Technical Article on Achieving Stylish Finishes for Steel Fabrication

Technical Article

Artof Styling Steel

18 PURCHASE April 2011

INDUSTRY FOCUS Machine Tools

of STYLING STEEL”. The solutions include a
S tainless steel, a matchless metal in
both properties and usage, has
slowly and steadily made an influence in our
wide range of innovative products like
TrizactTM, Scotch-BriteTM & CubitronTM.
daily life, be at our home, at our office, at
shopping malls, travelling in a metro or
even the new bus shelters sprouting up in
major metros. In any given day we come
across many products that are now using
stainless steel, starting from bathroom
fittings to office chairs, building interiors to
street furniture’s and artifacts. The unique
properties of stainless steel have been
known and major factors which have
influenced its extensive usage are its non
rusting properties, no painting & beautiful
finishes that can be achieved on it. These
unique properties help it get desired
prescriptions from many engineers and Conventional TrizactTM
architects in their designs. Some interesting abrasive Abrasive construction and
trends indicate extensive usage of stainless construction wear out pattern
steel in architectural, building, construction
and equipments industry replacing
conventional choices of wood, mild steel &
even plastic in certain cases due to inherent A combination of 3M TrizactTM & 3M
advantage of Stainless Steel. Scotch-BriteTM products can generate
industry finishes meeting unique satin, hail
“New and trendy Finishes and Style’s” line & matt finishes. The products come in
is the in-factor as it reflects the trend shift the disc, belts & brush form that can be used
from conventional to new choices of in a simple and comfortable way by
finishes that increases the aesthetic appeal operators and requires lesser polishing skills.
to the end customer. Fabricators of Stainless 3M TrizactTM abrasives, unlike a
Steel are looking for solutions and systems conventional abrasive, is an engineered
that can help them to achieve these abrasive product, designed to achieve
customer requirements. These finishes look uniform finish giving the edge to stainless
very attractive but achieving UNIFORM and steel fabricators. Due to the unique
UNIQUE FINISHES is an extremely construction of the abrasives, produced by
challenging job for the fabricators of Micro-replication Technology the TrizactTM
stainless steel. abrasives cuts in a similar pattern, provides
A typical stainless steel fabrication steps uniform finish, throughout the life of the
includes cutting, bending, welding, weld product, as can be seen in the picture
grinding & blending, including the corner alongside. By generating uniform scratch
weld finishing, followed by series of pattern, it helps achieve the uniform finishes
finishing sequence. At every stage of in subsequent stages.
fabrication, stainless steel poses some
challenges i.e, preserving & restoring the
finish of stainless. Abrasive products are
used to not only to generate and repair the,
but also provide solutions for the grinding
and blending of the weld as well, which not
only helps improve the finish, but also help
achieving consistent and better output as
well.
3M through their abrasive ranges of
products have been
upgrading metal
fabricators to the latest
products & techniques
through an Scotch-BriteTM
interactive
Construction Forms of Scotch-BriteTM
approach
which is
know as “Art



points and edges that slice cleanly
through the metal like a knife, instead
of gouging or plowing. This prevents
heat from building up in the work
piece – reducing heat-related stress,
cracks and discoloration. And,
because the abrasive itself stays
cooler and sharper, it gives a much
better life as compared to
conventional ceramic grain products.
The 3M CubitronTM II products are
shaping the future of abrasive solution
for all metal fabrication solutions
weather it is grinding or finishing. The
products made from this mineral,
when used with a proper backing and
Post the generation of uniform
scratch pattern by the TrizactTM,
Scotch-BriteTM product range
provide the final finishing to the
surface so as to generate the
desired finishes. Due to their
open construction of Scotch-
BriteTM, finish generation is
consistent & prevents any heat
build up on the substrate. Simple
construction of the Scotch-BriteTM,
allows this universal product to
Conventional Ceramic Grain
be available in many forms, as
depicted in the pictures
3M provides a unique and a
quick way to finish the corner
welds using the 3M RolocTM
abrasive products, available in
Scotch-BriteTM and coated
abrasives. The proper sequence
of usage, not only helps blend the
weld effectively, it also ensures
that the corners and other
portions of the base material
have similar finish. This helps
reduce the rework time and
improves the overall productivity.
Over the period of time,
abrasive industry has developed
many products that help achieve
better finishes and improve Precise Shaped Grain - CubitronTM II
productivity, apart from other
benefits to the fabricators.
Promising the brand value of
3M in developing innovative
products that are effective and relevant for
the customers, for the first time, 3M has
developed revolutionary product that
contain a SHAPED ABRASIVES.
The new mineral used in the 3M
CubitronTM II abrasive products is made up of
precisely shaped triangles of mineral
oriented to direct the cutting points toward
the work surface. These self sharpening
triangles are designed to fracture as they
wear, continuously forming new, super-sharp



an appropriate tool just
excites the user by helping complete his job
much faster and increases the comfort level
of usage leading to a much lesser fatigue.
3M, with its engineered, practical and
ergonomically designed solutions, and
pioneering way the Stainless Steel is
finished, not only helps provide solutions to
achieve new and trendy finishes, but also is
making conscious efforts to ensure that
latest technology reaches the market and
educate the fabricators to make their lives
simpler.
To know more about the Art of styling
steel and the exciting products for metal Mr. Vijay Krishnan
fabrication, please log into our website to
find out more details
www.3m.com/in/abrasives.


