We ask can a single machine be responsible for the wholesale acceptance of an innovative new composite? When Tata Steel, one of the worlds industrial giants develops a radical and innovative composite material and needs to prove that it can be easily processed, they turned to Biesse, whose collaborative relationship resulted in a proven process and the purchase of a Rover Plast B, 5-axis CNC machining centre.
The material in question is Coretinium, a next generation composite sheet made using Econcore’s patented continuous core production process, combined with Tata Steel’s Colorcoat high performance pre-finished steel. The core material is an engineered polypropylene blend, that can maintain ductility down to a staggering -40°C.
Tata Steel’s Technical Sales Manager for the new materials, Edwin Richards, explains: “Coretinium’s applications are wide and varied. The main current application is for commercial vehicle trailers, as it’s significantly lighter than current materials, mainly plywood based composites, so helps reduce trailer weights resulting in reduced fuel consumption and lower operating costs for transport operators as well as benefiting society from lower CO2 emissions.”
“However, as with most innovations, people are generally reticent to change as it may involve new techniques and fabrication methods, so we needed to prove to our potential customers that Coretinium can be processed relatively easily.”
He continues: “What we needed was a “˜sales enabler’ to educate our customers whilst also providing a value-added service. We approached Biesse who supported us to prove this technology. The team at Biesse went that extra mile with a very consultative approach, were commercially flexible and ensured we achieved the correct specification.
“Biesse impressed us more than any other manufacturer, mainly due to the machine’s design and build quality.
“The machine itself is Biesse’s 5-axis Rover B 1667 pod and rail machine. We didn’t want to compromise on the size of the machine as we needed to be able to process 6 m long panels.”
The Rover B is one of a series of machines in the Rover range that comprise of 3- and 5-axis, pod and rail and flat table machines that can all be partnered with Winstore automated loading and storage systems.
The 5-axis operating head, equipped with 13 kW or 16.5 kW HSD spindle and with 360° continuous rotation on the vertical and horizontal axes, enables the machining of complex-shapes ensuring quality, precision and long term reliability.
“Critically the pod and rail system, together with the 5-axis head allows us to size the panels using a saw blade rather than just relying on milling. Even though the exterior skin of Coretinium is steel, all of our machining operations such as routing, cutting and boring are conducted dry using tungsten tipped Kyocera tooling.”
Industry 4.0 is the new industry frontier, based on digital technologies and on machines that speak to companies. The products driving this revolution can communicate and interact independently within production processes, which in turn are connected via intelligent networks.
Biesse is dedicated to transforming customers’ factories into real-time factories that are ready to provide digital manufacturing opportunities. Intelligent machines and software become indispensable tools that facilitate the daily work of those who machine advanced materials on a daily basis.
“As a manufacturer of bulk materials, it allows us to offer a tailored blanking service to our customers, as well as a sales enabler in educating commercial vehicle builders that Coretinium is a viable and beneficial alternative to current materials. The other big application is in building cladding, so the flexibility of being able to cut panels to size is a critical part of the adoption process,” says Edwin Richards.
He concludes: “We’re absolutely delighted with the Rover B and the Biesse team who went that extra mile to ensure we achieved our objectives with this innovative new composite.”