CAD/CAM

UNITUNIT-II
KESHAVAMURTHY.Y.C
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
RVCE

UNIT-II
CONTENTS

NC, CNC, DNC Technology: Basic components of
NC system, NC procedure, Coordinate system, NC
motion control system, problem with conventional
NC system, NC control technology, Computer
numerical control, Direct numerical control system

CNC tooling: Cutting tool materials, turning tool
geometry, milling tool system, tool presetting,
automatic tool changer, work holding, selection
and applications of turning tools.

CUTTING TOOL MATERIALS

Various cutting-tool materials have been used in
the industry for different applications

High speed steel

Cemented carbides

Coated carbides

Ceramics

HIGH SPEED STEEL

HSS tool materials have significant quantities of
tungsten, molybdenum, chromium and vanadium.

Complex carbides of tungsten, molybdenum and
chromium distributed through out the metal matrix
provides very good hot hardness and abrasion
resistance.

Major alloying elements, which contributes to the
hardness is tungsten and molybdenum.

Main advantages of high-speed steels is their high
hardness, hot hardness, good wear resistance, high
toughness and reasonable cost.

Physical coating process (PVD) allows the HSS tools to
be coated with hard nitrides of titanium and
Aluminium.

HIGH SPEED STEEL

HIGH SPEED STEEL

CEMENTED CARBIDES

Cemented carbides are produced by the cold
compaction of the tungsten carbide powder in a binder
such as cobalt, followed by liquid phase sintering.

Cobalt content increases, toughness and impact
strength of cemented carbide increase while hardness,
Youngs modulus and thermal conductivity decrease.

Since tungsten and cobalt are expensive, some special
cemented carbides having predominantly tantalum
carbides with Ni and Mo as binder have been
developed.

Cemented carbides being expensive are available in
insert form in different shapes such as triangle,
square, diamond and round.

Each of the edge would act as a cutting edge. After all
the edges as utilized, the tools are thrown out and a
new bit is used in the tool holder (throwaway bits).

CEMENTED CARBIDES

CEMENTED CARBIDES

COATED CARBIDES

Tool life of the coated tools is often two to three
times that of the uncoated, also these tools can be
used at higher cutting speeds, thus increasing
productivity.

To accomplish the same, thin coating of TiN has
been used on cemented carbide tools.

Coatings such as titanium carbide, titanium
nitride, Aluminium oxide, hafnium nitride and
hafnium carbide or multiple coatings of the above,
are deposited generally on the carbide tool bits by
the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) process.

Coated carbides are being increasingly used in the
industry in comparison to the uncoated varieties.

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CERAMICS

Ceramics are alumina-based high refractory materials
introduced specifically for high speed machining of
materials which are difficult to machine such as cast
iron.

Ceramics can withstand very high temperatures, are
chemically more stable and have higher wear
resistance than the other cutting tool materials.

Main problems of ceramic tools are their low strength,
poor thermal characteristics and the tendency to
chipping.

Apart from the pure alumina based ceramics,
sometimes other materials such as titanium carbide
are added to enhance the transverse rupture strength.

Ceramic tools can be used with very high cutting
speeds on steels. Ceramic tools are used for machining
work pieces, which have high hardness such as
castings, case hardened and hardened steels.

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CERAMICS

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Summary of applications for various

cutting tool materials
Tool
material

Work materials

Remarks

Carbon
steels

Low strength, softer

materials, non ferrous
alloys, plastics

Low cutting speeds, low strength

materials

Low/mediu
m alloy
steels

Low strength, softer

materials, non ferrous
alloys, plastics

Low cutting speeds, low strength

materials

HSS

All materials of low and

medium strength and
hardness

Low to medium cut-ting speeds, low

to medium strength materials

All materials up to medium

strength and hard-ness

Not suitable for low

speed application

Coated
carbides

Cast iron, alloy steels,

stainless steels, super alloys

Not for Titanium alloys, not for nonferrous alloys as the coated grades
do not offer additional benefits over
uncoated.

Ceramics

Cast iron, Ni-base super

alloys, non ferrous alloys,
plastics

Not for low speed operation or

interrupted cutting. Not for
machining Al, Ti alloys.

Cemented
carbides

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TURNING TOOL GEOMETRY

Since the cost of the CNC machine tool is high, it is
necessary to use (actual time and material removal
capacity) the machine to fullest extent possible.

In the respect appropriate cutting tool and the process
parameters make a lot of difference.

Since CNC machine tools have adequate rigidity as
well as high spindle speed, it is necessary to use either
cemented carbide or ceramic tool according to
situations.

