MACHINE POCESSES FOR PRODUCING VARIOUS SHAPES

Milling

Milling
Milling is a process of removing material by a multi-point rotating cutter.

Milling operations
Milling is one of the basic machining processes. The basic function of milling machines is to produce flat surfaces in any orientation. Milling is a very versatile process capable of producing simple two dimensional flat shapes

to complex three dimensional surface s.

 The Milling machines are widely used for the following

purposes : Flat surface in vertical, horizontal and inclined planes Making slots or ribs of various sections Slitting or parting Often producing surfaces of revolution Making helical grooves like flutes of the drills Long thread milling on large lead screws, power screws, worms etc and short thread milling for small size fastening screws, bolts etc. 2-D contouring like cam profiles, clutches etc and 3-D contouring like die or mould cavities Cutting teeth in piece or batch production of spur gears, straight toothed bevel gears, worm wheels, sprockets, clutches etc.

The Milling Process

The milling process:
Typically uses a multi-tooth

cutter Work is fed into the rotating cutter Capable of high MRR Well suited for mass production applications Cutting tools for this process are called milling cutters

Milling Processes

Milling Cutters

 Milling operations are classified into two major categories:

Milling Operations

Peripheral Milling Generally in a plane parallel to the axis of the cutter Cross section of the milled surface corresponds to the contour of the cutter

Face Milling Generally at right angles to the axis of rotation of the cutter Milled surface is flat and has no relationship to the contour of the cutter Combined cutting action of the side and face of the milling cutter

Related Operations
Side milling - machining a plane surface

perpendicular to the milling machine arbor with an arbor mounted tool. This tool is called a side mill. Straddle milling - milling two parallel surfaces using two cutters spaced apart on an arbor. Gang milling - milling multiple surface simultaneously using multiple cutters mounted on an arbor. Thread milling - milling treads using the capability of a three axis contouring CNC machine.

Operating Parameters
Conventional Milling

(Feed direction)

Conventional milling Most common method of feed Feed work against the rotation of the cutter

Climb milling
Load of the cutter tends to pull the work into the cutter This results in a small feed force and about 20% less Hp than conventional milling Downward motion increases the load on the table ways This method can pull the work into the cutter and scrap the work and/or damage the fixture and tool. Machine must be very ridged to safely utilize climb milling(CNC machines)

Operating Parameters
Conventional vs. Climb Milling

Types of Millng Machines

The Milling machines exist in two basic forms: i) Horizontal Milling machine ii) Vertical Milling Machine These terms refer to the orientation of the cutting tool spindle.

The primary difference in milling with respect to the lathe cutting is that the cut is always interrupted. As the cutter rotates and crosses across the part, each insert will enter and exit the cut at least one time per revolution. Not only does this cause a repeated impact situation on the cutting point, it also causes repeated heating and cooling of the insert itself lending it to be susceptible to thermal cracking.

Classification of milling machine

Milling machines can be

broadly classified;

(a) According to nature of purposes of

use : general purpose single purpose e.g., thread milling machines, cam milling machines and slitting machine which are generally used for batch or lot production. Special purpose these are used for lot or mass production.

 (b) According to configuration

and motion of the workholding table / bed i) Knee type ii) Bed type

iii)Planer type iv) Rotary table type

 (c) According to the orientation

of the spindle(s). i) Plain horizontal knee type ii) Vertical spindle type iii) Universal head milling machine iv) Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC)

Variation of Machines
CNC
Horizontal, Vertical,and Planner (up to 5 axis)

Process Accuracy
Accuracy of milling machines depend upon the following factors.
Fixture Rigidity of machine tool Accuracy of the spindle Cutter condition Coolant
Type Delivery method

Material condition

Planning and shaping Operations

 Planning and shaping operation

- In Planning nad shaping operation a

single point tool moves relative to the wrk part.

Planning & Shaping

Broaching

 Broaching is a milling process in which a multiple tooth cuting tool moves linearly relative to the work.