Technical Article
Introduction of
Gearless Drives
and Energy Efficient Motors
for the Machines
By Mr Anil Aggarwal, MD

T he machines installed in a plant must
have a overall thought about reliability
and energy efficient design. The reduction of
year).Consequently, the decision to act on
the transmission to allow a high rotating
speed of the motor is acceptable only when
mechanical linkages like belts, gear boxes it is important to minimize the size of the
will result into power saving of anything motor (i.e. with electric traction) or to
from 20% to 54%. Further the use of motors Maximize the yield; on the contrary.
with efficiency higher by 5 to 10% and Thus using Torque motors and the
power factor improvement will lead to a Brushless servo motors introduced by
multiplied effect. Consider the following Compage Automation systems Pvt. Ltd. You
diagram: can get rid of many mechanical linkages and

Through the research and many calculate your per hour saving as follows:
experiments in Europe the discovery of Saving in Rs pr hour = KW saved per hour x
permanent magnet brushless motors in high 4.5
torque and low RPM has given way to both KW saved = hp x L x 0.746 x 100 - 100
the above arguments. The brushless motor, Where:
like any other motor, is built up on the hp = Motor nameplate rating
delivered torque and not on the yielded L = Load factor or percentage of full
power. operating
As a consequence, in any application a Load
low speed of the motor will correspond to a Estd = Standard motor efficiency under
low specific power and a low yield. actual Load conditions multiplied with the
Nevertheless we must point out that the efficiency of belt drive/gear box
brushless motor contemplates no minimum EHE = New-efficiency of motor and without
speed (it purely depends on the sensor; gearing arrangement under
some applications are available with axle Actual load conditions
speed of 1 revolution per


Technical Article

Remote
Production
Monitoring
D oes the failed production volume come
as a surprise to you? Many times you
about the factory problem in time, the break
down could have been corrected by the
feel that had your main stream CEO known right people in time.

Production Status Monitoring Alarm
How much was produced in last shift? Can get SMS for type of alarm-
Which product is under production? (a) Electrical power not present
(b) Motor running at low speed. i.e. roll
change time higher than normal.
© Electrical or Mechanical breakdown.

Report Generation Connectivity
Break down history, shut down time in Online monitoring helps in: Supply
each shift. Production data of the chain Management & Timely customer
day/week. deliveries.

April 2011 PURCHASE 79

Industry Watch Industrial Automation

Akshay Aggarwal, Director, Compage is taken to a centralized server where it is

Automation Systems Pvt. Ltd. Faridabad compiled and translates into useful
information for the beneficiary of the
introduces the company’s value added
production. This type of topology is the best
solution at very low cost.
method to receive factual data in safe hands.
With the advent of information
We can monitor any parameter such as –
technology - the world has changed the way
day’s production, machine average running,
we bank, record data and register our
machine speed, wastage (empty pouches,
complaints on customer care 24X7. SCADA
boxes), component failure, breakdown time
has been long in our process industry to run
etc.
and monitor the production output, speed
Moreover, with the help of GPRS
achieved etc in whichever format we want.
technology the machine can be connected to
Food packing industry which is the almost
with remotely. Any failure in the machine can
largest and the most essential industry is still
be solved by remote assistance. This makes
in the nascent stage of adoption of
the troubleshooting process faster and thus
automation and online monitoring systems in
cheaper. In today’s world of all the complex
our country. For now at many places the
technologies it is not possible for the expert
machine speed and average running hours
to maintain the machine in the plant.
are the only parameters to calculate the
Whereas a team of people can support multi
machine production of the day. But the trend
locations sitting from one help desk. For now
is changing fast to upgrade and attain the
we see this technology penetrated in the IT
perfection and accuracy.
industry for troubleshooting the IBMs and
To break free from individual’s
the DELLs. Fortunately now the need for this
dependence on production monitoring,
value added service is being felt in the
Compage introduces an SMS service for the
manufacturing industry also. Compage has
machine owners who would like to receive
introduced the PLC/CNC controllers of the
the information of the day’s production in
machinery with the capability of uplink.
exact number of packages/bags. GSM/GPRS
Hence the customers have option to fulfill
service is independent to any
their planned production.
communication or internet services being
utilized in the factory infrastructure. The data priya.compage@gmail.com