As of now a majority of the tools used are of the
cemented carbide type with indexable insert type.

Therefore it becomes necessary to understand the ISO
coding systems for these, to be able to easily make the
selection.

The actual selection of the tools for a particular
application has to carefully match the geometry.

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TURNING TOOL GEOMETRY

ISO coding system for tungsten carbide inserts used

in turning

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TURNING TOOL GEOMETRY

ISO coding system for tungsten carbide turning-too holders used in external
turning (SCEA- Side cutting edge angle, ECEA- end cutting edge angle)

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TURNING TOOL GEOMETRY

Typical contour capability of external turning tools

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TURNING TOOL GEOMETRY

Typical contour capability of internal turning tools

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MODULAR TOOLING SYSTEMS FOR TURNING

In view of variety of machining needs, the tooling
systems used in CNC turning centers makes use of
different shank sizes and shapes which required
different tool holders for clamping them securely in the
tool turret.

This makes the tool change function as well as the
design of storage magazine a difficult one.

This is changed by adopting a modular tooling system
such that all the tools have the same type of holding
method used, whether it is external or internal turning.

In these tool modules the clamping end remains the
same, whatever is the type of tool.

In these systems the tool change takes only a few
seconds, thus increasing the available productive time
in the machine tool and also stability is very high.

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MODULAR TOOLING SYSTEMS FOR TURNING

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CLAMPING SYSTEM USED IN MODULAR

TOOLING FOR TURNING TOOLS

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MILLING TOOL SYSTEM

Milling tool to be used in CNC machine tool is an
assembly of a number of parts besides the actual
cutting tool.

Assembly consists of the adopter to suit the spindle
taper, a collet for holding the straight shank of the end
mill, a retention knob which is used by the hydraulic
draw bar in the spindle housing for retaining or
releasing the tool from the spindle, besides the actual
cutting tool, the end mill.

CNC machine tools are versatile, they need to use a
large variety of tools to accomplish the range of
machining tasks they are capable of.

There are number of shapes of the adopter depending
on the machine tool standard followed by the machine
tool builder.

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TOOL ASSEMBLY

Complete tool assembly as used in a CNC machining center

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RETENTION KNOB

Retention knob as used in the top of tool assembly for clamping

and releasing purpose as used in a CNC machining center.

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TOOL PRESETTING

Generation of actual geometry is taken care of by the
CNC part program, which is essentially the coordinates
through which the cutting tool tip moves, it is
important to know the actual dimensions of the tool
when it is placed in spindle.

Relationship of the tool with reference to the toolholding mechanism requires a special attention during
CNC machining process.

The actual point to be programmed in a CNC part
program is the tip of the tool where the axes will be
moving with respect to a known point in the spindle.

Therefore it becomes necessary to know precisely the
deviation of the tool tip from the gauge point on the
spindle. Hence tool setting equipment is generally
used.

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TOOL PRESETTING

A simple mechanical type tool setting device is used for
tool setting.

In this system, the base is provided with the exact tape
as used in the actual machine tool.

The assembled tool is therefore placed in the spindle
taper.

The measurement is done with the help of a
micrometer head, which is attached to a U-clamp.

The U-clamp can be moved manually on a post, which
has precise location slots that are separated by an
exact distance.

The length of the tool can therefore be measured by the
measurement of the micrometer plus the slots along
the post.

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TOOL PRESETTING

A similar tool-setting device which can measure
the length as well as the diameter of a spindle
tooling.

The tool-measuring probe moves on two precise
axes to measure both the length and the diameter
of a spindle tooling unit.

The display is shown digitally so that there is no
error in measurement.

Further, they are provided with a serial port for
outputting the measured values directly into any
tool management system for the purpose of
generating the tool offset values.

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TOOL PRESETTING

Typical Tool Setting system useful for machining center tooling

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TOOL PRESETTING

Typical tool setter integrated with a CNC turning centre

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TOOL PRESETTING

Typical digital tool-setting system for machining center tooling

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AUTOMATIC TOOL CHANGER

During the operation of a machine too, a
considerable amount of time is spent in idle
movement of tools such as tool engagement and
disengagement, tool change and tool setup.

To improve the machine utilization, it is necessary to
minimize these idle motions.

To that extent automatic tool changers or ATC, plays
a very important role.

ATC are particularly useful in machining
applications where a number of tools are to be used
for finishing the job.

ATC is single factor which makes a CNC machine
tool more autonomous with little operator
intervention.