Broaching
Broaching is a machining operation which uses a toothed tool,

called a broach, to remove material. The broach is used in a broaching machine, which is also sometimes shortened to broach. It is used when precision machining is required, especially for odd shapes. Broaching finishes a surface in a single pass, which makes it very efficient. There are two main types of broaching: linear and rotary. In linear broaching, which is the more common process, the broach is run linearly against a surface of the workpiece to effect the cut. Linear broaches are used in a broaching machine, which is also sometimes shortened to broach. In rotary broaching, the broach is rotated and pressed into the workpiece to cut an axis symmetric shape. A rotary broach is used in a lathe or screw machine. In both processes the cut is performed in one pass of the broach, which makes it very efficient. Commonly machined surfaces include circular and non-circular holes, spline and flat surfaces. Even though broaches can be expensive, broaching is usually favorable to other processes when used for high-quantity production runs.

Internal broach

Broaching Process
Two types of broaching processes are in common:-

i) Surface broaching It is very simple as either the work piece is moved against a stationary surface broach, or the work piece is held stationary while the broach is moved against it. ii) Internal broaching This is more commonly used process. The process begins by either clamping the work piece into the work holder of the broaching machine or the broach is held in the clamp and the work piece is moved. Through relative motion (pull or push) the broach is passed through the work piece completely leaving behind the finished work piece. The broach usually only moves linearly, but sometimes it is also rotated to create a spiral spline or gun-barrel rifling. Most broaches are made from High speed steel (HSS) or an alloy steel or tungsten carbide. Tin coatings are common on HSS to prolong life. Except when broaching Cast iron, tungsten carbide is rarely used as a tooth material because the cutting edge will crack on the first pass.

Types of surface broach Broaches

i)

The slab broach

It is the simplest surface broach. It is a general purpose tool for cutting flat surfaces.

ii)

Slot broache s

These are cut slots of various dimensions at high production rates. Slot broaching is much quicker than milling when more than one slot needs to be machined, because the broach can produce both slots at the same time.

iii)

Contour broaches Pot broaches

Thse are designed to cut concave, convex, cam-, contoured, and irregular shaped surfaces.

iv)

These are cut the inverse of an internal broach; they cut the outside diameter of a cylindrical workpiece. The broach is held stationary while the workpiece is pushed or pulled through it. This has replaced hobbing for some involute gears and cutting external splines and slots. v)

Straddle broaches

They use two slab broaches to cut parallel surfaces on opposite sides of a workpiece in one pass. This type of broaching holds closer tolerances than if the two cuts were done independently.

Types of internal broach Broaches

Hollow or shell broaches
These are internal cutting broaches for cutting large diameters. They are designed to mount on an arbor. This is cheaper to produce than a solid broach.

Keyway broach
This a common type of internal broach. It uses a special fixture called a horn to support the broach and properly locate the part with relations to the broach.

Concentricity broach
It is a is a special type of spline cutting broach which cuts both the minor diameter and the spline form to ensure precise concentricity.

Broaching Machines
A broaching machine, or broach, uses tall chisel points to apply

linear shearing and scraping motions to the given material. Broaches are often used to create noncircular shapes out of holes that have been previously punched in the metal. They also cut splines and keyways on gears and pulleys. Rotary broaches are a unique subsection of broaching machines, used in conjunction with a lathe to create a simultaneous horizontal and vertical cutting motion. Broaching machines are relatively simple as they only have to move the broach in a linear motion at a predetermined speed and provide a means for handling the broach automatically. Most machines are hydraulic , but a few specialty machines are mechanically driven. The machines are distinguished by whether their motion is horizontal or vertical. The choice of machine is primarily dictated by the stroke required. Vertical broaching machines rarely have a stroke longer than 60 in (1.5 m).

Types of Broaching Machines

These are classified as vertical and horizontal i) Vertical broaching These machines can be designed for push broaching, pull-down broaching, pull-up broaching, or surface broaching. Push broaching machines are similar to an arbor press with a guided ram; typical capacities are 5 to 50 tons. Most surface broaching is done on a vertical machine.

ii)

Horizontal broaching

These machines are designed for pull broaching, surface broaching, continuous broaching, and rotary broaching. Surface style machines hold the broach stationary while the workpieces are clamped into fixtures that are mounted on a conveyor system. Continuous style machines are similar to the surface style machines except adapted for internal broaching. Horizontal machines used to be much more common than vertical machines, however today they represent just 10% of all broaching machines purchased. Vertical machines are more popular because they take up less space.

