
How can you manufacture rotor carriers, rotor shafts and similar parts even faster, more efficiently and with greater precision? The experts at EMAG ECM had the answers at the company's annual Technology Day held at the end of November. Besides technical lectures by scientists, the company's own presentations and live machine demonstrations really showed how electro-chemical machining (ECM) can provide exceptionally effective production processes for e-mobility and other industries.
Production planners in many companies face an uphill struggle when trying to meet the ever-growing demands in electric motor production, particularly when they have to combine conflicting requirements. For instance, drive shafts and gearing components often have complex geometries on the one hand, but also need to be built with thin walls to save weight on the other - they may even have to be machined with various bore holes that have complex intersections. What's more, these components need to be made with the utmost precision and the leanest possible process chains. According to the specialists at EMAG ECM, electro-chemical machining is the secret to meeting all those needs in one efficient process chain, whether in the e-mobility sector or other industries. "We were able to show how, in the future, it will be possible to produce even complex e-components with a lean and cost-effective ECM process chain. The processes include ECM broaching, ECM drilling, and ECM deburring," explains Richard Keller, a member of the management board at EMAG ECM. The ECM experts also explained the fundamental advantages to their contactless method, such as the elimination of heat warp, almost complete absence of tool wear and outstanding surface quality. The company claims that the ECM process creates no burrs, thus eliminating the need for any additional deburring processes in many applications, regardless of the material hardness.
A team of specialists from EMAG ECM will be at EMO Hannover 2019 to showcase a range of ECM machine types that can be used as stand-alone solutions or as part of a modular system - including the compact entry-level CI 400 model, the modular, scalable and therefore extremely cost-effective CS stand-alone machine, the PO 900 BF, and the PO 100 SF for machining complex components for jet engines.