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Stockholm, April 8th, 2010 - Novator has applied for a patent for a new method to compensate for tool wear when drilling in stacks of complex materials. The method is called Tool Wear Compensation and combines the unique feature to dynamically adjust the drilling diameter in very small steps in an Orbital Drilling End-effector and a new type of software algorithm to predict and compensate for the tool wear in different materials.
“Tool wear has always been a big problem when drilling in abrasive materials like CFRP and stacks with material combinations like CFRP/Ti or CFRP/Al. In some cases just a few holes can be drilled before the cutter has to be scrapped or re-ground” says Hans-Petter Andersson, CEO at Novator. “The combination of Orbital Drilling and Tool Wear Compensation, TWC, makes it possible to drill a large number of holes with tight tolerance and to significantly increase the lifetime of the cutting tool”.
The Novator End-effector is based on the patented Orbital Drilling technique that enables drilling of holes with high quality and finish while reducing the machine inventory and the cutting times. The End-effector is also capable of performing conventional drilling operations, making it very versatile for the user. The Tool Wear Compensation feature will be available as an add-on option to the End-effector during 2010.
Orbital drilling is a new drilling technique; the cutter is revolving in a mechanically forced eccentric movement while simultaneously rotating around its own axis. In orbital drilling, the thrust force is much lower resulting in higher quality and is one of the factors that opens up for dry drilling. Dry drilling makes coolant obsolete and reduces environmental hazards.
Published: 2010-04-08
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