High Speed Machining Centers Guide
The high speed machining center is a highly developed machine tool that can handle many precision machining tasks at once. At first, the high speed machining center was developed from the milling machine in the middle of the last century. Since then, the development of high speed machine tool has developed well in the industry. The high speed milling based machining center has been widely used in various industries and made extensive efforts for industry.High speed milling is a machining process that uses a spinning tool to remove workpiece material by advancing the tool into one or more workpieces. This processing method can be done in different directions. High speed milling machine involves a variety of operations, ranging from a single tiny part to heavy and large milling tasks. Similar to turning, milling is one of the most commonly used machining methods to provide precision tolerances.
Due to its practical value, the development of milling methods is very popular in industry. Traditional lathes are relatively difficult to achieve the production and effective performance of workpieces with complex profiles. With this expectation, the following development and concepts of machining center were gradually formed. The term "machining center" can be used to describe various CNC (computer numerical control) drilling and milling machines, also includes high speed CNC machining centers. These high speed CNC machines are equipped with some key but sometimes optional accessories, which are equipped with the body, such as the tool magazine, ATC (automatic Tool changer), power tool turret, CMM (coordinate measuring machine), multi-axis worktable.
The classification of high speed machining centers can be roughly divided into two main categories: vertical and horizontal, and there are other categories in the machining center inventory. The vertical machining center is a vertical arrangement of its structure, and the workpiece is processed by a cutting tool that moves vertically. On the contrary, the main axis of the horizontal machining center is placed horizontally, and the machining is proceed lying down. With the vertical design, the weight of the workpiece will help to position it firmly on the fixture to make a heavy vertical cutting route without worrying about route deviation. In addition, with the help of a power turret, the cycle time is greatly reduced. The work piece machining of machine centers are normally not of round shape but other complicated profiles since the former one can be dealt with by turning machine with power turret in a much more efficient way.
The speed of the spindle is a key parameter that determines the performance of the machining center. For high speed machining centers, the RPM (revolutions per minute) standard is different, and there is no such common range. At the same time, manufacturers in Europe, Japan and Taiwan have a consensus on RPM standards, while regional differences are still very large. Therefore, when customers are looking for the best high-speed machining center for their production line, they would need to discuss the specifications further.
The Trend in Machinery Sector
Since machine tools are the most basic capital goods of manufacturers, and play a vital role in determining the final output of final products. The quality of machine tools becomes the key to the quality of manufacturers' final products. The inventory of machine tools varies from time to time.
New Precision Elements
After inventing the machining center and the program control system (CNC, computer numerical control), the machining standard has become more and more strict compared with the previous standard. In addition to high speed CNC machining centers, there are CNC turning centers, CNC milling machines, CNC tapping and milling centers, CNC drilling and milling machines, and many other models.
Agile and Versatile
Speaking of machine models, although not as versatile as machining centers, they are also very powerful in processing various workpieces with complex methods, and are often used to customize specific tasks for projects. Therefore, the accuracy of high speed machining centers becomes more stringent than ever. Consumers in the market demand better quality, faster speed and shorter waiting time, so this trend becomes serious for manufacturers. At present, many machine tool manufacturers even integrate CMM equipment into their machine, and applying a wider range of precision standards in the field of machine tools. Vertical or horizontal machining centers have powerful functions in all kinds of heavy-duty cutting, especially if the machining center is designed as a double-column structure. Therefore, with the advent of the Industry 4.0 era in the 21st century, various machine tools are developing in a more agile and versatile direction. Finally, the design of lathes and milling machines is to be like machining centers in the market for the customers’ demands.
Speed and Productivity
Although speed can determine the quality of machined parts, speed is not an absolute basis that determines the work cycle time. Manufacturers of high speed machining centers must better understand the characteristics of the workpiece, such as hardness, length, essence, etc in order to know how to modify the speed of the spindles.
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