Sascha Gierlings

Broaching of Inconel 718 with cemented carbide

Broaching is the standard process for machining complex-shaped slots in turbine discs. More flexible processes such as milling, wire EDM machining and water-jet cutting are under investigation and show promising results. In order to further use existing resources and process knowledge, the broaching process has to be improved towards higher material removal rates. Taking into account that the state-of-the-art broaching process is working with high-speed-steel tools, the higher thermal resistant cemented carbide cutting materials offer the potential to significantly increase cutting speeds, which lead to increased process productivity. The following article presents a broad study on broaching with cemented carbide tools. Different cutting edge geometries are discussed on the basis of process forces, chip formation and tool wear mechanisms. Furthermore, a detailed comparison to the standard process is drawn.

Analytical Modelling of Temperature Distribution Using Potential Theory by Reference to Broaching of Nickel-Based Alloys

Knowledge of temperature fields and heat flow evolving during metal cutting processes is of significant importance for ensuring and predicting the product`s quality. Furthermore, this knowledge enables an improved usage of resources, such as machine tools and tool deployment. The strength of the heat sources as a result of the process and the distribution of the temperature in the material directly influence the tool wear mechanisms, wear rate, thermo-elastic deflection of the tool centre point and the amount of heat flowing into the newly generated work piece surface. Especially the latter effect is of crucial importance when it comes to safety critical components as they are employed in aero-engines. In aviation industry, the surface integrity is used as a complex quality measure summarising several aspects at the machined surface and sub-surface out of which many issues are predominantly thermal issues (e.g. temperature driven hardening of the work piece material, re-cast and white etching layers as well as residual stress profiles).

Concept for Temperature Control in Broaching Nickel-Based Alloys

In production of safety critical components in aero engine manufacture, to date broaching is the most efficient process machining fir-tree slots in turbine discs. Machining highly thermal resistant Nickel-based alloys, manufacturers commonly use High Speed Steel (HSS) tools and work at low cutting speeds in order to stay at rather low tool wear rates and avoid part quality defects. The key variable affecting tool wear as well as part quality, as in most machining processes, is the temperature. Excessive temperatures in the cutting zone lead to enhanced tool wear on the one hand, and surface defects such as white layer formation and residual tensile stresses on the other hand. In this article, the temperature development is investigated for typical tool geometries and cutting parameters in broaching. Furthermore, the possibility of a temperature control using intermediate variables such as process forces is discussed, and potentials employing a control are explained.

Concept for a Technology Assistance System to Analyze and Evaluate Materials and Tools for Milling

Turbine engine manufacturers permanently aim to improve the efficiency of their products. This is often accompanied by the development of new materials which have to be introduced to manufacturing. As a consequence, engineers responsible for machining process development are regularly confronted with the question, how to identify the optimal machining conditions in order to deal with the new constraints. Nowadays, the effort and success of such identification processes are to a significant degree depending on technology expert skills and experiences. From the process planning perspective, however, this circumstance is characterized by a significant degree of uncertainty.This article presents an innovative concept for a technology assistance system (TAS) for milling. The TAS supports the operator to determine optimal machining conditions by autonomously evaluating machinability criteria such as cutting force, tool wear or surface roughness for certain work piece material/ tool combinations. This includes the planning and organization of milling experiments, its standardized and automated execution as well as the generation of surrogate models to describe the machinability criteria for a given parameter range, serving as input for a future optimization. All functionalities of the TAS are conceptually described and first results achieved using a prototype solution are introduced and discussed.© 2015 ASME

Prozessüberwachung für zertifizierte Fertigungsprozesse in der Luftfahrtindustrie

Kurzfassung Der vorliegende Artikel beleuchtet die aktuelle Situation der Fertigung von sicherheitskritischen Bauteilen in der Triebwerksindustrie. Entscheidend für die Bauteilqualität ist in erster Linie die Oberflächenintegrität. Diese wird in der Produktion derzeit mit Hilfe klassischer nicht-zerstörender Prüfverfahren verifiziert. Neue Ansätze bedienen sich der Prozessüberwachung, die ein großes Potenzial im Bereich der prozessbegleitenden Qualitätssicherung bietet. Ein erster Prototyp für eine industrienahe Lösung zur Prozessüberwachung beim Bohren wird in diesem Artikel vorgestellt.

Modelling of transient thermal conditions in cutting

The thermal conditions like the temperature distribution and the heat fluxes during metal cutting have a major influence on the machinability, the tool lifetime, the metallurgical structure and thus the functionality of the work piece. This in particular applies for manufacturing processes like milling, drilling and turning for high-value turbomachinery components like impellers, combustion engines and compressors of the aerospace and automotive industry as well as energy generation, which play a major role in modern societies. However, numerous analytical and experimental efforts have been conducted in order to understand the thermal conditions in metal cutting, yet many questions still prevail. Most models are based on a stationary point of view and do not include time dependent effects like in intensity and distribution varying heat sources, varying engagement conditions and progressive tool wear. In order to cover such transient physics an analytical approach based on Green’s functions for the solution of the partial differential equations of unsteady heat conduction in solids is used to model entire transient temperature fields. The validation of the model is carried out in orthogonal cutting experiments not only punctually but also for entire temperature fields. For these experiments an integrated measurement of prevailing cutting force and temperature fields in the tool and the chip by means of high-speed thermography were applied. The thermal images were analyzed with regard to thermodynamic energy balancing in order to derive the heat partition between tool, chips and workpiece. The thus calculated heat flow into the tool was subsequently used in order to analytically model the transient volumetric temperature fields in the tool. The described methodology enables the modeling of the transient thermal state in the cutting zone and particular in the tool, which is directly linked to phenomena like tool wear and workpiece surface modifications.

Process Monitoring for Manufacturing of Critical Aero Engine Components: An Overview

Modern production systems stand out due to an increasing degree of capacity utilization of the efficiency available through the production process. As working on a technological threshold as well as on a complex task comes along with an increase of susceptibility to failure, process monitoring is an important means to avoid damage to machines, tools, and component parts and a consequent machine downtime. In order to bring about detection of tool breakage, overload and tool wear, we use different sensor and monitoring systems which are adjusted to the process in the best possible way. This paper gives an overview of existing process monitoring solutions, especially in the field of aero engine manufacturing.© 2014 ASME