THE BACKBONE OF INDUSTRY: HORIZONTAL MACHINING CENTERS

BORING MILL COMBINED WITH HMC
The HMC-1000BP from Absolute Machine Tools (Lorain, OH) combines the features of a boring mill with a horizontal machining center. Solid machine construction is key to the HMC-1000BP?s cutting performance. The highly rigid heavyweight machine tips the scales at 77,000 lb. A moving saddle design employs a box-in-box structure that confines spindle movement inside the ?box? shaped column casting and greatly reduces moving mass versus a moving column design. It allows faster acceleration, faster rapid rates and promotes thermal symmetry to eliminate thermal distortion.

Rugged X and Y linear slide ways and a rigid square ram in Z provide heavy-duty cutting performance and rapid traverse rates of 787 ipm in XY and 630 ipm in Z and W. This machine uses large pre-tensioned ballscrews, with dual ballscrews in the X axis and large Fanuc servo motors. Pre-tensioning the ballscrews virtually eliminates any thermal expansion of the screws for superior accuracy.

For heavy cutting, the 120 mm (4.72-in) diameter spindle is driven by a two-speed ZF gear box and 35 hp Fanuc spindle motor. The spindle is housed in a large 220 x 22 mm (8.66 in) square ram that extends 27.5 in on the W axis. The spindle is oil-cooled. The B axis rotary table is standard with a square (1000 x 1000 mm) table and 0.001-deg 4th axis contouring ability. The 4th axis indexing unit employs a precision worm gear and worm wheel for accuracy and repeatability. A two-pallet side-by-side pallet changer is standard; the machine can also be ordered without the pallet system.

Standard equipment includes high-pressure flood coolant, coolant shower, 40 tool ATC (60, 80, 120 tool ATCs are optional), spindle cooler, rigid tapping, and a complete chip removal system with conveyors. The Fanuc 18iM-B with NANO technology is standard, but users can add optional Fanuc AI NANO HPCC function for fast cutting of 3D point-to-point programs. Ultra precision comes from the new Alpha i servo system, which employs 1,000,000 pulse per revolution encoders on the servomotors.

Absolute equipped the HMC-1000BP for the North American market with special productivity-enhancing options, including a 60-tool ATC, a 1,000 psi high-pressure coolant system, and Heidenhain linear scales on the XYZ axes. Shops can special-order machines with tool setters, part probes, or larger ATCs. Larger models are available up to an HMC-2500BP with a 2,600 x 2,200 mm table. www.absolutemachine.com

HIGH PRODUCTIVITY ON LARGE PARTS
The NEXUS (HCN) 8800-II horizontal center from Mazak Corporation (Florence, KY) provides high rigidity, high-torque or high-speed, powerful machining performance for producing large parts. The machine offers an 8,000 rpm/900 ft lb option, upgraded from the previous model, along with a 50 hp, 10,000 rpm advanced integral motor spindle and a 60 tool magazine. Tool capacity can be increased through incremental options to a maximum of 330. The machine features a rapid traverse rate of 2,362 ipm, a pallet size of 31.5 in x 31.5 in, and X-Y-Z-axis travels of 55.12 in x 47.24 in x 52.17 in. Maximum work-piece diameter and height are both 59.09 in.

A CNC mounted on hinges has better readability and ergonomics. Control software Voice Advisor ?speaks? to the operator to provide updates on machine status selections and safety warnings. Intelligent Machine Advanced functions include Active Vibration Control that dampens vibration caused by rapid changes in acceleration and deceleration, leading to finer finishes and longer tool life. www.mazakusa.com

HIGHER EFFICIENCY AND PRECISION ON LARGE PARTS
DMG/Mori Seiki USA (Hoffman Estates, IL) offers the NH10000 DCG (Driven at the Center of Gravity) high speed, high precision horizontal machining center to handle a maximum work piece size of 2,000 mm x 1,600 mm and a maximum loading capacity of 3,000 kg (5,000 kg optional). The machine facilitates setup operations, including the center alignment of a work piece. The height difference between inside and outside of the machine has been eliminated by installing work platforms. (In larger machines the setup operations are conducted inside the machine.) The setup station with large working area and wide door opening offers improved operability and accessibility.

