Papers by Keyword: Process Efficiency

Abstract: This paper examines the economic costs and benefits of the use of an ultrasonic wire or tape cleaning system. In the last years, major technology improvements made the use of power ultrasound more reasonable for the cleaning of wires. The cavitation of modern high-power ultrasonic processors serves to remove grease, oil, and other contaminations from the surface of the wire. Reduced investment costs and high performance of these ultrasonic wire cleaning systems made them not only competitive but superior to conventional cleaning methods as for example acid baths.

Abstract: We developed a wireless communication holder system to monitor the process temperature and vibration of a rotating machining tool. This report presents an estimation of the process temperature in end-milling and the chatter vibration when boring with it. The thermocouple is set in the end-mill tool to measure the process temperature, and the MEMS accelerometer is set in the boring tool to measure the chatter vibration. We also present an investigation of the end-mill temperature observed using infrared thermography and the vibration of the spindle using a traditional accelerometer. The proposed holder system was found to be effective to estimate the process monitoring of the rotating machining tools.

Abstract: Infrared thermographic technology has attracted the attention of various industrial fields. We therefore focus on it as a novel tool temperature monitoring method to improve the end-milling conditions of difficult-to-cut materials. However, it is difficult to measure tool temperature under coolant conditions because coolant prevents the monitoring of end-mill tool surfaces. Thus, we developed a novel temperature monitoring method by applying a pore electric discharge machining process to place a thermocouple sensor in the end-mill tool and by using a wireless telegraphic multifunctional tool holder to directly measure the internal temperature of the end-mill tool under rotation. We evaluated internal temperature distribution under various end-milling conditions on the basis of multipoint simultaneous measurements and discussed the influence of forced convection heat transfer on the internal temperature of the tool under various rotating conditions. In addition, we used a finite element method to analyze unsteady heat conduction on the basis of temperature measurement by high-speed video infrared thermography and compared the results with those of the wireless telegraphic multifunctional tool holder to demonstrate its validity and usefulness.

Abstract: When machining by electrochemical and electrical discharge machining methods, the working solution plays an important role and this paper presents the results obtained by applying of some mixtures between colloidal and inorganic solutions that will remove the drawbacks of both media and promotes the increasing of the process efficiency.

Abstract: Nowadays, resource saving technologies have become important because of increasing global environmental problems. Moreover, demand is increasing for the manufacturing and machining of small mechanical parts because of the downsizing of electronic mobile devices. Thus, one requirement has emerged that these small parts have to be fabricated by smaller machine tools to reduce the environmental burden. Here, when we look at the heat treatment process, it is found that most small parts are generally treated with a large size furnace as well. Therefore, we focus on compact machine tools to develop the clean and energy-saving technology in the manufacturing fields. In the present report, we consider an in-situ laser heat treatment technology integrated on the table used for compact machine tools. In particular, we perform the entire laser hardening of a small thin plate with a small power semiconductor laser, which is an attempt to harden a whole steel sheet. However, thin plates deform during the laser hardening process, which is called “laser forming.” Thus, we discuss an effective irradiation path to prevent the deformation of plates while quenching the entire plate. Moreover, considering the power consumption in the laser quenching process, we investigate an appropriate laser irradiation condition.

Abstract: Nowadays, infrared thermographic technology has been attracting attention in various industrial fields. We therefore focus on it as a novel method for monitoring tool temperature to improve end-milling conditions for difficult-to-cut materials. However, a problem has emerged; it is difficult to measure the tool temperature when there is a coolant because the coolant prevents monitoring of the surface of the end-mill tool. Thus, we developed a wireless tool holder system equipped with a thermocouple in the end mill to monitor the tool temperature under coolant conditions. In this report, we compared the temperature measured by infrared thermographic imagery with that measured by a wireless tool holder system when end milling the stainless steel under dry coolant conditions. The thermocouple, which has a small diameter of 0.12 mm, was used to ensure high response measurement in the proposed wireless tool holder. We obtained the tool temperatures by infrared thermographic imagery and by wireless tool holder equipped with a thermocouple at a sampling time of 1/30 of a second. We confirmed that the temperature measured by the wireless tool holder agrees with that measured by infrared thermographic imagery. As a result, we demonstrated that the developed method with a wireless system is effective to estimate the tool temperature in end-milling processes and makes it feasible to measure it under coolant conditions.

Abstract: In this study, we perform the end-mill process of a difficult-to-cut material (JIS SUS310 stainless steel) and observe it with high performance infrared thermography. Considering the rotating angle of end-mill tool, a pixel temperature in each frame is investigated to obtain the tool temperature variation after cutting of each tooth in end-mill process. The tool temperature distribution can be analyzed at each rotating tool position in end-mill process from imageries, considering the relationship between the time duration of each frame and the rotating speed of an end-mill tool. Moreover, the tool/holder shape and the number of cutting teeth can be seen to affect the cutting temperature because the tool heat capacity and the heat input are different. The examination and analytical results show this method to be effective to estimate the tool temperature in the end-mill process sufficiently.

Abstract: Pico and femtosecond lasers present a growing interest for industrials applications such as surface structuring [1] or thin film selective ablation [2]. Indeed, they combine the unique capacity to process any type of material (dielectrics, semiconductors, metals) with an outstanding precision and a reduced affected zone. We report on results about surface engraving of metals (Al, Cu, Mo, Ni), semiconductor (Si) and polymer (PC) using a picosecond thin disk Yb:YAG-amplifier. The pulse duration of this source can be changed using two different configurations: direct amplification of a 34ps-oscillator on one hand, and 1ps-chirped pulse amplification (CPA) scheme on the other hand. The results obtained with this thin disk laser are compared to ones achieved with two commercial femtosecond lasers respectively based on Yb-doped crystals and fibers, and operating at similar output power levels (up to 15Watt).