Technical Article

Pro-Active
Maintenance
P ro-Active Maintenance is a system or a
life style of keeping the system healthy
and is actually a Life Extension System
away any moment. This approach allows the
failure of parts and system as a routine
and normal, permitting the crisis of failure
which supplants the philosophy of ‘Failure and maintenance. While under Predictive
reactive’ with the ‘Failure Pro-Active’ by Maintenance diagnosing, assessment,
avoiding the conditions that lead to machine investigations and testing are carried out to
faults and degradation. The Pro-Active find the condition and life span of the parts
Maintenance technique consists of actions and components. Lot of money and time
that abolish the root cause of the failures, not is spent for prediction of the condition and
just symptoms. Pro-Active maintenance is life of the components. Alternatively the
now receiving the recognition as the only Pro-Active Maintenance protects the system
means of reducing and saving on the against the Degradation and Failures;
burgeoning maintenance cost, for extending and hence Preventive and Predictive
the performance life of systems, Maintenances are practically not required.
conservation of oil and conservation of It is easy to understand the Pro-Active
energy without much expenditure on the Maintenance by putting parallel with our
system or equipments. body and health, for the reason that human
It’s a known fact that over 75% of the body is very similar to a
breakdowns and the maintenance expenses Hydraulic/Lubrication oil system. We all
in any industry is because of hydraulic and know that by simply Morning walk and
lubrication oil system failures which is taking healthy fibrous foods, fruits &
attributed to excessive contamination level In vegetables in place Fried, Junk foods and
the system fluid which has a clear cut Animal Fats which lead to generation of bad
indication towards the necessity of Pro- Cholesterol (being Contaminations in the
Active Maintenance. In fact without properly blood); to keep us healthy, extend our life
understanding and adopting the Pro-Active and improve our efficiency & performance.
Maintenance Techniques, we can not be Similarly keeping the system fluid clean and
competitive and grow faster. free from contaminations (Dirt,
In absence of Pro-Active Maintenance Moisture/water and heat etc. being the main
Technology the normal approach is Failure Contaminations in the System Fluid) by
Reactive rather than Pro-Active, and the adopting the Systematic
contamination is not controlled and Approach to Pro-Active Maintenance; to
removed from the system oil, it becomes keep our Plant, Machinery and Systems
contaminated and the looses its properties; healthy, extend the life of Hydraulic and
resulting the replacement of oil. The disposal Lubrication Systems & Components
of discarded oil damages the manifold times and improves the efficiency,
environment. Also the contaminations enter performance & Productivity of our Plant,
into the gap/clearance between the Machinery and Systems and also to
moving parts and the parts start scoring, conserve the Energy and costly oils.
damaging and restricting the movement, In view of the above facts, one must
resulting malfunctioning, Loss of production, choose the Pro-Active approach in place of
Loss of Energy and frequent the Failure Reactive approach. Er. Ashok
breakdowns. Kumar Gupta the founder and Chairman of
Many industries carry planned activities the Crane-Bel Group has taken a challenge of
of Preventive Maintenance associated with promoting the Pro-Active Technology in
Predictive maintenance. Under Preventive Indian Industries through Seminars,
Maintenance the repair/replacement of Workshops, Presentations and Practical
parts and components is done when often Training to achieve the following important
nothing is broken. This is a scheduled and significant results:
activity, expecting that the life of part, l Conservation of Oil: Resulting up to
component or system is over and can give 90% saving on oil Procurement and


Oil, Lubricants & Gas Special Industry Review

Environmental Protection. nearly a 90 percent reduction in bearing
l Conservation of Energy: Resulting failures in just six months after the
saving on the Power Bills and also saving the implementation of Pro-active Maintenance
Environment. System and improved filtration and
l Minimising the Breakdowns: No contamination control in their paper mill.
Breakdown Maintenance and No loss of l ? Likewise, Kawasaki Steel, not to be
production. outdone, implemented a similar Pro-active
l Improvement in the Efficiency of Maintenance program and achieved an
Plant, Machinery and Systems. almost unbelievable 97% reduction in
l Protection and Retention of Additives hydraulic component failures.
so that no deterioration of hydraulic and l ? The British Hydromechanics Research
Lubrication oils is there, resulting No Association (BHRA) conduct their own
degradation of oil. controlled studies for three years and
l Increase in the Operational Life and carefully monitored 117 Hydraulic Machines
Performance of systems and components. including Injection Moulding, Machine Tools,
l No undue wear and tear of parts and Material Handling, Mobile, Construction,
components and saving on Maintenance Marine, Metal Working and Test Stands, to
cost. establish the benefits of Pro-Active
l Manifold times increase in the life of Contamination Control Maintenance. The
systems including hydraulic pumps etc. results of the study showed a dramatic
Resulting the huge saving in the money relationship between fluid contamination
spent for procurement of costly hydraulic levels and service life. Improved system
pumps and systems. cleanliness achieved extended the time
l Increased efficiency of machinery and between failures from 10 to 50 times
systems result in Higher Productivity, Higher depending on cleanliness.
Profits, Competitiveness and Growth of l by the Naval Air Development
A study
business. Centre in Warminster. Pennsylvania
l Maintaining Clean & Healthy performed on aircraft hydraulic pumps
Environment, Ecological Balance, showed nearly a 4-fold wear-life extension
Protection of Lakes, Rivers & Underground with a 66 percent implementation of Pro-
water and subsequently the active Maintenance and improved filtration
Planet Earth. and a 13-fold wear-life extension with a 93
percent implementation of Pro-active
Implementation of Pro-Active Maintenance System Maintenance and improvement in filtration.
When it comes to implementation of Pro- l ? The benefits associated with the Pro-
Active Maintenance, the Japanese may be Active Maintenance Technology in the
the global leaders. They have clearly taken a Diesel Engine lubrication oils are great.
‘Do-it, Don’t-just-talk-about-it’ Historically, there have been many
approach. Evidence of this comes from misconceptions regarding the influence of
reports by two of the world's largest steel contamination of engine service life.
mills, Nippon Steel and Kawasaki Steel, both Hence, filters with very poor efficiencies
in Japan: have been, and are still specified
l Nippon Steel implemented the
After frequently for engine oils. However, from a
Pro-Active Maintenance program plantwide, number of important new field and
involving contamination control both lab studies, we have concluded that
improved filtration and rigorous fluid lubrication oil contamination is the primary
cleanliness monitoring, pump replacement cause of engine wears that begins what is
frequencies were reduced to one fifth and referred to as the chain-reaction to
the cumulative frequency of all failures failure.
related to wear and contamination was
reduced to one tenth. For any further
l Like wise the implementation of Pro- questions please
Active Maintenance Technology in the contact:
lubricating systems involving both journal Er. Ashok Kumar Gupta
and roller bearings and maintaining the Chairman
system fluid clean through proper Crane-Bel Group
contamination control program, Nippon E-7, Kavi Nagar
Steel reported after the three-year period Industrial Area,
study, that they have successfully achieved a Sector-17, Ghaziabad-
50 percent reduction in the bearing purchase 201002, (NCR), INDIA
plant-wide. E-mail: ashok@crane-
l International Paper Company reported bel.com , office@crane-bel.com