Box-in-Box Construction supports the saddle at both sides so the center of gravity of the moving parts is guided and driven with excellent balance despite its large structure. It achieves 2.12 µm roundness by minimizing residual tool tip vibration during positioning and improving machined surface quality. The drive system on the X and Z linear axes uses DCG that drives moving parts at their center of gravity using two ball screws to control vibration and offer greater machining accuracy, shorter machining time and longer tool life. It achieves rapid traverse rates of 50 m/min (2.5X faster than conventional machines).

For the B rotary axis, a full indexing table uses DDM (Direct Drive Motor) for improved transmission efficiency, high speed and zero backlash by transmitting the drive power directly to the rotary axis. The 90 deg indexing time (for a 5,000 kg work piece on the pallet) shortens to 1.9 seconds, one-fifth the speed of the conventional machines. The draw-back function, available for through-spindle coolant specifications, sucks coolant left in the spindle back into the tank when the coolant stops flowing to prevent residual coolant from adhering to the spindle taper and being carried into the tool magazine during tool change with ATC. This avoids long-term problems caused by coolant to ensure stable machining accuracy.

The Z-axis stroke automatically changes and extends by up to 40 mm according to the rotation angle of the B-axis to allow machining with a shorter tool overhang for improved machining conditions. The 2,350 mm wide door opening for the setup station allows easy loading and unloading of work pieces up to a diameter of 2,000 mm. Three spiral conveyors, two of which extend to the setup station, collect chips and coolant from the machining area and setup station and transfer them to the external conveyor.

An optional long-tool magazine can store tools up to 1,000 mm long, the same size as the pallet. Long tools can perform deep hole boring and gun drilling of large work pieces requiring highly accurate coaxiality without a 180 deg turn on the B-axis, achieving reduced cutting time and high-precision machining. www.moriseiki.com

5-AXIS MACHINING OF SMALL-TO-MEDIUM STEEL, CAST IRON AND LIGHT ALLOY PARTS

Schwäbische Werkzeugma-schinen GmbH (SW/EMAG; Salach, Germany) and EMAG LLC (Farmington Hills, MI) present the BA 322 for 4- or 5-axis machining of small to medium size work pieces in steel, cast iron and light alloy. BA 322 stands for the 300 mm distance between the two spindles and two work tables that covers the medium range of work pieces, such as wheel flanges or components for hydraulic valves and turbo chargers.

The machine can expand into a complete 5-axis machine equipped with two spindles, a specially-developed twin swivel trunnion, and twin or quadruple 5-axis modules to suit the actual machining requirement. A monobloc design enables all machine modules to integrate cleanly and with great precision so that the whole machine can be lifted by hook and crane. The monobloc principle ensures that deflection is minimized and forced distribution between the machining unit and workholding device remains optimal.

The 3-axis unit is ideal for heavy-duty metal removal and maximum vibration damping. The slide components are nodular graphite castings. Two feed drives Y1/Y2 in gantry formation and a direct absolute measuring system guarantee a high degree of machining accuracy, even when the spindles are in an eccentric position. The energy required to move the slide from A to B is minimized by a large number of special measures, including a system-related lowering of the moveable mass by using the box-in-box design.

The vertical axis uses a pneumatic-weight compensation system with generously dimensioned accumulator and a maximum degree of compensation, guaranteeing almost 100 percent energy recovery. New feed drives work at lower speeds than before to lower energy consumption and noise emission of the acceleration process while increasing the life expectancy of the ball screw drives by keeping thermal growth at a minimum.

Lost-wax-cast collets in high-alloyed steel are controlled by a cylinder and monitored to determine whether the tool is correctly locked. Three different sizes of magazine, located over the machining area, can be inserted into the monobloc with ease and are easy to expand. Tools change by using the pick-up system. The untensioned chain of the magazine reaches speeds up to 80 m/min and runs in a link rail. Retightening is unnecessary. Each of the two workholding units on the twin swivel trunnion is controlled by up to eight hydraulic pipes and an additional five pneumatic ones, all featuring rotary distributors. The basic hydraulics are standard, so only the relevant valve modules need to be added.

