World innovation: machining of aluminium wheels now without coolant

World innovation: machining of aluminium wheels now without coolant

Benefit from savings with the new MAC cooling set from CERATIZIT.

CERATIZIT S. A., Mamer, Luxembourg (headquarters), April 2008.

One of the special fields of the carbide expert CERATIZIT is aluminium wheel machining. The recently developed MAC cooling set now allows the complete dry machining of wheels without refitting machines. In this way CERATIZIT once again is able to support their customers in the automotive industry when it comes to the decisive topic of cost reduction.

Conventional cooling in the field of aluminium wheel machining through cooling lubricants is cost intensive. Both the recycling of the chips and the coolant causes considerable costs. While machining a wheel between four and six kilos of swarf are produced. The recycling costs are about 20 cent per kilo or approximately one euro per wheel. For tens of thousands of aluminium rims where dry machining is applied instead of wet machining attractive saving is realized very quickly. With the latest world innovation MAC from CERATIZIT, aluminium rim producers can save money, optimize their profit and distinguish themselves from competitors.

Ingenious: MAC cooling unit cools utilizing the Joule-Thomson effect

"There were already various external air cooling systems available in the market, however, their effect was satisfactory to a limited degree. The nozzle was too far away from the tool, too much cold air was lost,” explains Michael Steiner in charge of the development of the new MAC cooling set at the CERATIZIT development department.

With MAC the CERATIZIT research department has solved this problem. The cooling unit is directly integrated into the CERATIZIT tool. The compressed air from the machine goes through the tool into the MAC unit and is then cooled to minus temperatures through a physical effect known as Joule-Thomson effect. Then it immediately hits the insert and the work piece.

This causes the air to be divided into a warm and a cold stream (depending on the setting). The cold air exits on the front of the insert through the lateral holes on the tool. The air temperature on the cutting edge is then in sub-zero range and efficiently cools both work piece and tool. About 6 bar and 400 l/min capacity are the prerequisite

The cold air reduces the temperature of the swarf and enabling the tool to decrease and in a lot of cases ideally avoids the tendency of adhesion of aluminium. The cooling intensity depends on the quantity of air supplied, its entrance temperature, the quality of the air and the tool settings of MAC.

The CERATIZIT programme for dry machining

Currently the following grades are available for dry machining of aluminium wheels:

CTP4115  (PVD –TiAlN lubricating layer; K10)
CTD4110  (medium fine diamond grains; DP-K01)

CTP4115 is a tried and tested PVD coating with good low-friction properties. Its advantages can mainly be seen when machining aluminium alloys with low silicon content (Si = 3 %) in combination with strong built-up edge.

In grade CTD4110, PCD (polycrystalline diamond) being an extremely hard cutting material is characterised by high abrasion resistance and long service life. This grade is particularly suitable for aluminium alloys with increased silicon content (Si = 12 %), for polish turning of mirror faces and the machining of high-quality wheels and components in aluminium.

The standard programme includes three MAC units with various assembly sizes:

MAC 13-100  - dimensions: Ø 13 mm; total length: 100 mm
MAC 20-145 - dimensions: Ø 20 mm; total length: 145 mm
MAC 20-170 - dimensions: Ø 20 mm; total length: 170 mm

The smallest assembly size is designed for tools with shank (25x25mm) and tools which require limited space. The two largest units are suitable for all boring bars with sufficient space. MAC cooling sets are only available together as an assembly with a CERATIZIT tool.

The carbide expert CERATIZIT is synonymous with “hard material matters”

CERATIZIT S. A. – the company resulting from the merger between CERAMETAL and Plansee Tizit in 2002 – is a pioneer and global player in sophisticated hard material solutions. The company operates from Mamer, Luxembourg. In selected industrial sectors the 50% subsidiary of the Plansee group is the world market leader in unique and consistently innovative hard material products for wear protection and cutting tools. In the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, oil industry, medical systems, electronics as well as mould and die making customers benefit from this fact. 400 active patents are owned by CERATIZIT worldwide. In the year 2007 the company had a sales volume of 600 mill. euros and more than 4,000 employees.

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