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The individual, group companies show an industrial
history rich in tradition and experience. WST
Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG was founded in 1906
in Switzerland in order to supply the expanding Swiss
metalworking and machine tool industry. After a long
period of collaboration in resin bonded grinding
wheels with the Austrian grinding wheel manufacturer
Rappold Schleifmittel Industrie GmbH, the two
companies joined forces in 1992. Rappold was
founded in 1876 and has established itself as one of
the leading manufacturers of large diameter cut-off
discs for the steel industry. In 1999, the
largest Swedish grinding wheel manufacturer,
SlipNaxos AB, joined the group. SlipNaxos was
founded in 1920 and has specialised itself, among
other activities, in the manufacturing of hot-pressed
grinding wheels for the conditioning of slabs and
billets in the steel industry.
An ideal match covering customer focus, technological
orientation and geographical presence offers customers
significant advantages. For these reasons, a new
process oriented supplier, active across the globe,
has been created.
The most important users of the Group's abrasive
wheels are the automotive, the ball and roller bearing,
the tool and steel industries. Winterthur Technology
Group keeps all production sites at state-of-the art
standards and places a high value on the traditional
brands. Production capacity in the three locations
ensures uninterrupted, safe supply to all customers
worldwide.
All production sites operate according to international
quality standards for manufacturing and environ-
mental protection (EN ISO 9001:2000 and EN ISO
14001:2004).
Continuous application oriented research and deve-
lopment are the cornerstone of the Group's business
philosophy. The Group reinvests 5% of its turnover
for these activities. One third of the group´s products,
The Winterthur Technology Group is one of Europe's three leading manu-
facturers of bonded abrasives for industrial applications. Rappold-
Winterthur's plants in Winterthur, Switzerland, Villach, Austria, and the
SlipNaxos site in Sweden, have sufficient capacity to play a decisive role on
a global scale in their area of activity. Using a common strategy, the three
sites have focused their know-how and competency. The Winterthur
Technology Group is a process-oriented partner supplying custom-made
solutions to the industry across the globe.
WINTERTHUR TECHNOLOGY GROUP
SHAPING THE FUTURE
sold currently have been developed within the last
three years. Product innovation continuously enlarges
and cements the market position of the Group and
safeguards its future.
Winterthur Technology Group is mainly active in
Europe, however through its subsidiary, Winterthur
Corporation, it has maintained a dominant niche
position in the United States. The Asian market is
being actively pursued and supported with carefully
selected agencies which continually grow the
Group's business, particularly in China, India,
Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Besides the three production sites, 65 partners and
subsidiaries worldwide serve the customers of the
Winterthur Technology Group.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE OVERVIEW
Vitrified grinding wheels
• OD and ID cylindrical grinding wheels
• Creep-feed grinding wheels
• Centerless grinding wheels
• Surface and profile grinding wheels
• Gear grinding wheels
• Thread and worm grinding wheels
• Mounted points
• Segments
Resin bonded grinding wheels
• Cut-off wheels up to Ø 2000 mm
• Hot-pressed wheels for grinding slabs and billets
• Roll grinding wheels
• Centerless grinding wheels
• Tool and cutter grinding wheels
• Saw sharpening wheels
• Fettling wheels
Diamond and CBN wheels
• Resin bonded diamond and CBN wheels
• Vitrified diamond and CBN wheels with closed
or segmented rim design
• High speed CBN wheels
• Diamond grinding wheels for solid carbide
inserts
• Cam- and crankshaft grinding wheels
Optimisation Software and Services
• Optima software for process optimisation
• Naxotech (Measurement of grinding forces)
• Grinding seminars
• Engineering support
This strong customer orientation is supported by the
Group’s strategy of focussing on research and
development. In Villach / Austria and Västervik /
Sweden highly specialized R & D engineers use
sophisticated technical equipment to achieve
their research goals. Over the last years the R & D
departments have been enlarged and their budgets
increased significantly. Universities and external
research institutes are integrated as partners in a
growing scientific network yielding exciting results
in fundamental research projects.
