Designed For Manufacturing Solid Carbide Drill ~ CoroDrill® 860 Supports Manufacturing Innovation ~

Querétaro, Mexico /PRNewswire/ - "There is nothing efficient about innovation," Anglo-American author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek once said . But is he right? Manufacturers must innovate and keep up with changes, mainly those driven by electromobility. Here, Robert Smith , director of composites and hole machining offerings for the solid round tools (SRT) business unit of cutting tool specialist Sandvik Coromant, explains how manufacturers can and should efficiently innovate with solid carbide drills. advanced comprehensive.

Design for manufacturing (DFM) is becoming increasingly important to manufacturers in various industries, including automotive, aerospace, and general engineering. DFM means designing and developing products that can be manufactured more easily, efficiently and profitably. For Sandvik Coromant customers, this typically translates into achieving better cost per part in part machining or cost per hole in drilling and tapping applications. Each of these goals requires reliable, productivity-supporting cutting tools.

Furthermore, the concept of DFM is evolving due to an increasingly globalized supply chain and the increasing demand for customized products. Electromobility will also affect the DFM. Parts for electric and hybrid vehicles are more varied from manufacturer to manufacturer than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts and are increasingly made from tough materials such as low-alloy steels, Inconel and aluminium. While the electromobility trends in the aerospace sector are still years away, the trends in the automotive sector are already here: manufacturers must keep up with the changes or risk being left behind.

But how can advanced tooling solutions make a difference in DFM? The answers can be found in the Computer Aided Design (CAD) phases per manufacturing part. The CAD per part can encompass three manufacturing phases. First, the CAD per spindle phase, in which CAD and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) models, including digital copy-type simulations, are used to prepare a machining operation and ensure optimization of machining parameters. tools, parts and machining.

Secondly, the phase of the spindle, or that of the machining operations themselves. Here, we can evaluate the machining performance of the tool against the part and its effect on cost per part, cost per hole, and ultimately our customers' bottom line. Thirdly, there is the simple phase per piece, in which the quality and finish of the final piece is evaluated. Whether for the automotive, aerospace, or general engineering industries, finish and features such as hole surface integrity are critically important. Higher hole quality prevents part failure; in addition, it also depends to a large extent on the manufacturing processes that are used for the machining or finishing of the holes.

In particular, the design of a drill bit is key to producing better quality holes. For this reason, the geometries of the cutting edges in the drills continue to evolve, since it is important to meet the highest manufacturing and part quality standards. The use of coolant is also important to reduce heat buildup in the tool. This is where Sandvik Coromant specialists can play a crucial role in supporting their customers.

made with ease
Sandvik Coromant works closely with the customer to gather all the relevant information about their machining project and see what is needed. Suppose the customer needs to carry out a drilling operation on a 316L stainless steel part, a material that, according to an engineering and applied science study published by the Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN), exhibits "rapid and fatal wear". which seriously affects the useful life of cutting tools.

In this phase of the customer's machine process, the aforementioned CAD per spindle phase, our specialists can examine and reverse engineer the customer's processes, including the use of CAD and CAM models. With this, Sandvik Coromant can develop a tool prototype in the morning and have it ready for R&D testing in the afternoon. Before the existence of digital technology, this process would have required sending drawings back and forth and would have taken up to six weeks. Today, the ability to deliver tool prototypes the same day has been a real revolution for Sandvik Coromant.

Increased shelf life
Sandvik Coromant offers a range of products to support its customers in the manufacture of parts, including for electromobility. Among them is CoroDrill ® 860 , a solid carbide drill designed for fast drilling, maximizing productivity thanks to high metal cutting efficiency. The tool is available in a range of geometries, including the 860-MM for long chipping stainless steel materials such as austenitic, super austenitic, ferritic and duplex stainless steels.

In addition, there is the CoroDrill ® 860-GM which, for manufacturers in the automotive sector, has proven extremely useful for drilling engine blocks, casings, flanges and manifolds. This bit is also perfect for all applications beyond automotive and general engineering where hole quality is critical, such as in aerospace, oil and gas, as well as nuclear and renewable energy.

The 860-GM has achieved excellent results, even for a Korean automotive manufacturer. The Sandvik Coromant customer's operation was to drill through holes in a production batch of automotive transmission connectors. The goal was to drill eight 0.32" (8.2 mm) diameter through holes in each part, 0.39" (10 mm) deep. The existing solution produced 200 parts, 1,600 holes in total, with a cutting speed (vc) of 80 m /min (3,102 rpm) and a feed rate (Vf) of 381 mm/min. In comparison, the CoroDrill ® 860-GM produced 2,300 parts (18,400 holes) with a vc of 100 m /min (3,878 rpm) and Vf of 814 mm/min.

Overall, the CoroDrill ® 860-GM provided a significantly improved tool life of 1150%. This was accompanied by an increase in productivity that helped to significantly reduce the cost per part for the customer. Other Sandvik Coromant customers in the automotive industry around the world have achieved similar results.

As with plain hole drilling, cross tapping, the action that creates a thread inside the hole, is important. To do this, Sandvik Coromant offers the CoroTap ® 100, 200, 300 and 400 models, each optimized for different applications. To review a few examples, CoroTap ® 100 is a range of straight flute taps, optimized for ISO K, ISO N and ISO H short-chipping materials. At the same time, CoroTap ® 400 is a high-speed steel forming tap that does not generate chips, suitable for through and blind holes in steel, stainless steel and aluminum. The customer's choice depends on what is best for their application.

Later, Sandvik Coromant will offer CoroTap ® 100-N and CoroTap ® 400-N. Each one is designed to help customers with aluminum threading applications, an aspect that is becoming more important in manufacturing processes.

For now, the performance of Sandvik Coromant cutting tools demonstrates that tools designed for multi-material drilling and tapping will be key in helping manufacturers produce lighter, smaller and more varied parts. Machine shops can not only design and develop these parts more easily and cost-effectively, they can also ensure that DFM remains a priority throughout their manufacturing, and innovative with efficiency.

For more information on solid carbide drills for fast, trouble-free drilling, visit the Sandvik Coromant website .

Sandvik Coromant
As part of the global Sandvik industrial engineering group, Sandvik Coromant is at the forefront of manufacturing tools, machining solutions and expertise that drive the industry standards and innovations required for the machining industry today and tomorrow. Training, extensive investment in R&D and strong collaboration with our customers ensure the development of machining technologies that change, lead and direct the future of manufacturing. Sandvik Coromant holds more than 3,100 patents worldwide, has more than 7,900 employees and is present in 150 countries.