Face milling system targets the automotive sector

The MaxiMill 275 face milling system is ideal for processing flat surfaces on these components and is ultra-robust in its construction and design, with a maximum number of indexable inserts for efficient machining. Inserts are ground all around to ensure a smooth milling action, high-quality milling results, long tool life and particularly high efficiency.

Face milling turbocharger components presents big challenges for milling tools due to the demanding nature of the material – usually refractory cast steel, often containing niobium. In addition to this, the design of turbocharger housings and exhaust manifolds often create unstable machining conditions, creating a requirement for the tool to be very stable and cut effectively to achieve the required quality.

Ceratizit – a full-range provider in the machining sector – set itself the task of developing a technically optimised, efficient tool system for these kinds of applications, bringing together the expertise of its specialists from Team Cutting Tools.

“This collaboration has been a complete success with the MaxiMill 275 face milling system the end result,” confirms Detlef Erdei, application manager automotive at Ceratizit. “Our development team began the process by designing the cutter body to be extremely stable with low-vibration. We were then able to optimise the number of cutting edges based on the diameter. This resulted in the largest MaxiMill 275 with 125mm diameter featuring 18 teeth, while the smaller 63, 80 and 100mm diameter variants have 7, 10 and 14 teeth respectively.

Particular attention was paid to accuracy of the insert seat, which keeps the indexable insert firmly and precisely in place using a wedge clamp. This avoids any cutting mismatches and, therefore, the need for any subsequent height adjustment. This is a plus in terms of user friendliness.

The indexable inserts have also been refined. The basis for this is a special cutting material, which is designed for the highest thermomechanical demands. The inserts have a positive geometry with a 20° rake angle enabling them to cut effectively and guarantee a smooth tool cutting action. The fact that they are fully ground around the periphery also generates consistent and high precision results.

The PVD-coated inserts are positioned in the cutter body in such a way that the cutting edge is horizontally aligned with the holder. This way, in contrast to most other face milling systems, which remove chips with the corner chamfer, a significantly smoother surface is produced like with an integrated finishing cutter. The indexable insert can be used on left- and right-hand cutting tools.

In a practical application, a turbocharger (material: 1.4837+Nb) the flange face is milled with an 80mm diameter MaxiMill 275 with eight cutting edges. Key cutting values: fz = 0.145mm; vc = 100m/minute; ap = 1.4mm; ae/D = variable; coolant = dry.

The tool life achieved is 0.92m, which is equal to 24 components – in impressive time and quality. Ceratizit reports the tool life is around 70% higher in comparison to competitor products.

Ceratizit UK & Ireland www.ceratizit.com