The financial investment and the risks taken were
rewarded with a significant success in areas such as
the grinding of gears and components for gas and
aircraft turbines. The Group could also secure a top
INNOVATION AND QUALITY
position in the areas of high-speed grinding, high-
pressure grinding and abrasive cutting-off. The
Group’s individual companies have won top rankings
in nationwide innovation contests. For example,
Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH has been
awarded with the top prize of Carinthia for research
and innovation. Group companies have also been
honoured with ecology as well as employer awards.
Winterthur Technology has always been dedicated to
quality and it was not by accident that Rappold
Winterthur Technologie GmbH was the first
European abrasive tool producer to be certified
according to ISO 9000ff. This quality orientation
not only applies to products and services but
extends to the areas of workplace and environmental
The Winterthur Technology Group accepts the challenge of a global economy and is dedicated to continuous
improvement and to innovate grinding processes and products. It is our ongoing effort to provide customers
with new products, improving economics to support productivity increases.
One third of the group’s grinding wheel sales in the last business year were achieved with products which
had not been on the market three years ago. Within these three years the company has doubled the
number of patent applications compared to the previous 10 years.
As a rule, suppliers are generally the best in the field of their activity as they have to undergo a continuous evaluation process. All our development and quality
efforts are based on customer demands and needs. This is the reason for many successful partnership projects with end-users and innovative machine tool
manufacturers worldwide.
safety. This claim is borne out by the EN ISO 14001
certificate, whereas our internal standards even
exceed legal standards in the relevant areas. All
sites are certified according to EN ISO 9001 and
apply the latest quality assurance systems.
WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG specialises in
the manufacture of vitrified grinding wheels for high
precision processes. For grinding tasks such as
grinding automotive gears, creep-feed applications
for the gas turbine or aerospace industries, the
cylindrical grinding of fuel injection parts etc., high
quality precision grinding wheels are a must. In this
field the Winterthur brand stands for competence
and innovation.
Tradition leads to know-how
WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG was founded in
1906 in the city of Winterthur, near Zurich, as
Schweizerische Schmirgelscheibenfabrik AG (Swiss
Emery Wheel Works Ltd). As part of its business
policy, WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG has
always worked closely with the main Swiss machine
tool builders (OEMs). Through this and other
collaborations Winterthur has taken part in many
important developments in precision grinding, and
close collaboration with OEMs is still a key part of
Winterthur's overall business strategy.
On the basis of these technological partnerships,
much of the Group's know-how regarding vitrified
high precision grinding wheels is concentrated in
Winterthur focusing on sophisticated customers.
The strong service component is made up of
application-oriented grinding seminars for end
users, and the development of grinding software
also plays a key role in customer orientation.
Central geographical location in Europe
From a logistical point of view the Winterthur site is
in an ideal position: Zurich's international airport is
only 20 minutes away by car, and the outstanding
road and railway system ensures optimal accessibility.
For these reasons one of Europe’s largest grinding
wheel stock has been placed in Winterthur. Grinding
wheel blanks stored in Winterthur are machined and
profiled within a very short lead time, and then
shipped at short notice to wherever customers'
factories may be.
Product range
Winterthur's product range encompasses, among
others, grinding wheels made of conventional
abrasives as well as super abrasives such as diamond
and CBN for the following fields of application:
• OD, ID cylindrical and centerless grinding
• Surface, profile and creep-feed grinding
• Gear grinding
• Thread and worm grinding
• Tool grinding
SITE SWITZERLAND
SWITZERLAND
WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG is second to none in terms of grinding
wheels for high precision finishing. The company looks back on a long
tradition of innovation, and maintains a strong international position in the
automotive, gas turbine and jet engine industries.
Europe’s largest producer of abrasive grain is a
direct neighbour of the site, thus facilitating and
ensuring close technological collaboration. 350
employees produce approximately 5000 tons of
technically sophisticated grinding wheels per year.
The production programme of the Villach plant
includes vitrified precision grinding wheels up to
diameter 1100 mm and cut-off wheels up to a
maximum diameter of 2000 mm. A wide range of
resin bonded grinding wheels as well as super
abrasives in resin, vitrified and electro-plated bonds
are also produced there.
