as
movies from events, new products and everything in between.
Sandvik Coromant US
partners with Grainger
PRODUCTS. More than 15,000
Sandvik Coromant machining
products are now available through
Grainger’s catalogue and website
(www.grainger.com) or by visiting
one of the company’s 460 US
branch locations following a new
partnership between the two
companies.
Grainger distributes more than
900,000 industrial products and
has 1.8 million customers in 153
countries around the world. With
18,000 employees, Grainger works
closely with customers to provide
cost-saving solutions.
For years Grainger has earned a
place on Fortune magazine’s roster
of “most admired companies.” In
2009 it posted sales of 6.2 billion
US dollars.
DID YOU KNOW THAT …
…almost 1.5 million
hip replacements are
performed every year.
What’s in a windmill?
Power generation. A windmill has many tonnes of
steel and cast iron components, all of which need to be
milled, drilled, bored and turned. Here is a look at some of
them.
Main shaft
The main shaft starts out as a
22-tonne block of forged steel.
Over time, through turning,
drilling and deep-hole drilling,
this is whittled down to a
14-tonne high-tolerance
component.
Manpower
Always on hand,
specialists in yellow
coats have the
know-how to suggest
production improvements.
Planetary
carrier
Hub
As the name suggests, this
vital and huge (up to four
metres in diameter)
component connects the
windmill rotor blades to the
shaft. Optimized cutting
tools help remove a tonne
of chips from the casting to
obtain the final shape.
This nodular cast iron
component is part of
the gearbox. Accuracy
in manufacturing is of
utmost importance.
Main frame
Kjell Thorsson
The nodular cast iron
main frame is the
foundation of the nacelle.
Its shape is complex to
machine, requiring
milling, drilling and
boring.
Slewing ring
The slewing ring connects the
tower to the turbine nacelle to
allow it to rotate towards the
wind. The forged ring can be
three to nine metres in diameter.
The entire ring is produced by
turning, drilling and gear milling.
Turn the page to
learn more about
windmill
manufacturing. >>>
metalworking world 37
the solution
text: alexander farnsworth illustration: kjell eriksson
great solutions
for a real giant
Double-digit growth in the wind power industry means that
component manufacturers have to ramp up their own production.
Here is a look at some of the time-saving cutting tools used in
manufacturing a windmill hub – a component more than four
metres in diameter that connects the rotor blades to the main shaft.
CoroMill 490
A shoulder to lean on
A CoroMill 490 cutting tool is an excellent
choice for machining features where a
shoulder is required. This milling cutter has
high metal-removal rates at low power
requirements and represents the latest in
shoulder milling technology.
38 metalworking world
CoroMill 331
Inside job
The CoroMill 331 is a highly efficient tool
with an eight-edge insert for back-facing the
inside of the hub.
CoroMill 390
Face time
The CoroMill 390 Long Edge is a robust
cutter that in combination with Coromant
Capto offers maximum stability. This is an
excellent combination for milling walls.
Want to learn more? Visit www.sandvik.coromant.com/wind
CoroBore 825
Finishing the job
In combination with Coromant Capto, the
CoroBore 825 puts the final touches on the
high-precision bores on the hub.
CoroDrill 880
Drilling
The CoroDrill 880 with step and chamfer is
particularly efficient for hole-making
operations on the hub.
CoroMill 345
On the face of it
Milling the face of the hub where it attaches
to the main shaft requires a CoroMill 345
milling cutter that has light cutting action to
avoid vibration and to increase productivity.
metalworking world 39
Print n:o C-5000:544 ENG/01
© AB Sandvik Coromant 2010:2
Proven solutions.
Documented results.
High standards, exacting specifications, difficult materials and
tight time restraints – aerospace components require the best
in both tooling and know-how. Mistakes are more than
expensive, they’re unacceptable.
You need proven solutions that combine the right programming
techniques, optimized tools, simulations and lab tests to get
the most out of your production. Not only can Sandvik Coromant
ensure the quality you demand, but we can also optimize your
cutting process and reduce your non-cutting time. And we can
even take your solution one step further in our Aerospace
Application Centers around the world.
Want to know more? Visit www.aero-knowledge.com
Think smart | Work smart | Earn smart
www.sandvik.coromant.com