Research Notes

At the Machining Research Centre of the School of Engineering Systems and Design at London South Bank University (London, England, UK), researchers are is running a project designated Machining of Hardened Aerospace Steel (Super CMV) and Nimonic C-263 Alloys with Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) Tools. The production of aerospace parts with conventional tools such as coated carbides usually involves cutting-hardening-grinding practices. Replacing these tools with CBN leads to improvements in part fatigue strength and productivity, and reduced energy consumption. This project evaluates CBN tools when machining at cutting conditions two to four-times higher than those achieved with coated carbide. Detailed study of the interaction at the tool-chip and tool-workpiece interfaces, as well as tool-failure modes, will help researchers understand mechanisms responsible for wear and failure modes from the work material and cutting-tool standpoints. A speedfeed chart will be established for each tool-workpiece combination. project called A Parallel Kinematics High-Speed Machine Tool has resulted in the development of a high-speed three-axis machine tool based on a novel parallel kinematics XY table (PKXYT). It offers low inertia, dynamically matched axes, trivial kinematics, and high accuracy, according to researchers at the Center for Machine Tool Systems Research (CMTSR) of the Department of Mechanical Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. They are now developing planning and control strategies to maximize performance objectives while operating within the feasible region of the hardware. The machine's capabilities are being evaluated in applications such as machining graphite electrodes, biomédical implants, and aerospace components.

For more information go to: www.mie.uiuc.edu/content/asp/researc h/research_projects/manufacturing_sy stems_1. asp.

Sandia National Laboratory (Sandia, NM) has quite a number of manufacturing research programs underway. One such project is called Advanced Machine Processes for Micro fabrication. It's a three-year R&D project that seeks to fabricate subminiature parts with non-planar surfaces from materials such as steels, plastics, and ceramics. Focused ion beams and ion accelerators are being used to make micron-sized features and tools in various metals.

For more information, go to mfgshop. sandia.gov/1400_ext__RDPro jects.htm.

At the NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), a project conducted under the name Testbed/Machining Systems is underway. Its goal is to demonstrate the technology base of reconfigurable systems that are upgradeable, changeable, and quickly diagnosable. Some objectives include strategically planning for industrial collaboration and technology transfer, and evaluating new machine tools, sensors, controls, design methods for systems and machines, manufacturing network software, and other enabling technologies.