【正文】 ing, hobbing, hardening, assembly, and laser welding. When they get an order, designers first derive a solution for the customer39。s first turning machine design in which the workpiece moves while the tools remain stationary. This arrangement is the basis for all multifunctional production centers, as it allows for a number of tooling systems for different machining processes to be integrated into the machining area of the same machine. All this led to the transformation of the simple vertical turning machine into the multitasking/multifunctional production center. Emag has delivered more than 5000 of these machines. UCP 600 Vario from Mikron is a fiveaxis unit that answers many multifunction needs. The automotive industry and transmission manufacturers also employ bined VSC turning and gearhobbing centers for the turning of raw parts and the subsequent highspeed gear hobbing and deburring operations. VSC production centers will also transform soft, raw parts into hardened, ground, pletely machined ponents. For instance, VSC machines automatically softturn fed steel pistons, then hardturn, drill, mill, and finishgrind them with CBN/corundum wheels. Another unique feature available is a welding unit. It is an increasingly important area of application for laser welding used in the manufacture of transmission systems. Many ponents, such as transmission gea。t get the easy jobs! says Hulihan. Key design features include: ? Short strokes. That is, minimal travel between the part and cutting element. ? Ambient cooling. The machine is kept at ambient temperature, not at some arbitrary value. The best results will be achieved if the part being made and the machine are at the same temperature. An internal system circulates fluid to all heat sources within the machine, including motors and bearings. ? Minimized vibration. The base and columns are made from a highgrade polymer granite called Mineralit. The vibration dampening properties of Mineralit pared to conventional materials results in a better surface finish and longer tool life. In addition, all the power equipment is out of the way above the work area. It39。s work zone. The ability to supply continuous dress improves productivity and quality because sharp abrasive is continuously exposed and the wheel has very good formholding capability. The wheel profile can be changed simply by calling up a different dressing roll and grinding wheel from the tool magazine, analogous to the way in which a machining center performs a tool change. The single most important aspect to control is coolant application. If too much is applied, the wheel hydroplanes。s recently announced Variaxis 7305X VMC features a highprecision table with 150 degrees of tilting range and a 50taper spindle. Aerospace is our top field, particularly for large machines machining structural ponents like large wing spars and floor beams, Kraemer notes. Fiveface machining is a smaller market. Fast, single setups often make fiveaxis machining more efficient than threeaxis equipment. The true beauty of the fiveaxis machine is the quick setups, for lowvolume work, notes Doug Gale, vice president and general manager, Handtmann CNC Technologies (Buffalo Grove, IL). With the Handtmann PBZ NT 800 fiveaxis machining center, aerospace customers can mill, drill, tap, and saw parts to length in one setup, eliminating the need for any other machine or material handling system, notes Gale. Our fiveaxis machines are very strong in aerospace and automotive applications, he adds. The key to these fiveaxis machines has a lot to do with how you hold the part. We have quite a few machines in the automotive sector, such as the Audi space frames that are being machined on our fiveaxis machines. Manufacturing Engineering January 2021 Vol. 134 No. 1 Multitalented MACHINE TOOLS They do everything but make the coffee Robert B. Aronson, Senior Editor MAGBUY Multiple modules provide a variety of machining processes in this Emag machine. The path to survival in the face of overseas petition favors those panies that can provide added value to a product. That means more precise, plex products. At the same time small panies are looking for greater product diversity, but without major investment. And this has favored the development of multifunction machine tools. Here are some of the pluses: ? Fewer, sometimes single, setups. ? Complex parts don39。s HSM400U HS fiveaxis machine offers acceleration on the bined linear axis, 40 m/min. feed rates with rotational rates of 150 rpm on the B axis and 250 rpm on the C axis. This gives our customers the tools to be highly petitive with our machines, Zurek says, and by bining our machine tool technology with our software tools, we monly see our customers achieving reduced cycle times, improved quality, and the flexibility to run unattended. Faster fiveaxis machining aids just about any manufacturing operation, where metalcutting efficiencies lead directly to increased productivity. Just as in threeaxis machining, machinetool speed is the greatest advantage, notes Kurt Nishimura, Manager, High Speed Machinery, Mori Seiki USA Inc. (Dallas and Nara, Japan). With fiveaxis machines, in the past the limiting factor was the speed of the rotary tables, but today39。s not to say that you can39。 Sinumerik 840D controller added a new motioncontrol program in which both the toolpath and the orientation are determined by separate spline curves, which reduces the machining time while simultaneously improving surface quality, especially for fiveaxis machining of sculptured surfaces. Many aerospace manufacturers use the Siemens 840D to perform plex cutting motions including transformatio