The twin swivel trunnion, with its two integral rotary axes (torque drives), can swing work pieces out of the machining area and into the unloading position, or from the loading position to the machining area. All work-handling tasks and their auxiliary functions, such as the rinsing of work pieces and fixtures, or the monitoring of work piece contact surfaces, are carried out cycle time-concurrent. When articulated robots are used, or the machine is loaded manually, an angled door serves as a splashguard.

All axes travel at 75 m/min, acceleration in Z from 1.5 G upwards, in all other axes 1 G. The machine enjoys great dynamic rigidity and can quickly reach 300 m/s3 with Kv = 4. The dynamics result from a low-mass synchronous motor spindle. Equipped with a nuclei spindle with a very low mass moment, the torque rating is 72 Nm at a power rating of 32 kW for a top speed of 17,500 rpm, reached within just a second for constant chip-to-chip time across the whole speed range. This is important in threading operations where the rotary direction must be reversed quickly. For example, a thread of M6x24 is cut at a speed of 5,000 rpm in just 0.9 seconds. www.emag.com

HORIZONTAL BORING AND MILLING
The HBM 130 Series horizontal boring and milling machine from SNK America, Inc. (Elk Grove Village, IL) uses a high-powered boring spindle (5.1 in diameter) at speeds from 5 rpm to 2,500 rpm (optionally 3,500 rpm) with a torque of 2,793 ft/lb. A built-in rotary table provides a fifth axis of operation, and positioning control within 0.001 deg. Cast iron construction, 2.5 in diameter double-anchor ball screws and heavy-duty box ways (6 in wide) ensure exceptional accuracy.

The hardened box ways achieve excellent lubricity through advanced “mirror surface? technology. W-Axis Thermal Growth Sensors, positioned around the spindle casting and bearing, continually read temperatures (within microns) in five areas ? more than most competitor machines. The additional sensors reduce the risk of false readings, and ensure accurate compensation. The table size of the model BP130-3.5 is 63 in x 86 in with a maximum load capacity of 33,000 lb. Strokes are 138 in (X axis), 98 in (Y axis), 63 in (Z axis) and 27.5 in (W axis). X, Y, Z and B axis scale feedback is included as standard. The 60 tool ATC features a pneumatic pedal for ease in loading and unloading tools. All HBM machines are equipped with Fanuc 16iM CNC controls. www.snkamerica.com

A NEW ANGLE FOR CUTTING LARGE AEROSPACE AND ENERGY PARTS
MAG (Erlanger, KY) offers the HMC 1250 Series with a 180,000 position A-axis tilt spindle for 5-axis horizontal machining on large parts. The 6000 rpm/ 46 kW (61.6 hp) tilt spindle joins an all-around 10,000 rpm/ 56 kW (75 hp) spindle, high-speed 24,000 rpm spindle, high-torque 2600 Nm (1918 ft lb) spindle and two live spindles (110 or 130 mm diameter) as headstock options. The high-torque, 80 kW, spindle is especially suited for aerospace titanium cutting, while the live spindles extend W-axis reach up to 800 mm (31.5 in), enabling deep cavity milling to high precision with shorter, more rigid tool lengths. Standard on the live spindle, the exclusive Z-axis thermal compensation software dynamically offsets spindle growth to maintain tight tolerances.

This machine is engineered for high-precision, high-productivity machining of large aerospace, power generation, pump, valve, and off-road equipment parts. The X bed, Z bed and column are cast ductile iron, with 1250 x 1600 mm pallets, headstock and rotary table housings of gray cast iron. Modular design provides a range of machine travels, 60 to 120 tool magazines, and two control choices in addition to five spindle options, plus tilt capability that combines with maximum 3000 mm (118 in) work zone swing range, 2050 mm (81 in) work height capacity and 7000 kg (15,400 lb) workload. The system uses 56 to 80 kW (75 to 107 hp) spindle power, 35 kN (7870 lb) Z-axis thrust, and a super-rigid, full-contouring hydrostatic rotary table. 40 m/min (1575 ipm) rapid traverse/feed rate and 15 sec tool change (for up to 35 kg tools) maximize in-cut productivity.