Technical Article

Bevel Gear
Cutting Tool Inspection and
Closed Loop Corrections
Dr. Hermann J. Stadtfeld, Vice President – Gleason Corporation

P ast and Present Technology Traditional
bevel gear cutting blade inspection
machines have three linear axes for setup.
One of the three axes is used for advancing
the blade towards a mechanically or opto-
electronically functioning measurement
probe. In many cases the blade is inclined
versus the major measurement plane by the
angle of the cutter head slots of the
particular blade type and perpendicular to
the sides of the blade shank. This results in
three linear freedoms of blade movements in
connection with one to five probes and one
inclination (commonly realized with a
tapered block).

No. 562 Blade inspection device

inspection device as described above. The
blades are inclined at the same angle of the
slot inclination in the respective cutter head.
The blade geometry is described in the offset
plane of the cutter head. The offset plane in
face milling cutters is approximately the
normal plane to the cutting velocity (offset
plane ˜ cutting plane). In face hobbing
Figure 1: Dr. Hermann J. Stadtfeld is Vice cutters, the offset plane is designed to be
President of Bevel Gear Technology of the close to the cutting plane for the majority of
Gleason Works. His team of Research & the gear designs considered to be cut with
Development scientists in Rochester, New the particular cutter.
York developed together with Gleason The No. 562 device measures up to 5
Metrology Systems in Dayton, Ohio the most points, three on the cutting edge and two on
modern CMM measurement for gear cutting the clearance side of the blade. With such a
blades, including closed loop corrections. measurement it is possible to determine all
Gleason is represented in India with Gleason of the following blade features, which are
Works (India) Pvt Ltd. in Bangalore. important to the final part geometry, as well
as the clearance side definition:
The Gleason No. 562, shown in Figure 2 l Clearance Angle
is an example of a manually operated blade l Top Width
Blade


Gears & Motors Industry Spotlight

Pressure Angle
l fixture has an obvious dependency on the
l Distance
Blade way the operator feeds the blades into the
TOPREM Position (rise) on Cutting
l stop position and holds it there, it still is the
Edge most used device for comparing the blades
It seems that the measurement results of in a set with the reference blade. Blade
the No. 562 are highly operator dependent. comparison utilizing the device in Figure 3 is
An interesting phenomenon that applies to straight forward and fast and delivers a
the No. 562 unit is that the absolute accuracy sufficient accuracy level in order to prepare
of the results is well suited for a correction of blades to be accurately build in a cutter
blades in order to establish cutting blades head.
within the accepted tolerance. However, the
repeatability from blade to blade seems
rather fair, which has its cause to the largest
Goals for a Fast and Reliable Blade
part in the aforementioned operator Measurement
dependency. It is a desirable goal to present a blade to
A complimentary fixture, shown in Figure a measurement sensor on a stiff and
3 is used for the comparison from blade to temperature stable structure. The
blade within one set. The so called arrangement should have a minimum of
comparison checker in Figure 3 uses slides and rotary axes. The lowest possible
mechanical dial indicators with an anvil, that motion travel of the machine axes promises
allows a sideways blade location on its two the most accurate and repeatable measuring
datum surfaces. A reference blade is gently results. Also the elimination of operator
pressed towards the anvil and then shifted influence would result in a high repeatability
axially onto the blade top location stop. In and improve the absolute accuracy in terms
this position, the probe tips (linked to the dial of GR&R evaluations. Finally, the speed of a
indicators) are adjusted e.g. to top and flank
points on the cutting edge as well as the
clearance side. The probe tips are pointed
and therefore have to be located slightly
behind the cutting edge. Now, the indicators
are set to “zero” with a probe deflection
equivalent to about 2 pointer revolutions on
each indicator. This assures the elimination
of stick-slip and provides an adequate
pressure between indicator stem and linkage
as well as probe tip and blade contacting
point. Even though, the blade comparison

Blade measurement coordinate system

complete blade measurement is a
substantial factor for the success of a cutting
blade measurement apparatus. An
acceptable measurement time for an
average blade lays in the vicinity of 30
seconds to one minute.