Hydraulic Cylinderical of a Broaching Machine

iii) Rotary Broaching

To create a spiral spline or gun-barrel rifling rotary broaching is used. The Rotary broaching requires two tooling components: a tool holder and a broach. The broach is free to rotate within the tool holder. If the work piece rotates, the broach is pressed against it, is driven by it, and rotates synchronously with it. If the tool holder rotates, the broach is pressed against the work piece, but is driven by tool holder rotation.

In general, a rotary broach will not cut as accurately as a push or pull broach. However, the ability to use this type of cutting tool on highproduction machinery such as a screw machine, and eliminate secondary operations, makes this a desirable manufacturing method.

Usage
Broaching was originally developed for machining internal keyways.

However, it was soon discovered that broaching is very useful for machining other surfaces and shapes for high volume workpieces. A customized broach is usually only viable with high volume workpieces, because the broach can easily cost $15,000 to $30,000 to produce. Broaching speeds vary from 20 surface feet per minute (SFPM) to 120 SFPM. This results in a complete cycle time of 5 to 30 seconds. Most of the time is consumed by the return stroke, broach handling, and work piece loading and unloading. Broaching works best on softer materials, such as brass, bronze, copper alloys, aluminium, graphite, hard rubbers, wood, composites, and plastic. However, it still has a good machinability rating on mild steels and free machining steels. When broaching the machinability rating is closely related to the hardness of the material. For steels the ideal hardness range is between 16 and 24 Rockwell C (HRC); a hardness greater than HRC 35 will dull the broach quickly. Broaching can also be used on harder materials, like stainless steel and titanium, but it is tougher.

Usage

The only limitations on broaching are that the workpiece is strong enough to withstand the forces involved. Specifically for internal broaching a hole must first exist in the workpiece so the broach can enter. Also, there are limits on the size of internal cuts. Common internal holes can range from 0.125 to 6 in (3.2 to 150 mm) in diameter but it is possible to achieve a range of 0.05 to 13 in (1.3 to 330 mm). Surface broaches' range is usually 0.075 to 10 in (1.9 to 250 mm), although the feasible range is 0.02 to 20 in (0.51 to 510 mm). Broaching works best on softer materials, such as brass, bronze, copper alloys, aluminium, graphite, hard rubbers, wood, composites, and plastic. However, it still has a good machinability rating on mild steels and free machining steels. When broaching the machinability rating is closely related to the hardness of the material. For steels the ideal hardness range is between 16 and 24 Rockwell C (HRC); a hardness greater than HRC 35 will dull the broach quickly. Broaching can also be used on harder materials, like stainless steel and titanium, but it is tougher.

Broached part (spline)

Gear manufacturing

Gear
A gear is a rotating machine having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears

working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine. Geared devices can change the speed, magnitude, and direction of a power source. The most common situation is for a gear to mesh with another gear, however a gear can also mesh a non-rotating toothed part, called a rack, thereby producing translation instead of rotation. An advantage of gears is that the teeth of a gear prevent slipping.

Two meshing gears transmitting rotational motion.

Types Of Gears
i) External vs. internal gears An external gear is one with the teeth formed on the outer surface of a cylinder or cone. Conversely, an internal gear is one with the teeth formed on the inner surface of a cylinder or cone.

Types of Gears
ii) Spur gear Spur gears or straight-cut gears are the simplest type of gear. They consist of a cylinder or disk, and with the teeth projecting radially, and although they are not straight-sided in form, the edge of each tooth thus is straight and aligned parallel to the axis of rotation. These gears can be meshed together correctly only if they are fitted to parallel axles. In spur gears teeth suddenly meet at a line

contact across their entire width causing stress and noise. Spur gears are used for low speed and less torque applications and those situations where noise control is not a problem

iii)

Helical gears

Helical gears offer a refinement over spur gears. The leading edges of the teeth are not parallel to the axis of rotation, but are set at an angle. Since the gear is curved, this angling causes the tooth shape to be a segment of a helix. Helical gears can be meshed in a parallel or crossed orientations. The former refers to when the shafts are parallel to each other; this is the most common orientation. In the latter, the shafts are non-parallel. The angled teeth engage more gradually than do spur gear teeth causing them to run more smoothly and quietly. The use of helical gears is indicated when the application involves high speeds, large power transmission, or where noise abatement is important. A disadvantage of helical gears is a resultant thrust along the axis of the gear, which needs to be accommodated by appropriate thrust bearings, and a greater degree of sliding friction between the meshing teeth, often addressed with additives in the lubricant.