The pressing department operates numerous
hydraulic presses with state-of-the-art automatic
handling and control systems. The performance
ranges from 20 to 5000 tons. Two tunnel kilns and
numerous electrical as well as gas heated periodic
kilns allow for a wide range of sintering profiles and
kiln atmospheres. Final machining of the grinding
wheels is based on state-of-the-art CNC machining
centres.
AUSTRIA
The Winterthur Technology Group’s Austrian plant in Villach is located right
in the heart of Europe with direct access to international motorways.
Today’s Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH originates from
Rappold Schleifmittel Industrie, which goes back to 1876.
Research and Development:
The Austrian entity, Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH,
operates a well equipped ceramic laboratory with a
highly qualified R & D team. Examples for recent
R & D awards are the vitrified high-performance
series NanoWin®, re-useable large cut-off wheels
Raposteel® and the super abrasive product series
Coolgrind® with internal cooling, a joint development
with the inventor G. Schrottner.
SITE VILLACH
With over 30 000 m2 production area, the plant is
well suited to produce sophisticated grinding wheels
for demanding customers.
Hot pressed grinding wheels in sizes up to diameter
915 mm are produced for the grinding of slabs,
billets and blooms in the steel industry. The Västervik
plant has the biggest capacity world wide for these
steel conditioning products.
For precision grinding, the Västervik plant produces
vitrified and resin bonded grinding wheels in sizes
Located on the Swedish east coast about 300 km south of Stockholm in
the beautiful seaside town Västervik, you will find one of the most modern
production facilities for large grinding wheels in Europe, SlipNaxos AB.
SWEDEN
up to diameter 1100 mm. These wheels are used
for many different purposes such as crank- and
camshaft grinding, roll grinding as well as grinding
of bearing parts. In an up to date production unit
customized products of the highest quality are
produced to meet the customers' high expectations.
In the Super Abrasives department diamond and
CBN grains are used together with the latest bonding
systems to produce highly sophisticated closed rim
grinding wheels in sizes up to diameter 610 mm.
SITE VÄSTERVIK
For many reasons grinding of automotive gear flanks
is gaining increasingly in importance. In the past,
only high end cars had their gears ground. This was
due to the fact that in 1980 the manufacturing cycle
time for grinding an individual gear was more than 10
minutes. The combination of advanced machine tool
technology and modern abrasives led to ever shorter
cycle times, and the existing alternative manufacturing
methods such as shaving and honing could be
increasingly replaced by grinding. Today, grinding
machine tools in conjunction with high performance
grinding wheels achieve cycle times of less than 30
seconds per automotive gear, and this at much higher
quality levels. There are also ecological and economical
reasons as to why gears are being ground. Increasing
demand stipulates ever lighter components that
feature lower friction such that fuel consumption and
noise generation can be further reduced. Lighter gear
parts that create less friction and less noise can only
be achieved if the accuracy of the gear flanks is
increased. Higher accuracy, however, calls for a
grinding process. Today’s car owners have clear
demand on the noise level they are willing to accept
in their vehicles so they can enjoy the potential
quality of their high end car music systems. Ground
gears have specific surface structures that counteract
noise generation and which, therefore, can offer a
high level of acoustic comfort. Winterthur wheels are
the clear choice for these applications.
The automotive industry is not the only field where
gears are used. Gears function as key elements in
many drive systems and are found in many technical
areas such as ship building, railways, steel works and
wind generator plants, to name but a few. When
laypeople look at a giant wind generator they often
only observe the giant rotor blades and are unaware
of the large and complex gear drive systems hidden
behind the generator’s housing. The gears of such
drives must be able to take up very high loads, run
smoothly without too much loss in friction, and they
need to have a very long operational life. All these
demanding properties can only be achieved by precision
grinding the gear flanks. For these reasons, grinding
as the key manufacturing process is indispensable
and secures Winterthur Technology Group as manu-
facturer of high precision grinding wheels a challenge
to enthuse customers.
GEAR GRINDING
Creep-feed grinding is still gaining in importance as
a manufacturing process for complex components.
Particularly the aerospace and gas turbine industries
use increasingly more difficult-to-machine materials.