Desired Measurement Features
A fast minimum measurement has to be
Blade comparison checker able to capture three points on the cutting
edge and two points on the clearance edge,
based on a coordinate system which has its


Industry Spotlight Gears & Motors

apparatus and use the least possible amount
of measuring time. A complete
measurement of all blade features would
require a cutting edge scanning and a
technique to capture the location and shape
of the blade front face as well as the relief
surfaces of cutting and clearance side.
In both cases, minimum or complete
measurement, it is most important to relate
all measured points to the correct blade
coordinate system X10-Y10-Z10 as shown in
Figure 5. This coordinate system is used to
define the “tooth forming contour” of the
blade which defines together with the basic
settings the particular bevel gear geometry.
The Y10-Z10-axes are aligned to reflect the
cutting plane, while the Y10-axis is collinear
with the cutter head axis. The plane X10-Z10
is tangent to the top of the blade. The
coordinate origin on the X10-axis lays on the
front wall of the blade shank, which is
towards the cutter head center. The X10-axis
is collinear with the cutting velocity direction,
which is not the direction of the front face
distance. The normal distance from the
extended front blade shank wall to the
theoretical blade point defined by the blade
front face distance determines the location of
the front face (in blade thickness direction);
Blade coordinate system and front face distance
this is the definition of the front face distance
as shown in Figure 5 [1].

Blade Features to be Verified
orientation from the cutting plane and the The following list includes all global blade
two seating surfaces of the blade shank features (also shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7):
(Figure 4). Such a minimum measurement l Rake Angle (Figure 6)
Side
would correspond closely to the No. 562 l Top Rake Angle (Figure 6)

priya.compage@gmail.com

Global blade features [2]



Cutting Edge Hook Angle (Figure 6,
l
right)
l and Slot Inclination Angle
Blade
(Figure 6)
l Relief Angle (Figure 6)
Side
l Top Relief Angle (Figure 6)
l Top Slope Angle (Figure 7)
l Top Width (Blade Point) (Figure 6)
Specific features of the “tooth forming
contour” are shown in Figure 7 and Figure 6:
l Pressure Angle
l Clearance Angle
l Distance
Blade
l Face Distance (Figure 6)
Front
l Radius Pressure Angle Side
Edge
l Radius Clearance Side
Edge
l Toprem Depth
l Toprem Angle
l Blended Toprem Radius (not shown)
l Flankrem Depth
l Flankrem Angle

Gleason GBX

measurement was
developed on the
basis of a three-
dimensional coordinate
measurement machine using a
three-dimensional scanning probe.
Figure 8 shows the Gleason GBX, a
coordinate measurement machine,
dedicated to cutting blade measurement
The measurement of the GBX
machine takes place at or behind the
cutting edge, inside of the side relief
surface with the spherical tip of a
measurement probe. The blade front face
is measured along a triangular path,
which establishes the front face surface
as a plane using an approximation
method (Figure 9). The knowledge of the
approximate shape and orientation of the
relief surface angles allows the
calculation of the theoretically correct
path behind the cutting edge (adjusted
nominals). The accuracy of this

Specific features of tooth forming contour
Flankrem Radius (not shown)
l
l Curvature Radius
Blade

Blade Coordinate Measurement with Gleason
Measurement principle of front face
GBX and below the blade edge
A more advanced and automated



Universal GBX blade holding fixture, RSR® blade left, Pentac® blade right

procedure is significantly above the holding fixture, RSR® blade left, Pentac®
measurement results of the No. 562 device. blade right
Beyond that, it is possible to evaluate The strength of the Gleason GBX is the
additional blade features versus the No. 562, fact, that it represents a CNC controlled,
such as blade curvature radii, Toprem rise, highly accurate metrology device which is an
edge radii and front face distance. integral unit together with the blade
Metrology devices, as shown in Figure 1 mathematical software (GEMS) and the
and 8 are not really suited for a production control software. The components of the
measurement (comparison) of complete sets integral unit work together in a semi real
of blades after the blade grinding and in time mode which allows the different
order to qualify sets of blades for being measurement steps, like the cutting edge
assembled in cutter heads. The duration of a measurement being influenced by the
blade measurement is in the vicinity of the previously conducted front face scanning.
time it takes to grind a blade which is not A prismatic V-block fixture with a spring
easily acceptable for a production loaded arm for holding rectangular blades
measurement. (Figure 10, left) as well as Pentac® blades
Figure 10: Universal GBX blade (Figure 10, right) has been developed. The
probe will scan the seating surfaces of the
fixture during a setup/calibration mode. No
blade datum surface scanning is required
during the regular blade measurement cycle.
Studies with the newly developed GBX blade
holding fixture have shown that the achieved
accuracy is high and the repeatability is
excellent. Those attributes are combined
with a rather short measuring time because
of the elimination of individual datum surface
measurements.