Helical gears Top: parallel configuration Bottom: crossed configuration

iv) Double helical

Double helical gears, or herringbone gears, overcome the problem of axial thrust presented by "single" helical gears by having two sets of teeth that are set in a V shape. Each gear in a double helical gear can be thought of as two standard mirror image helical gears stacked. This cancels out the thrust since each half of the gear thrusts in the opposite direction. Double helical gears are more difficult to manufacture due to their more complicated shape.

Double Helical Gears

v) Bevel gears

A bevel gear is shaped like a right circular cone with most of its tip cut off. When two bevel gears mesh their imaginary vertexes must occupy the same point. Their shaft axes also intersect at this point, forming an arbitrary nonstraight angle between the shafts. The angle between the shafts can be anything except zero or 180 degrees. Bevel gears with equal numbers of teeth and shaft axes at 90 degrees are called miter gears. The teeth of a bevel gear may be straight-cut as with spur gears, or they may be cut in a variety of other shapes.

Bavel Gear

Types of Gears
Hypoid
Hypoid gears resemble spiral bevel gears except the shaft

axes do not intersect. The pitch surfaces appear conical but, to compensate for the offset shaft, are in fact hyperboloids of revolution. Hypoid gears are almost always designed to operate with shafts at 90 degrees. Depending on which side the shaft is offset to, relative to the angling of the teeth, contact between hypoid gear teeth may be even smoother and more gradual than with spiral bevel gear teeth. Also, the pinion can be designed with fewer teeth than a spiral bevel pinion, with the result that gear ratios of 60:1 and higher are feasible using a single set of hypoid gears. This style of gear is most commonly found in mechanical differentials.

Hypoid Gear

vi) Crown
Crown gears or contrate gears are a particular form of bevel gear whose teeth project at right angles to the plane of the wheel; in their orientation the teeth resemble the points on a crown. A crown gear can only mesh accurately

with another bevel gear, although crown gears are sometimes seen meshing with spur gears. A crown gear is also sometimes meshed with an arrangement such as found in mechanical clocks.

Crown gear

vii) Worm
Worm gears resemble screws. A worm gear is usually meshed with

an ordinary looking, disk-shaped gear, which is called the gear, wheel, or worm wheel. Worm-and-gear sets are a simple and compact way to achieve a high gear ratio. For example, helical gears are normally limited to gear ratios of less than 10:1 while worm-and-gear sets vary from 10:1 to 500:1. A disadvantage is the potential for considerable sliding action, leading to low efficiency. Worm gears can be considered a species of helical gear, but its helix angle is usually somewhat large (close to 90 degrees) and its body is usually fairly long in the axial direction; and it is these attributes which give it its screw like qualities. The distinction between a worm and a helical gear is made when at least one tooth persists for a full rotation around the helix. If this occurs, it is a 'worm'; if not, it is a 'helical gear'. A worm may have as few as one tooth. In a worm-and-gear set, the worm can always drive the gear. However, if the gear attempts to drive the worm, it may or may not succeed.

Worm Gear

Types of Gears
viii) Non-circular gears. Non-circular gears are designed for special purposes. While a regular gear is optimized to transmit torque to another engaged member with minimum noise and wear and maximum efficiency, a non-circular gear's main objective might be ratio variations, axle displacement oscillations and more. Common applications include textile machines, potentiometers and continuously variable transmissions.

Non-Circular Gear

ix) Rack and pinion

A rack is a toothed bar or rod that can be

thought of as a sector gear with an infinitely large radius of curvature. Torque can be converted to linear force by meshing a rack with a pinion: the pinion turns; the rack moves in a straight line. Such a mechanism is used in automobiles to convert the rotation of the steering wheel into the left-to-right motion of the tie rod(s).

Rack and pinion

Types of Gears
Epicyclic In epicyclic gearing one or more of the gear axes moves. Examples are sun and planet gearing (see below) and mechanical differentials

x) Sun and planet Sun and planet gearing was a method of converting reciprocal motion into rotary motion in steam engines. It played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. The Sun is yellow, the planet red, the reciprocating crank is blue, the flywheel is green and the driveshaft is grey

Sun (yellow) and planet (red) gearing

Materials for gear manufacturing

The majority of gears are composed of carbon and low-alloy steels, including carburised steels. Among the carburised

steels used in gears are 1018, 1524, 4026, 4118, 4320, 4620, 4820, 8620 and 9310. The intended gear use will dictate the material used in its creation. For example gears to be used in food processing are made of stainless steels or nickel-base alloys because of their corrosion resistance.