Their mechanical and heat resistance are improved
by sophisticated properties of special alloys. This
has a direct bearing on the machinability, and often
creep-feed grinding is the only method to manufacture
those components in a cost-effective way. Creep-
feed grinding is a process by which deep cuts remove
considerable amounts of material with each cutting
pass to achieve an overall economy. These deep
cuts per pass result in large contact areas on the
workpieces, thereby increasing friction and the risk
of burning. Winterthur Technology Group faces
considerable challenges to produce grinding wheel
structures with high artificial porosity to counteract
those risks. High induced grinding wheel porosity
reduces the contact area and friction and allows the
application of large amounts of coolant fluids to
avoid that the components suffer in either quality or
reduction of useful life. This is not only indispensable
in aerospace applications but also applies to gas
turbine blades, automotive steering systems, industrial
cutting tools and high resistance ceramic compo-
nents, to name but a few.
Winterthur Technology group is one of the pioneers
of creep-feed technology and enjoys a solid position
in the creep-feed market. As technology will continue
to produce and demand materials of high resistance,
creep-feed grinding will play a dominant role as a
manufacturing process in the future.
CREEP-FEED
GRINDING
APPLICATION FOCUS
BEARING INDUSTRY
Bearings are central components in modern trans-
portation systems. The bearing industry meets the
increasing demands regarding reliability and accuracy
by continuous improvements in quality and production
techniques.
For many years the Winterthur Technology Group
has been a close partner to the bearing industry and
has been actively taking part in many productivity
improvements.
Being in the front line of bond system developments
for the maximum utilisation of modern abrasives,
Winterthur Technology Group supports its customers
with cost efficient products which in turn generate
increased productivity.
The bearing industry is heavily dependent on
grinding processes and incorporates most types of
grinding operations. Each bearing producer has
different strategies and production methods, which
lead to individual requirements.
The Winterthur Technology Group is a global supplier
of abrasives and possesses wide experience and
know-how to meet the different customer demands
and to adapt to their unique process conditions. The
choice of products is always a result of communication
between Winterthur Technology Group and the end-
users’ engineers. The Group supplies the most
suitable product for each specific operation at high
and consistent quality. For the customer this results
in the most cost-efficient grinding operation.
For each operation there is a product based on con-
ventional abrasives but also an alternative solution
from the latest developments of ceramic or super
abrasives, such as cubic boron nitride (CBN) for the
most demanding operations, or diamond for advanced
ceramic bearing components. The Group’s high-end
products are among the leading abrasive tools on
the market and Winterthur Technology is already
developing the products for the customer’s future
improvements.
Winterthur Technology Group also offers a range of
knowledge based services such as the “NaxoTech”
analysing equipment for recording real time conditions
to support improvements of grinding operations.
The “Optima” computer-assisted programme is used
to pre-calculate settings and machining parameters
for best utilisation of grinding wheels.
The Winterthur Technology Group is proud of having
the products and the experience to offer a first-class
service to the bearing industry.
The field of tool and cutter grinding is more complex
than one would imagine at first glance. A great
variety of materials with very different properties
have to be ground, including tool steel, HSS, stellite,
tungsten carbide, cermets, ceramics, PCBN, PCD
and CVD. Different grinding processes are used,
including, among others, peel grinding, cylindrical
grinding, surface grinding, face grinding and creep-
feed grinding.
Today, most machine tools are 5-axis CNC grinding
centres which allow the grinding of very complex
profiles. Palette loaders are widely used in high
volume production runs, which means that high
process stability is an absolute must.
Cutting tool manufacturers and re-sharpening service
providers demand grinding wheels which feature a
long tool life and create only low grinding pressures.
The tolerance band for cutting tools is becoming
ever narrower, the demands on surface finish ever
higher, and cutting edges must be ever sharper and
free of any notches. Thermal damage to the cutting
tool must also be completely avoided. All of these
demands go hand in hand with continuously shorter
manufacturing cycles and lower process costs.
To meet these demands, the Winterthur Technology
Group has introduced a number of high quality inno-
vations. Bond compositions of CBN and diamond
wheels have been redesigned and improved, whether
for vitrified, resin, metal, hybrid or electro-plated
bond systems. For thermically critical applications
an internal cooling system “Coolgrind” has been
developed jointly with an engineering consultant.
