Boeing has established two world records with its 787 Dreamliner, setting new marks for both speed and distance for the weight class.

“These records area  great way to demonstrate that this airplane is the game-changer we have promised,” says Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program.

From a materials point of view, the 787 Dreamliner is one of the most revolutionary leaps in the history of manufacturing. The use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics in the construction reduces weight significantly, allowing fuel savings and extended flying range.

The airplane uses 20 percent less fuel than similar-sized airplanes, and now holds the distance record with a 12,325-mile flight (which gave credit for 11,896 miles) from Seattle to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The former record was held by the Airbus A330, which traveled 10,503 miles in 2002.

Composites are used on wings, tail, doors, fuselage and interior. Passenger comfort will improve thanks to the material, as the internal cabin pressure will be increased. Also, the humidity in the passenger cabin can be increased.

Learn more about Aerospace Solutions from Sandvik Coromant.

Originally published in Metalworking World 2.2012, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.

Text: Chian Gramfors
Illustration: Kjell Thorsson

In the above web cast see how this new-generation CoroDrill 870 exchangeable-tip drill features a unique gash and flute design with an optimized shape, size and helix angle for safe chip evacuation. Learn more about Drilling Solutions from Sandvik Coromant.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

Hello and welcome to the Sandvik Coromant web cast for CoroDrill 870.

CoroDrill 870 offers the high versatility of an exchangeable-tip drill with secure interface between drill body and tip for excellent hole making performance. Benefits include reliability and security, high penetration rates, optimized chip evacuation, and lower cost per hole.

The new cutting edge geometry delivers low cutting forces, high process security, good chip control, and high penetration rates.

Unique gash and flute design features an optimized shape, size and helix angle for safe chip evacuation and overall tool stability. Through coolant is recommended for high-performance applications.

New grade 4234 offers a unique combination of crater wear and flank wear resistance, resulting in long and reliable tool life at high productivity rates.

The self-locating mount allows for easy handling only 1 ½ revolutions for secure tip exchange. Minimize downtime by changing tips inside the machine. And, because the tip only goes in one way, the risk of backward installation is eliminated.

The CoroDrill 870 is optimized for steel, ensuring excellent hole quality while achieving H9 to H10 hole tolerances. It is currently available in diameters from 12–20.9mm and in future releases the diameter range will include sizes from 9.5 to 33mm.

In this test case, we slightly increased the cutting speed and feed rate over the competitor, achieving a 90 percent increase in tool life while increasing productivity by 36 percent.

This concludes our web cast for the CoroDrill 870. For more information, contact your local Sandvik Coromant representative.

To register for this FREE event, please visit: Ohio HTEC Conference.

Click HERE for driving directions.

For further information please contact Mike White (michael.white@tric-c.edu), Program Manager in Advanced Manufacturing at Cuyahoga Community College.

“The greatest challenge facing the future of manufacturing is the limited amount of skilled labor. That’s what our participation in these events aims to address” said Tom Henry, manager of Sandvik Coromant’s Productivity Center. “It’s encouraging to see so many interested young students who are excited about the manufacturing industry. It’s inspirational.”

During the student’s Schaumburg Productivity Center visit, Henry presented a brief overview of Sandvik Coromant’s “Bridging the Skills Gap” presentation with Kevin Clay, sales manager, before detailing manufacturing processes such as milling, drilling and turning. Sandvik Coromant’s Craig Dimond, Jesus Nava, Brett Voigt and Rob Munn provided a CAD/CAM presentation, along with a number of live machine demonstrations on milling, drilling and turning, including a demo on gear cutting on the new Höfler gear milling machine.

Eisenhower Middle School is participating in the Rockford School District’s Introduction to Manufacturing Program, which created the Pathways for Technical Careers Academy to expose interested students to local colleges and manufacturing businesses to help them begin developing career aspirations in the manufacturing industry. Program participants were presented with their honorary “Surgeons of Steel” T-shirts by Sandvik Coromant during a Rockford School District Event in February, when the program kicked off.

Sandvik Coromant is dedicated to ensuring the future of our manufacturing workforce through ongoing education, training, and dedicated tools and resources. Lear more about these programs from Sandvik Coromant.