GBX Measurement Cycle and Correction
In a measurement cycle, the front face is
scanned first along a triangular path (Figure
9). The knowledge of the front face location
and orientation is used by the blade
mathematical software to calculate the
nominal cutting edge function, considering
the actual front face. The knowledge of the
Nominal-actual blade
side relief surfaces is used in order to
contour and No 562 points
calculate a scanning path between 0 to 15
?m behind the cutting edge (adjusted



Blade correction output screen

nominals). Next, the cutting edge blade tip leads in cases of small blade deviations to
and clearance side of the blade is scanned. different, but more correct results.
In cases of complicated blade contours, In case of three-face ground blades, the
large blade distortions or the requirement of misslocation of the actual front face results
highest accuracy, a software option allows in a front face distance, side rake and top
the use of the actually measured blade edge rake angle (blade hook angle) correction
coordinates as “distorted nominals” and output. In case of two-face ground blades,
repeat the blade edge scanning. The results the cutting edge and clearance side
will be more accurate since the probe corrections are calculated such that the
deflection is minimized in this mode. The correct tooth slot is cut, considering the
blade evaluation module receives a wrong front face location and orientation.
measurement result in the absolute blade Figure 12 shows the correction output
coordinate system and compares this with screen of the GBX-GEMS software.
the adjusted nominal blade contour behind
the cutting edge. The difference between the Literature
actual and the adjusted nominal contour is
used to compute blade corrections. [1] Stadtfeld, H. J.
Figure 11 shows the nominal bade
Handbook of Bevel and Hypoid Gears -
contour (black line) and the actually
Calculation, Manufacturing, Optimization
measured blade contour (red line) in one
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester,
graphic, together with the No. 562
New York, 1993
measurement pin locations. The No. 562 pins
are only for reference or comparison with [2] Stadtfeld, H. J.
older developments. The experience gained The New Freedoms - Three- & Four-Face
during many measurement studies indicates, Ground Bevel Gear Cutting Blades, Gleason
that a real comparison between the No. 562 Company Publication, June 2007
and the GBX is not very useful because the
significantly higher accuracy of the GBX


Technical Article

PREMIER CNC GEAR
SHAPING MACHINE,
MODEL: PSC-250
WITH ELECTRONIC GUIDE:



Introduction: Shaping Machine is equipped with radial
motion of Work Table (X-Axis), cutter

I n Gear shaping, the gear shaping cutter &
workpiece axes are rotating parallel in
mesh (conjugate generating motion)
generating motion (C-Axis), Work Table
generating motion (E-Axis), stroke
positioning motion of gear shaping cutter (L-
according to the number of teeth in both Axis).
cutter & the workpiece, while gear shaping In case of manufacture of Spur Gears on
cutter reciprocates on the spindle for the Gear Shaping Machines, Spur Hydrostatic or
metal removal action (cutting motion). Spur Mechanical Guides are used and for
When cutting helical gear, on gear manufacture of Helical Gears, Mechanical or
shaping machine, an additional spiral motion Hydrostatic Helical Guides with required
is introduced to the gear shaping cutter by Leads are used.
the helical guide. During return stroke (relief Changing the mechanical/Hydrostatic
stroke), the gear shaping cutter is removed Helical guide in gear shaper cutter spindle
away from the workpiece to prevent flank unit takes an enormous amount of time &
contact (back-off direction motion) has to be carried out without restriction,
These motions are basic functions of the particularly when changing between
gear shaping process. The CNC Gear workpieces with straight, left-hand & right-



hand teeth. Upright:
To counteract the drawbacks of a Upright is mounted on the sub base
restricted helix angle & of inflexible tooth which is mounted on machine bed. Upright
trace modifications, the is made of high grade casting & well
Mechanical/Hydrostatic helical guide has proportionately ribbed to enhance the
been replaced in the design by a Electronic machine rigidity.
guide. This is possible due to the latest
development in high-performance torque Cutter Head:
motors and by exploiting the maximum The cutter head rotation is provided by a
dynamics of modern NC controls. This separate AC servo motor. The gear shaping
electronic helical guide allows back lash free cutter spindle reciprocates during rotation
generating drive of the gear shaping cutter through the electronic guide mounted in the
which can perform all the additional cutter head. A separate motor is provided to
rotational movements of the cutter. This get infinitely variable cutter stroke per
feature enormously increases the efficiency minute.
of the Gear Shaping machines. A separately designed back off cam
In newly designed gear shaping machine, relives the cutter during every return stroke.
the desired helix angle can be entered in the The stroke length required for a particular
software dialogue programme on a flexible face width can be adjusted by the eccentric
basis. This means even a small correction to mechanism in the crank head.
the helix angle, resulting from changing The Gear Shaping cutter head has
corrections due to heat treatment distortions been completely redesigned with backlash
are easy to change without the gear shaper free direct drive for the cutter spindle in
cutter or the helical guide. Any helical gear order to deliver higher flexibility & operating
with different helix angle & helix direction in ranges than earlier Gear Shaping Machines.
one setting is possible with this innovative
concept which reduces set up time.
Benefits to User:
This new technology provides the user
with huge potential for savings:
Machine Construction: l No investment in Helical guides required.
The CNC Gear Shaping Machine with l ? Elimination of lead times needed to
electronic guide, which is adopted for purchase mechanical guides.
finishing gears up to 250 mm dia & having 5 l set up time
? Zero
module & helix angle upto 45o consists of l ? Flexible setting of any helix angle upto 45
the following main components. degree.
Machine Bed: l helix angle corrections (e.g. lead
? Simple
The Machine Bed supports the Sub Base angle errors due to hardening)
& Table Slide. The machine bed also l Reduced machining times through
incorporates the coolant reservoir. The accelerated return stroke.
machine bed is made of high grade ferrous l direct drive servo spindle motor
Use of
casting & is double wall construction rigid in for cutter spindle allowing for a nearly
design to absorb all the cutting forces constant cutting speed, this improving tool
without any distortion, during gear shaping life Vs the non constant velocity of eccentric
operation. drives.
Table Slide: This newly designed concept of adopting
The Table drive indexing is an integrated Electronic Guide on CNC Gear Shaping
part of the table. A separate AC servomotor Machine was developed by Premier and
is provided for table rotation. The table after thorough testing of machine, the said
rotation & gear shaper cutter rotations are machine was displayed in 15th Indian
synchronized for gear generation through priya.compage@gmail.com
Machine Tool Exhibition (IMTEX) 2011. FIE
electronic gear box. The table slide is moved Foundation authorities visited our stall and
in & out by AC servo motor & preloaded ball understood the unique feature of
screw for accurate depth & radial feed development of Electronic Guide on Gear
control. Shaping Machine and Premier won FIE
Foundation Award for this new
development.