A 360,000 position contouring table enables precision 4-axis machining of a variety of part geometries. The hydrostatic table provides a rigid machine platform, while a rugged worm gear drive with clamp securely holds axis position. Linear scale feedback in X, Y and Z axes provides 8 micron (0.0003 in) positioning accuracy and 5 micron (0.0002 in) repeatability. Heavy-duty hardened and ground roller guide ways enable higher rapid traverse and acc/dec rates with double the load capacity and nearly 10X the wear life of ball-type ways. www.mag-ias.com

ENLARGED ENVELOPE FOR AEROSPACE AND ENERGY PARTS
Mitsui Seiki (Franklin Lakes, NJ) installed several 4- and 5-axis machining centers at major aerospace and energy OEMs that make air frame components, propulsion systems, landing gear assemblies, wind turbine gear boxes, and gas turbine power generation systems. Their 5-axis horizontal machining centers include up to 2500 mm (98.4 in) work diameter capacity, 3 tons (6600 lb) work/fixture weight capacity, a variety of increased axis stroke options, large 1200 mm square, 1200 x 1500, 1900 mm diameter pallet sizes, ultra high 2700 Nm ? 1990 lb-ft continuous torque spindles, tuned structure for heavy cutting in hard metals, large capacity FMS systems, and the latest Fanuc 30i CNC with enhanced features for 5-axis machining.

Several customers are successfully cutting 10-14 class ring gears in low-to-mid volume for aerospace and power generation on these machines. The Vertex machine is suitable for ring gears up to 16 in. A special gear-making model incorporates a rotary trunnion table for the finish turning operations. It can turn the gear faces, do the final profile of the internal bore, and generate the gear teeth. The HU80A-5X 5-axis machining center can produce spiral bevel gears up to 35 in. www.mitsuiseiki.com

DEEP CUTS ON TOUGH MATERIALS
The Mycenter-HX800i horizontal machining center from Kitamura (Wheeling, IL) can produce close tolerance parts from the toughest materials. Superior rigidity in its solid box way construction, combined with patented twin ballscrew and dual feedback technology, are ideal for high precision, hard milling of larger parts. Perfectly suited for the aerospace, automotive, power generation and heavy machinery industries, its net weight is an impressive 45,100 lb.

A 35 hp, 12,000 rpm two-step geared spindle delivers 280.3 ft/lb of max torque with high-end, fine-finish capability. An optional 8,000 rpm, high-torque spindle offers an output maximum torque of 699.3 ft/lb. The combination of a unique spindle gear system with a dual-contact spindle design means greater machining rigidity, improved surface finish, higher cutting accuracy and extended cutting tool life. A full 4th axis rotary table is equipped with an ultra-high precision rotary scale. A quick indexing time of 0.45 sec for 90 deg (33.3 rpm) rapid feed provides the ability to machine complex, multi-sided parts, greatly reducing set-up time. An efficient, positive 180 deg rotating pallet change system allows the loading of parts while machining ? dramatically improving cutting time while allowing in-process verification of component quality. An expansive work envelope (work size of Ø39.4 in x 43.3 in), clamping power of 17,243 lb and a table load capacity of 2,640 lb allow the machining of larger work pieces and complex fixturing.

A 50-tool fixed port ATC has a tool change time of 3 seconds. Up to 300 tools can be added in the field. A double-decker conveyor and filtration system, combined with 220 psi coolant thru the spindle, minimize thermal distortion while improving accuracy and prolonging tool life in hard milling applications. The user-friendly Kitamura-Fanuc 16iMB control has 1280 meters memory, a 128MB data server, HPCC by RISC Control, NURBS interpolation, 16 million pulse encoder system and an Ethernet connection that is powerful enough to ensure optimum accuracy in a variety of cutting conditions requiring both 4th and 5th axis capabilities. www.kitamura-machinery.com

ECONOMICAL SMALL FOOTPRINT IDEAL FOR JOB SHOPS AND HIGH-SPEED ENVIRONMENTS
Toyoda Machinery (Arlington Heights, IL) presents the FH400J, a most economical horizontal machining center that is combines a 15,000 rpm spindle for high-speed machining applications with a compact footprint, makes the FH400J ideal for job shops and high-speed environments. The FH400J work area measures 23.6 x 22 x 24.8 in (in the X, Y and Z axes), with a table load capacity of 880 lb. The machine uses a CAT40 spindle taper and a GE Fanuc control and accommodates up to 40 tools in its magazine, with a 2.4-second chip-to-chip tool change time. www.toyoda.com