The SkillsUSA Championships are designed to recognize outstanding career and technical education students in the U.S. that compete in more than 94 different trade, technical and leadership fields. Each student contestant has already won the SkillsUSA competition in their respective state.

Sandvik Coromant Training and Productivity Center Manager, Kevin Mayer, and Senior Training Specialist, Chuck Tate, will be involved in supporting, organizing and judging the separate contests. Sandvik Coromant supplies the appropriate metal cutting tools for student competitions and insures tools are the same for each contestant. Categories include CNC Milling Technology, CNC Turning Technology and Precision Machining Technology.

“The education and success of the next generation of the manufacturing workforce is essential not just for our company, but for the metalworking industry as a whole,” said Kevin Mayer. “This is why the SkillsUSA Championships are a great opportunity for students to demonstrate skills learned and developed through their schools’ training programs.”

Sandvik Coromant remains dedicated to ensuring the future of the manufacturing industry on a local, regional, and global level through ongoing training and education.

Thirty 8th grade students from Eisenhower Middle School in Rockford, IL were selected to participate in a trial experience that introduces them to the manufacturing industry and opportunities for career paths. During this experience, the students have visited the University of Illinois School of Engineering, GE Aviation Systems, Woodward, and Sundstrand to gain first hand knowledge in the field.

Tomorrow, these students will be hosted at the Sandvik Coromant Productivity Center in Schaumburg, IL and DMG/Mori Seiki University to further explore the manufacturing industry and its possibilities.

The underwater kite was included in Time magazine's 50 Best Inventions in 2010. It was also the only invention to make the 2011 list of Top 15 Utility Solutions compiled by the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization.

The Swedish company Minesto has developed a form of underwater kite that could provide a more environmentally friendly and efficient renewable energy source than wind power.

Minesto reports that the kites can generate 500 kilowatts of power even in calm conditions. Each small kite device will be capable of generating enough energy to power 300 households and could be commercially operational by 2013. The kite can travel 1o times faster than the flow of the water it operates in. Because of the relationship between speed and energy, the faster the kite travels, the more efficiently it can create energy. Seawater is 800 times denser than air: the turbine can generate 800 times more energy than if it were in the sky. Each kite is tethered to the seabed and moves in a  pattern, converting tidal currents into energy.

Learn more about Energy Solutions from Sandvik Coromant.

Text: Geoff Mortimore
Photo: Kjell Thorsson

Originally published in Metalworking World 1.2012, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.

Fair Lawn, N.J. – Sandvik Coromant introduces the CoroDrill 861, a brand new range of solid carbide drills for deep hole drilling applications. Featuring Advanced Chip Management (ACM) flute geometry, the new drills are able to generate small, manageable chips. This, combined with specially designed point geometry to reduce thrust forces and patented double-offset margin geometry, helps provide the high stability necessary for drilling deep holes in the most expedient and efficient manner.

CoroDrill 861 with innovative fluted geometry.

Effective chip evacuation is critical when deep hole drilling. The buildup of heat and friction resulting from an accumulation of chips can impact productivity and tool life, even leading to drill breakage and downtime in some instances. With CoroDrill 861, Sandvik Coromant provides consistent edge preparation that protects the cutting edge from premature chipping and flaking, thus helping to minimize cost-per-hole.

Using its innovative geometry, CoroDrill 861 produces accurate, deep holes to depths of 12-30 x drill diameter, without pecking. Using a suitable high precision chuck, IT8-IT9 is the achievable hole tolerance in workpieces materials in the steel, stainless steel, cast iron and non-ferrous metal application areas. Internal coolant holes deliver coolant directly to the tip of the drill even at deep drilling depths, further aiding precision and chip evacuation. As well as conventional drilling, CoroDrill 861 is capable of producing cross-holes, and holes in angled faces, making it highly desirable for automotive powertrain shops producing components such as crankshafts, engine blocks and cylinder heads.

In a customer performance trial, using a 0.406 inch diameter CoroDrill 861 for horizontal drilling operations in alloy steel produced remarkable results. Drilling to a depth of 5.5 inches (15xD), the tool achieved 60 percent higher productivity than a comparable competitor drill (in 30 minutes’ machining time). The machining feed rate increased from 22 to 36 in/min, resulting in an impressive drilled length of 90 feet, compared to the competitor drill, which completed 55 feet.

