Machine Tool Design for Titanium Machining San Diego, Titanium 2011 conference
Introduction Titanium has the best strength to weight ratio of all metals. It is together with CFK is material of choice for today s aerospace industry. Examples Turbine blades, blisks and impellers Structural parts and turbine casings In comparison to other materials, its toughness and low thermal conductivity makes it hard to cut Material removal rate Aluminum 900 in 3 /min Material removal rate Titanium 30 in 3 /min Tough material and long operating times require strong and stable machines Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 1
Example workpieces Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 2
Example machine: Starrag BTP 5000/2 Many of the parts are very big and therefore require large machines Since the machine times are often in the region between 10 and > 100h the machines must be very stable to keep thermal drift to a minimum requires homogeneous design is improved by using thermal compensation Achievable stability: Thermal drift within 10 hours over full spindle range (up to 8 000 rpm) in the area of 1 micro inch) Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 3
Titanium machining Current developments in Titanium machining The technology of Titanium cutting has changed tremendously with the developments of new tools Cutting speeds for roughing of about 250 ft/min (old profilers 50 ft/min) for finishing of about 500 ft/min Radial and axial immersions are much lower, but the material removal rate has multiplied (24 to 48 in 3 /min) Consequences for machine tools Machines with high dynamic capabilities (e. g. acceleration, feed rates) are required High spindle speeds > 5 000 rpm are required for efficient finishing Spindle torque can remain within comparable low boundaries (~800 lbs ft) Process stability must be extremely high Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 4
Machine tool dynamics Dynamic cuts Spindle speed 5 500 rpm Feed rate 150 in/min Movement of the tool center point requires rapid motions of the axes High velocities and acceleration of the axes Short distance from tool tip to rotary axis Conventional milling head Starrag milling head Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 5
5600 Torque [Nm] Ideal Main Spindle for Titanium Machining Face milling Full cut, DoC = 6 mm, Vc = 80, feed/tooth= 0.14 mm 2000 1800 1600 1400 1300 1200 1000 5 600 rpm / 959 ft lbs 100% duty 8 000 rpm / 693 ft lbs 100% duty Contouring DoC = 1 x Dia., WoC = ½ x Dia., Vc = 80, feed/tooth= 0.13 mm a) Face mill 45 Dia 160 mm b) Porcupine Dia. 80 mm 800 b) c) End mill Dia. 20 mm a) 600 400 Trends due to d) Conical Ball end mill Dia. 6 mm -higher machine stabilty 200 -improved tools -improved cooling c) d) Finishing, Vc = 500 ft/min 0 Dia 6 mm: 7960 rpm 10 100 375 1000 10000 8000 Dia 8 mm: 5970 rpm Spindle Speed [rpm] Dia 10 mm: 4780 rpm Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 6
Spindle requirements High cutting speeds and high material removal rates result in High spindle speeds High heat generation and therefore the need of an efficient cooling system (Starrag: internal cooling with 1450 psi) High damping and stiffness of the machine as well as the spindle system Possible with excellent robustness of a geared spindle Shaft diameter Bearing dist. Shaft diameter Bearing distance Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 7
Stiffness and Damping Machine design must be balanced since achievable cutting depths are limited by the weak spot of the system, e. g. spindle rotor spindle support structural vibration of the machine Instable cuts reduce tool life and destroy the workpiece surface Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 8
b a Stiffness and Damping Starrag milling head Conventional milling head F M A1 M A2 M 1 M 2 Short distance between tool tip and A-axis Minimal load during roughing operations With a tool length of 180 mm there is up to a 50 % reduction in effect torque acting on the A-axis! High stiffness on the tool tip resulting in the highest machining quality and tool life. Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 9
µm Weg / µm m/s^2 Stability and Damping Unstable cuts are sometimes unavoidable because the weak spot of the system are vibration of the fixture vibration of the tool vibration of the workpiece Chatter analysis on machine to support finding stable conditions: Sensor support integrated on machine 10-10 50 40 30 20 FFT Messung 2_Clip_FFT2_DimConv/K:1/Sensorposition:/Messrichtung:+X/KnotenNr.:1/ Tool freq. = 15.9 Hz Chatter freq. = 46.8 Hz Time signal 10 Frequency spectrum 0 0 50 100 150 200 Frequenz / Hz Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 10
Conclusion While Titanium is still a hard to cut material, new tools and process strategies allow much higher productivity. For achieving highest efficencies and accuracies in Titanium cutting, the machine tools must have highest thermal stability much higher dynamic capabilities a balanced machine design for process stability without dominant weak spots analysis capabilities for supporting the process engineer to optimize the strategy Starrag Dörries Heckert Scharmann SIP Droop + Rein TTL Berthiez WMW Ecospeed 11