Gear mfg.processes

There are multiple ways in which gear blanks can be shaped through the cutting and finishing processes.

Blanking Gear Cutting Processes

Broaching Hobbing Shaping Milling Grinding Honing Shaving Lapping Plastic Injection Molding Powder Metal Sintering Forging Casting Roll-Forming (Spline Rolling)

Gear Finishing Processes

Gear Forming (non-cutting) Processes

Blanking
Blanking refers to initial forming or machining operations that produce a semi finished part ready for gear cutting, starting

from a piece of raw material.

Gear Cutting Processes i) Broaching

Broaching is a machining operation which uses a toothed tool, called a broach, to remove material.

ii) Hobbing
Hobbing is a machining process for making gears, splines, and sprockets on a hobbing

machine, which is a special type of milling machine. The teeth or splines are progressively cut into the workpiece by a series of cuts made by a cutting tool called a hob. Compared to other gear forming processes it is relatively inexpensive but still quite accurate, thus it is used for a broad range of parts and quantities.[1] It is the most widely used gear cutting process for creating spur and helical gears[2] and more gears are cut by hobbing than any other process since it is relatively quick and inexpensive.

A hob the cutter used for hobbing

iii) Shaping The cutter is a circular pinion-shaped cutter with the necessary rake angles to cut as shown. Both the gear blank and cutter are set in a vertical plane and rotated such as that the two are like gears in mesh. Gear shaping is faster than gear planing because the cutting process is continuous and the cutter does not have to be stepped back.

Gear Shaping

iv) Milling Milling is a form-cutting process limited to making single gears for prototype or very small batches of gears as it is a very slow and uneconomical method of production. A involute form-milling cutter, which has the profile of the space between the gears, is used to remove the material between the teeth from the gear blank on a horizontal milling machine.

Gear Milling

Gear Finishing Processes

Grinding
A grinding machine is a machine tool used for grinding, which is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear deformation. The grinding machine consists of a power driven grinding wheel spinning at the required speed and a bed with a fixture to guide and hold the work-piece. The grinding head can be controlled to travel across a fixed work piece or the workpiece can be moved whilst the grind head stays in a fixed position. Very fine control of the grinding head or tables position is possible using a vernier calibrated hand wheel, or using the features of numerical controls.

ii)

Honing

Honing is an abrasive machining process that produces a precision surface on a metal workpiece by scrubbing an abrasive stone against it along a controlled path. Honing is primarily used to improve the geometric form of a surface, but may also improve the surface texture. Typical applications are the finishing of cylinders for internal combustion engines, air bearing spindles and gears. Types of hone are many and various but all consist of one or more abrasive stones that are held under pressure against the surface they are working on. In everyday use, a honing steel is used to hone knives, especially kitchen knives, and is a fine process, there contrasted with more abrasive sharpening. Other similar processes are lapping and superfinishing.

 iii) Shaving
Gear shaving is the most commonly used method for finishing spur and helical gear teeth prior to hardening. The gear is run in contact with the shaving tool. Such a

tool is very hardened, accurate and ground gear that contains a number of peripheral serration, thus forming a series of cutting edges on each tooth. The gear and shaving cutters are run in mesh with their axes crossed at a small angle usually about 10 degrees. As they rotate, the gear is reciprocated longitudinally across the shaving tool (or vice versa). During this action, which usually requires less than one minute, very fine chips are shaved from the gear tooth faces, thus eliminating any high spots and producing a very accurate tooth profile.

Gear shaving

 iv)Lapping

Lapping is a machining operation, in which two surfaces are rubbed together with an abrasive between them, by hand movement or by way of a machine. This typically involves rubbing a brittle material such as glass against a surface such as iron or glass itself with an abrasive such as aluminum oxide, emery, silicon carbide, diamond, etc., in between them. This produces microscopic conchoidal fractures as the abrasive rolls about between the two surfaces and removes material from both.