Technically sound

And, as these goals are at the core of Yamazaki Mazak's product range development, it strives to deliver machine tools that make full use of technology to help manufacturing companies across the globe improve efficiencies.

“In developing our machine tools we make full use of the technologies available to us,” says Tony Saunders, Yamazaki Mazak sales director. “In doing so we are able to respond to customer demands and deliver a wide range of machine tools that will meet the needs of a modern manufacturing environment.”

Typical of this is the Mazak Vortex II series of high speed, simultaneous 5-axis, vertical machining centres. The series is available in either bridge or bed type configuration with axis travels up to 4,200mm x 1,400mm by 610mm in X, Y and Z and corresponding traverse rates of 20 m/minute (X), 32m/minute (Y) and 20m/minute (Z), along with a range of high performance spindles offering up to 18,000rpm and 75kW (10 minute rating).

As a result the Vortex II series is ideally suited to large aerospace components such as wing spars and mould and die work. The machine's 5-axis capability is delivered through the use of an A and B axis on which the spindle is mounted. The ±40° tilting action of these two axes allows cutting tool access to all available faces of the component, while the control provided by the Mazatrol FX (or Fanuc 31i) CNC system gives the ability to cut complex contours at high feed rates.

Providing further versatility is the Variaxis II series of vertical machining centres with simultaneous 5-axis machining capability. The most recent addition to this range is the Variaxis 630-5X II T. Capable not only of machining on multiple surfaces of a component by virtue of its trunnion (-120° to 30° of movement) and rotary table configuration (continuous 360° of movement in the C-axis in 0.0001 increments), the Variaxis 630-5X II T can also provide a turning solution through the use of a direct drive motor for both C-axis positioning and turning.

This motor provides a turning spindle rotation of up to 1,100rpm and turning operations are carried out with the machine's A-axis rigidly clamped in the 0 or 90° position, ensuring the efficient and accurate machining of components requiring turned features.

Also providing 5-axis capability is the UK designed and built VTC-800/30SR vertical machining centre. Created for the production of a wide variety of components, across a range of manufacturing sectors, the VTC-800/30SR meets the demands for the flexible manufacturing capacity required in today's modern manufacturing environment. With a 3m X-axis, which works in combination with the B-axis movement provided by a swivel head (±110°) combined with an optional rotary table attachment providing 360° continuous C-axis rotation, the fixed table travelling column machine offers full simultaneous 5-axis machining of complex features and contours.

The swivel head mechanism helps to reduce set-up time and increases the multi-purpose nature of the machine and the optional Mazak rotary table can be mounted vertically or horizontally for different applications. Further versatility is provided by the ability to equip the machine with a removable central partition for pendulum machining, to maximise productivity. Feed rates of 50m/minute and a powerful 35kW spindle with a maximum speed of 18,000rpm further add to the performance of the machine tool.

“With these 5-axis machines added to the range of multi-tasking, multi-axis machines in the Integrex range we are confident that Mazak can provide a productive solution to virtually any machining application, irrespective of the size and complexity of the component,” Mr Saunders adds. “However, it is not all about machine tool capability. Here at Mazak we pride ourselves in the depth of applications knowledge that we have available to us. With our global experience across all industry sectors we have the experience in-house to engineer any application to ensure that the customer gains not only the latest in machine tool technology but the most efficient and cost-effective production engineering solution as well.”

Yamazaki Mazak
www.mazak.co.uk