The new wheel can be supplied in all types of
bonds.
The Winterthur Technology Group supplies abrasive
tools for grinding milling cutters, drills, turning tools,
taps, carbide inserts, profile inserts, PCBN and PCD
tools, saws and woodworking tools, including all
dressing tools and sticks.
Application engineers are at customers disposal to
offer solutions in their workshop or factory.
TOOL GRINDING
Tool grinding wheels are another main product line to be supplied
specifically to the cutting tool industry.
Many applications can be covered with wheels from our existing stocks.
APPLICATION FOCUS
Due to the Winterthur Technology Group’s close
cooperation with all major cutting-off machine tool
manufacturers and end-users, the technology of
abrasive cutting-off could be further developed and
improved over the last years. Today, abrasive cutting-off
represents an economically very interesting alternative
to metal blade sawing and shearing, clearly resulting in
an improved quality of cut.
Winterthur Technology Group’s Rapoflex® state-of-the-
art brand offers a well adapted product, ranging in
diameter from 20 to 2000 mm, thereby covering all
standard and customer specific cutting-off applications.
Rapoflex® cut-off wheels are produced as a multi-layer
composite system by an efficient manufacturing
process. Alternate layers of abrasive mix and glass
fibre fabrics are pressed to a homogenous composite
on Europe’s largest press for abrasive products. The
wheels are then cured in special dryers at an average
temperature of 180°C. Continuous research and
development activities offer customers individual
solutions for specific applications, leading to a reduction
of total costs of the cutting process.
Innovations include Raposteel® wheels with steel
centres that allow recycling. Raposteel® has proved to
be a very economic substitution technology to metal
saw blades, reducing the need for additional machining
processes, in conjunction with a substantial reduction
of the noise level in the cutting process.
Raposteel Light® are mechanically reinforced large
diameter wheels which give the highest cutting
performance resulting in a top quality of cut. The
wheel design allows particularly high-speed and thin
cuts producing a minimum of waste.
CUT-OFF WHEELSCONDITIONING OF SLABS AND BILLETS
IN STEEL PLANTS
This very demanding operation is performed on special
machines equipped with very hard grinding wheels.
These wheels are pressed in a hot condition, which
practically eliminates all porosity and results in
extremely hard wheels (HP).
The Winterthur Technology Group operates a plant
in Västervik, Sweden, which has the world’s highest
production capacity for this type of hot pressed
wheels. The production is state-of-the-art with a very
high degree of efficiency. No efforts are spared to
ensure the consistently high quality of the products.
As the wheels are running at an operating speed of
80 m/s, each and every wheel is subjected to a
stringent safety test to ensure the highest possible
protection and safety for the end-user. All test and
production data are monitored, making it possible to
check each wheel’s relevant data years after delivery.
The abrasives mainly used are zirconium corundum
and sintered bauxite. Zirconium is used for grinding
carbon and alloyed steel, whereas sintered bauxite
is used for grinding stainless steel. The range of grit
sizes used varies from sizes #6 to #36.
There is a variety of bond systems of different
hardness and heat resistance, making it possible to
produce customised wheels for practically any
operation.
SlipNaxos is leading the innovation in the field of
hot-pressed wheels. The high performance of the
new INAX range has gained an impressive market
position. Close cooperation with manufacturers of
automatic billet and slab grinders results in continuous
improvements of the process to the point where
even the conditioning of carbon steel has become
an economically interesting process.
The Winterthur Technology Group also offers a high-
tech support service, using the “NaxoTech” grinding
process analyser to optimise machine settings and
calculating the most cost-efficient way to run a
given grinding operation.
The Group is represented across the globe in all major
steel markets offering customers close and technically
superior support. The Winterthur Technology Group
is proud of having revolutionised the steel conditioning
process by introducing hot grinding at 900 °C.
Production of high-alloy and stainless steels demands an excellent
surface finish. For this reason, slabs, blooms and billets are ground
prior to rolling to ensure the complete removal of cracks and surface
defects.
Abrasive cutting-off is a high performance cutting
process for a wide variety of steel producing and
processing industries.
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