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How to Reduce Cycle Times by 70% and more on Your Existing CNCs and Dramatically Improve Tool Life Too
Much has been made of high efficiency milling in recent years, and for good reason. Roughing cycle times can often be reduced by as much as 80% by using solid end mills, small stepovers, faster feed rates and deeper axial depths of cut. The shortcoming has been that, due to part feature obstructions or CAM system limitations, the cutting technique can often only be used in certain areas of a part so that total part cycle time reduction ends up being much more modest.
Dr. Somekh says iMachining applies a much more flexible approach with the patented ability to dynamically vary the tool cutting angle (which refers to the degree of radial engagement of the tool with the material) and the feed rate in order to maintain a constant chip thickness and load on the cutting tool. The dynamic feed rate adjustment algorithm supports material cutting angles from 10 to 80 degrees of tool engagement. Constant load and chip thickness is key to the success of iMachining, also with very small cutters and machining in hard or highly abrasive materials.