Technical Article

Hoover Dam Operators
Monitor Processes Using
Dynamic Mapboard with
Red Lion PAX Meters

A pproximately a million paid
visitors—and many a passerby—visit
the Hoover Dam each
Region. “As this water is released
from the Hoover Dam, hydroelectric
power is generated; this power is
year to take photos or tour the area to learn distributed to southern Nevada,
more about the dam’s operation and southern California and Arizona.”
appreciate its incredible engineering. Its The Bureau of Reclamation
primary purpose, however, is to provide completed the Hoover Dam in 1935—with
flood control on the lower Colorado River as power generation beginning the following
well as deliver water and power to residents year—and now operates and maintains it.
and businesses in the region. This includes coordinating water and power
“The reservoir impounded by the operations, as well as managing water
dam, Lake Mead, stores Colorado releases to protect two endangered fish
River water for delivery to users in species in Lake Mohave, immediately
southern Nevada, California, downstream of Hoover Dam.
Arizona and northern Mexico,” said With the dam operating around-the-clock,
Bob Walsh, Regional External it is important to continuously monitor many
Affairs Officer, Bureau of pieces of equipment. This had proven
Reclamation, Lower Colorado challenging to perform cost-effectively with
the previously installed
video projection system.
That video system
utilized 12 projectors,
each with a 42-day
defined bulb life. These
bulbs needed to be
replaced frequently, at a
cost of several hundred
dollars each—and
if a bulb failed while in a
projector, the projector
was damaged. Plus, the
video system
did not focus clearly
when translated onto the
screens in the dam’s
control room, making


Industry Watch Industrial Automation

as well as for the two power plant station
service units and the station service
distributional breakers and switchgear.
Gene Hosler, Production Operations
Manager for Monitor Mapboard Systems,
said the mapboard has delivered
dependable results with little maintenance
needed.
“Managing the Hoover Dam is an
amazing job, with operations running 24
hours a day—and since video has a shorter
operational life, it was costing Reclamation
thousands of dollars a year to maintain and
replace equipment,” Hosler said. “A
mapboard gives you more than what you
can observe on a video screen. It provides
crisp images, LED indicators, and real-time
status readouts of all collected information
using Red Lion’s easy-to-read PAX meters
with a half-inch digital display.”
The integrated PAX meters connect
simply to SCADA systems and use Rs232
communications to deliver real-time
readouts of all collected system data. The
combination of the dynamic mapboard and
PAX meters has offered operators at the
Hoover Dam “system at a glance”
information with less upkeep and
replacements, facilitating simple monitoring
and allowing them to easily perform
preventative maintenance on the mapboard
when required.
“The mapboard’s enhanced readability
them somewhat difficult to read. assists the operators in monitoring all
To address this issue, Reclamation equipment,” said Vince Blaeser, Vice
decided to replace the video monitoring President of Sales and Marketing for Monitor
system. Following a request for bids, a Mapboard Systems. “The reliability and low
contract for a dynamic mapboard was maintenance cost, combined with the
graphics, dynamic indicators and readouts
awarded to Monitor
Mapboard Systems based in Dayton, supplied by Red Lion’s PAX meters, makes
this dynamic mapboard an awesome
Ohio. This mapboard provides a dynamic
representation of the system in use—from operational tool.”
To learn more about the Hoover Dam and
power generation to water levels—in real
time, allowing operators in the control room the Bureau of Reclamation, visit
www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam. For more
to view system status information at a
glance. Combined with more than 75 PAX information on Monitor Mapboard Systems,
meters by Red Lion, it delivers a reliable LLC, visit www.mapboard.com.
monitoring solution in a cost-effective, Red Lion Controls, Inc. is a leading
simple-to-use design. manufacturer of industrial control solutions
The mapboard displays all standard worldwide. Products include digital/analog
operating indications—megawatts of power control, monitoring and panel meters, PID
control, human-machine interface panels,
being
produced by each unit, as well as VARS and and signal conditioning. For more
voltage. It shows whether a unit’s breaker information,
is open or closed, how much power is being or to find the Red Lion distributor nearest
requested from the system and how much you, go to www.redlion.net or contact: Red
power is produced. This information is Lion Controls, Inc., 20 Willow Springs Circle,
displayed for the 17 commercial generators, York, PA 17406; (717) 767-6511.