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AUTOMATIC TOOL CHANGER

For the automatic tool changer to operate, it is
necessary to have the following:
a) A tool magazine where sufficient number of tools
can be stored.
b) The tool adopter that has a provision for pick-up
by the tool change arm.
c) The ability in the control to perform the tool
change function.
d) Tool change procedure

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TOOL MAGAZINES

Tool magazines to be used have to be considered in
terms of the following attributes.
 Storage capacity
 Type and shape
 Tool change procedure

Simplest type of tool magazine is a turret. This
method combines tool storage with the tool change
procedure, without the need for a tool change arm.

Turret simply indexes to bring the tool into the
position of machining, since the spindle is combined
with the tool turret.

The next type of tool magazine found in most of the
machine tools with lower tooling requirements is the
drum or disc type magazine.

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TOOL MAGAZINES

In drum type tool magazine, drum rotates for the
purpose of tool change to bring the required tool to
the tool change arm.

The diameter of the disc is indicative of the number of
tools it can hold.

As the number of tools in the magazine increases, its
diameter becomes too large to be practical.

For storing large number of tools, a chain type tool
magazine provides the necessary flexibility.

In chain type, the tools are attached to the pockets
which are in turn attached to the chain which is
moving on appropriate sprockets.

The chain allows for a very large variety of
arrangements.

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TOOL MAGAZINES

TYPICAL TOOL TURRET USED IN CNC DRILL/MILLING MACHINES

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TOOL MAGAZINES

CNC drilling machine using a tool turret

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TOOL MAGAZINES

CNC machining center with a drum type tool magazine

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TOOL MAGAZINES

A chain type tool magazine for holding larger number of

spindle tooling used in CNC machining centers.

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TOOL MAGAZINES

Variations of chain type tool magazines.

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TOOL MAGAZINES

An example of a chain type tool magazine with a capacity of 100 tools

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TOOL CHANGING

In case of turret, the tool changing is
relatively simple, because of the turret
indexing.

In case of other tool magazines, it is
necessary to have a tool changing arm which
can provide the necessary tool transfer.

The tool magazine is placed close to the
spindle such that the actual tool transfer
does not consume a lot of time.

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TOOL CHANGING

The tool change activity requires the following motions:
i. Stopping the spindle at the correct orientation for the tool
change arm to pick the tool from the spindle.
ii. Tool change arm to move to the spindle.
iii. Tool change arm to pick the tool from the spindle.
iv. Tool change arm to index to reach the tool magazine.
v. Tool magazine to index into the correct position where the
tool from the spindle is to be placed.
vi. Place the tool in the tool magazine.
vii. Indexing the tool magazine to bring the required tool to the
tool change position.
viii.Tool change arm to pick the tool from the tool magazine.
ix. Tool change arm to index to reach the spindle.
x. New tool is placed in the spindle.
xi. Tool change arm moves into its parking position.

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TOOL MAGAZINES

One common type of tool-change arm used for tool changing with a double gripper

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TOOL CHANGING SEQUENCE

Sequence of tool changing in case of a double gripper.
i. Tool magazine to index into the correct position where
the tool from the spindle is to be placed.
ii. Stopping the spindle at the correct orientation for the
tool change arm to pick the tool from the spindle. (a)
iii. Tool change arm to index to reach the tool magazine.
iv. Tool change arm to pick the tool from the spindle and
the tool magazine simultaneously (b)
v. Tool change arm to index to reach the tool magazine. (c)
vi. New tool is placed in the spindle and the tool
magazine.(d)
vii. Tool change arm moves into its parking position.

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TOOL CHANGE PROCEDURE

Tool change procedure with a tool change arm having a double gripper

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TOOL CHANGE PROCEDURE

Tool change procedure with a tool change arm having a double gripper

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WORK HOLDING

Work holding in CNC machine tools is more
important since the conventional work holding
devices such as vices or chucks are rarely used
except for very simple components.

For complex shapes of the work pieces, it become
necessary to use some special fixtures for quick
set up of the work pieces.

Modular fixturing systems, which are in trend for
conventional machine tools have been refined and
are widely used for holding the work pieces in
CNC machine tools.

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WORK HOLDING

Grid plates are generally used as one of the
fixturing bases.

The grid plates are provided with precisely drilled
and tapped holes to facilitate the clamping
operation.

Since the holes on these grid plates are made at
precise positions, the operator would know the
exact location of the component depending upon
clamping.

In addition to these standard fixture bases, a
large number of fixture elements such as angle
blocks and base elements are used to quickly
clamp the work pieces in position.

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WORK HOLDING

Grid plate with holes which can be used as a machine table.

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WORK HOLDING

Tombstone for mounting multiple components on different places

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WORK HOLDING

Modular fixture elements used for supporting complex work pieces.

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