The Part: Component of knee implant.
The Material: Cobalt-chromium.
The Problem: Part movement during machining due to the complex shape of the implant and the associated restrictive geometrical and dimensional requirements.
The Solution: Blue Photon’s grip technology, solves workholding struggles by eliminating scrap and rework caused by poor clamping, ensuring that the surface integrity of the implant is not affected.
The Benefit: Allows for automation of your high valued parts.
Shape, materials, and the challenges that lay ahead.
Modern digital design and manufacturing, along with material science breakthroughs, have enabled an extensive array of new products and machines. New technologies developed a decade ago are now beginning to find their way into mainstream manufacturing, with the most significant of these being additive manufacturing (AM) and the introduction of new composite materials. In many cases these new methods and materials cause manufacturers to scratch their collective heads when it comes to machining these parts.
IMTS held a contest to recognize the most innovative products that will be on display at IMTS 2018. The contest consisted of a 500-word description identifying the purpose and challenge or problem the product solves, benefits, length of time it takes to be fully operational and train employees, and any other pertinent information. The awards were presented as IMTS most innovative products that exhibitors will introduce at this year’s show.
The Part: Aero engine compressor blade.
The Material: Nickel and titanium.
The Problem: Workpiece distortion due to traditional workholding.
The Solution: Blue Photon’s grip technology eliminates clamp induced scrap and rework.
The Benefit: Allows for automation of your high valued parts.
Blue Photon® will demonstrate the advantages of their photo-activated adhesive workholding system at IMTS 2018 this September in Chicago.
Born in the lab and field-tested in manufacturing plants all over the world, Blue Photon’s workholding products are manufacturers’ solution to secure parts for tight-tolerance machining and inspection.
Blue Photon® is releasing their new 2018 Product Catalog.
For ease of use, each section contains a picture with description and part number. Their new catalog goes into depth of the Blue Photon product lines and their continued commitment to revolutionizing the workholding industry using innovative photo-activated technology.
The catalog features Blue Photon® Gripper and Insert products, BlueGrip™ Workholding Adhesives, and Adhesive Dispensers and Accessories. Other products include a selection of UV LED Controllers and LED Accessories to quickly cure BlueGrip Workholding Adhesives, a variety of Soak Tanks, Pressure Washers and Cleaning Tools; along with their new Universal Fixture Kit allowing the user to begin using the workholding system immediately by easily adapting to most parts.
Aerospace engineering firm JJ Churchill has announced it has reduced its tooling costs by 5% with a 50% reduction in the number of machining operations on a specific critical part.
This has been achieved with Blue Photon technology which is marketed in the UK and Europe by NCMT Limited.
This technology is applied to a titanium aluminide aerofoil blade component which is an extremely difficult material to fixture and machine. Blue Photon fixes the component to the tool with an adhesive, which cured under UV light, is strong enough for the most rigorous machining techniques including 5-axis CNC. The process is a replacement for encapsulation, providing reduced fixture complexity. Read the rest of this entry »
Precision Grinding and Manufacturing uses an atypical means to fixture thin parts that are prone to flexing when conventional workholding clamps are used: adhesive cured by UV light. -By Derek Korn
Sometimes, the trickiest aspect of developing an effective machining process is figuring out how best to fixture the part. This can be especially challenging for castings and other workpieces that are relatively thin, because those parts are prone to flexing when conventional mechanical clamps (and even vacuum chucks in some cases) are used. Operators must take care not to distort such parts while tightening clamps, otherwise the parts will spring back to their natural state once the clamps are removed after machining. Vibration can also be an issue for parts like these if they aren’t rigidly fixtured, meaning a quality surface finish might be tough to achieve and cutting parameters might have to be dialed back, extending cycle times. Finding a way to effectively fixture complex, contoured parts can be just as difficult. Read the rest of this entry »
By Kip Hanson – Published September 1, 2015
Let’s say you want to machine your initials on your favorite Hummel figurine or cut the likeness of the school mascot on your daughter’s Little League helmet. How are you going to grip them? A conventional way to grip fragile, difficult-to-hold workpieces is to encapsulate them in some sort of potting compound, a time-consuming and wasteful process.
Rather than mix up a tub of two-part epoxy, consider photo-activated adhesive workholding (PAAW). Read the rest of this entry »
By Alan Richter – Published May 3, 2017, in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine
Adhesive is applied to the gripper head of a Blue Photon photo-activated adhesive workholding system. Image via CTE and courtesy of Urschel Laboratories.
Urschel Laboratories Inc. manufactures industrial equipment to slice, dice, shred and mill virtually any food product.
According to Bill Monroe, senior manufacturing engineer for Urschel, the company machines parts for the food processors at its only manufacturing facility, located in Urschel’s 350,000-sq.-ft. headquarters. Urschel produces many of these workpieces in its two foundries. “We have a no-bake foundry and an investment foundry,” Monroe said.
As part of a major new project that Urschel, Chesterton, Ind., started late last year, Monroe needed to hold a 300-series stainless steel billet that was convex on one side and then access five sides when machining it on a 5-axis machine. Read the rest of this entry »