84 PURCHASE April 2011 April 2011 PURCHASE 73

Technical Article

Process visibility:
Scaling real-time OEE from
devices to the process level
David Harris, Vice-President Red Lion

W hile most modern equipment on the
factory floor offers some degree of
performance and productivity monitoring,
effectively a machine
or process is running at a given moment. An
established benchmark provides a baseline
tying equipment and devices together for for operators based upon what’s actually
meaningful and immediate expressions of being produced, tying actual plant floor
realities together with the losses that create
productivity often remains a hurdle.
equipment- and process-related wastes.
However, overcoming this challenge pays
While it’s unlikely that any plant can operate
big dividends. In a landmark presentation of
at 100% OEE, many manufacturers set a
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), benchmark of somewhere around 85% OEE
Rohm and Haas Corporation found that as a goal.
OEE is ten times more cost-effective than
adding capital capacity.1 With findings this
Two essential requirements for successful OEE
dramatic, deploying broad performance
The true goal of measuring OEE is to
monitoring measures are easy to justify.
improve the productivity of your equipment,
OEE is a vital metric that combines three and since operators are the ones most
key performance indicators (KPI) into a directly responsible in this effort, they
single calculation, measured as a percentage should have front-row access to OEE data.
against an ideal combination of machine OEE should be looked at as a plant floor
uptime, plus the
quantity and of the
products being
produced. The
percentages of each
of these three KPI are
multiplied together to
provide the OEE rate
quality
(OEE = % Availability
X % Performance X %
Quality).
If the goal is
performance
improvement, OEE is
a concise indicator
that focuses on how


Industrial Automation Industry Watch

improvement tool, and by definition should different communication
be clearly and quickly conveyed to protocols in order to support legacy
operators. This relationship with the data not products, accommodate new technologies
only helps operators develop the best “feel” or restrict customers to their own
for their machines, but also focuses their proprietary networks. For example, a
attention on maintaining productivity levels. packaging machine may only be
In turn, shift or line supervisors receive programmed to understand how
better, more timely operator feedback many parts are produced in comparison to
regarding the equipment status—empirical its engineered throughput rate, while a piece
data on which to base actions and decisions. of inspection equipment would only know
For OEE to be a truly effective tool for how many good and rejected parts were
analyzing and improving operations, two produced. Data from both must be
conditions must exist: communicated and consolidated in order to
The first is visual accessibility. OEE calculate OEE.
statistics must be viewable to the plant floor Today, data management devices can
so that operators in control of the process or provide seamless communications and
machine may respond immediately to the protocol conversion to collect
displayed calculations. Large overhead plant data from an array of disparate equipment
floor marquees are often used to display and PLCs. When used as a host device to
OEE metrics on the whole, while smaller drive plant floor marquees, a data
display boards might service an individual management device can be a very effective
work cell or machine. and versatile solution for delivering real-time
The second and most critical aspect for OEE output to a desired visual interface.
successful OEE is that data must be In addition to data management
displayed in real time. If performance suffers solutions, a number of human-machine
during a shift but operators are not informed interface (HMI) panels also facilitate
of this shortfall until an end-of-week communication of data for OEE while
spreadsheet is generated, reconstructing the providing a control interface for operators to
cause of the reduction is almost impossible monitor and control
if problematic conditions have already processes. Pairing protocol conversion with
passed or the data is incomplete. By data collection and math capabilities, as well
monitoring live performance, an operator as providing a direct path from the HMI or
can immediately assess declining OEE rates operator interface (OI) directly to the plant
and remedy problems, whether they are floor display, ensures operators can monitor
mechanical or materials related. OEE values in real time.
Because they are integrated into the
The challenge of consolidating data and process, advanced data management and
integrating devices HMI devices bypass the need for
One of the best ways to acquire data for a PC, long wire runs or offline processing.
OEE is to let the production equipment They can also provide advantages including
measure itself, as most the integrated math
machines today have the intelligence to function capability required to pre-analyze
measure one or more of the three OEE hard point data, as well as the capabilities to
parameters. For instance, once manage multi-vendor
a machine is programmed for an optimized equipment (including PLCs, drives, PCs and
production rate, most equipment can PID controllers) and perform data logging.
monitor throughput against its Some solutions offer the ability to network-
and Web-enable plant floor machinery,
designed specifications. Many systems can
including legacy serial devices. These
also track first pass yield against the total
capabilities vastly simplify the acquisition
units started, and as
and movement of data to facilitate scalable
PLCs are time-based, they can easily track
OEE.
the amount of operational time.
Most plants use devices made by various
manufacturers, and manufacturers use many


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