Final Report Summary - HYMOULD (Development of a hybrid machine tool concept for manufacturing of free-form surface moulds)
The overall objective of the project was the development of a hybrid machine tool concept for the manufacturing of free form moulds and dies. Difficult-to-cut materials such as high-alloy metals have recently gained importance in this field of application because they have excellent material properties combined with ecological and economic benefits. The wide variety of materials proves to be the main problem with respect to the production of complex precision parts as a wide range of manufacturing technologies is necessary to achieve the required quality.
The industrial end-users are interested in a flexible all-in-one machine tool and a significant decrease of the time-to-market in the rapidly changing consumer goods market. Thus, the HYMOULD project focuses on meeting both customer demands and production requirements by combining high-speed cutting, laser ablation and dry-ice blasting in one machine tool.
Inside the project, different benchmark parts have been selected respectively designed. These parts have been machined with different technologies in different materials by different partners. Round robin tests have been organised for this purpose. This enabled the consortium to overcome the fact that no complete machine tool for complex hybrid machining was available due to the short duration of the project.
The machine tool manufacturer Soraluce will set up a hybrid machine tool on the basis of the developments in the HYMOULD project. The virtual demonstrator documents these investigations. The processes have been approved at the machining centres at each of the partners. Several benchmark-processes and benchmark parts have been defined and treated by different processes at different partners. The measures and test series will be put together in a data basis in a unitary design. This design is a standard fact sheet design which was developed by the research and technological development (RTD) partners according to existing hybrid-machining concepts and according to established knowledge system structures. This structure enables each partner to use, upgrade and strengthen the generated knowledge.
The industrial end-users are interested in a flexible all-in-one machine tool and a significant decrease of the time-to-market in the rapidly changing consumer goods market. Thus, the HYMOULD project focuses on meeting both customer demands and production requirements by combining high-speed cutting, laser ablation and dry-ice blasting in one machine tool.
Inside the project, different benchmark parts have been selected respectively designed. These parts have been machined with different technologies in different materials by different partners. Round robin tests have been organised for this purpose. This enabled the consortium to overcome the fact that no complete machine tool for complex hybrid machining was available due to the short duration of the project.
The machine tool manufacturer Soraluce will set up a hybrid machine tool on the basis of the developments in the HYMOULD project. The virtual demonstrator documents these investigations. The processes have been approved at the machining centres at each of the partners. Several benchmark-processes and benchmark parts have been defined and treated by different processes at different partners. The measures and test series will be put together in a data basis in a unitary design. This design is a standard fact sheet design which was developed by the research and technological development (RTD) partners according to existing hybrid-machining concepts and according to established knowledge system structures. This structure enables each partner to use, upgrade and strengthen the generated knowledge.