Learn more about Drilling Solutions from Sandvik Coromant.

The U.S. government has approved a project to create the country’s first offshore wind farm. The farm, Cape Wind, will be located in Nantucket Sound, off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

The site will comprise 130 wind turbines, producing up to 420 megawatts of electricity. In normal wind conditions, it is expected to provide about 75 percent of the power requirements for the cape and nearby islands. The project has been highly controversial due to the sensitive ecology of Nantucket Sound.

Construction is expected to begin toward the end of 2011, with an anticipated cost of $2.5 billion.

Learn more about Wind Solutions from Sandvik Coromant.

Originally published in Metalworking World 1.2012, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.

CoroDrill 870 exchangeable-tip drill from Sandvik Coromant.

Drill types today have different capabilities depending on the type. They have established application areas according to hole requirements, practical limits to tooling and tool development. Today a few drill types dominate holemaking, a machining area made up of sub-areas that are evolving along with changing drill capabilities.

Indexable insert drills provide unbeatable production economy, with high machining productivity for bolt-type holes as well as some thread-tapping holes. Drill-depth capability is five times the diameter.

Solid carbide twist drills are ground and have the capability of making very accurate holes with a high surface finish. They represent, however, a relatively expensive tool with reconditioning required.

Brazed carbide-tipped drills are ground and represent an intermediate diameter and tolerance area. Diameters typically range from 0.39 to 1.18 inches, with a depth capability of five times the diameter. This type of drill also requires reconditioning, with a complex geometry requiring 5-axis grinding.

Exchangeable-tip drills are a more recent development, shown to provide various benefits, and thus they have established a position for themselves. In general they uphold a drill size and tolerance area between and overlapping some of the areas of solid carbide drills and indexable insert drills, with clear benefits over brazed drills. They are currently in need of a new generation.

Secure, high-precision interface between the drill body and tip for extra stability.

The intermediate area of holes has a high potential for improvement. Holes in this area are found on a number of different components and materials formed by solid carbide and indexable insert drills and are typically tapping holes, especially those with closer tolerances, finer holes for reaming, tubesheet holes in heat exchangers, more precise fabrication holes and, generally, deeper holes.

The technology of exchangeable tip drills sets both practical and capability limits in terms of minimum and maximum sizes for acceptable tip design, but for the right area, it can be an excellent solution.

To achieve this, the exchangeable-tip drill needs to have a tolerance capability of IT9 to IT11 and a Ra better than 2.5 μm, depending on the application. Hole-depth capability needs to be 12 times the diameter, with semi-standard options for shorter and intermediate lengths, further stability and depths options, and step and chamfer facilities. There needs to be a potential for relatively high penetration rates, the tool life of the tips needs to be long and consistent, and the tips need to be changed easily, quickly and in a foolproof way in the machine.

Exchangeable-tip: Improved Handling

For optimum stability and minimum run-out clamp CoroDrill 870 with a Hydro-Grip clamping chuck with sealed cylindrical collet.

The exchangeable-tip concept has been around for some years now. There are potential weaknesses in the concept that have to be overcome in the development of a new-generation drill, including strength and stability of interface, tool life, smooth cutting action, cutting data capability, degree of user friendliness, foolproof tip exchange, efficiency of chip evacuation, finishing consistency and machining reliability.

The new CoroDrill 870 is a new-generation exchangeable-tip drill that provides improved machining economy to an important intermediate area of holemaking — the area usually determined by a specific combination of hole diameter, depth and quality requirements. The drill forms an integral part of the CoroDrill program and is positioned with the solid carbide CoroDrill 860 and indexable insert CoroDrill 880.

The new drill concept has been developed to provide the range with a more advantageous combination of penetration rates, tool life, finishing capability, reliability and tool handling.

An advantage with CoroDrill 870 is the extent to which the tool can be tailored not only to suit but also to optimize applications through diameter range and steps, length possibilities and shanks. Holes can be made more efficiently and closer to the specifications required, leaving holes better suited to subsequent operations.

Text: Christer Richt

Originally published in Metalworking World 1.2012, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.