Central Institute of Tool Design

The Institute for Enhancement of

Motto
Technology

Established 1968

Type Autonomous Institute

Chancellor Shri Shujayat Khan

Students 556

Location Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Campus Urban, 10 acres (0.04 km)

Acronym CITD

Micro Small and Medium

Affiliations
Enterprises, Osmania University

Website Central Institute of Tool Design

Central Institute of Tool Design or CITD is a premier institute in Asia providing

specialized programs in Tool Engineering. CITD's main campus is located in Hyderabad,
India with a branch campus in Vijayawada and an extension centre in Chennai.

History
The Institute was established in the year 1968 by the Government of India with the assistance
of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Labour Organization
(ILO) as an executing Agency.

Objective
The objective of the Institute is to meet the requirements of the Industries in the field of Tool
Design and Manufacture and to train the technical personnel in these fields. The Institute has
strong links with industries to impart practical knowledge by way of undertaking tooling
assignments.

Facilities
The Institute has a well equipped Tool Room with sophisticated CNC machines like CNC
EDM (Charmilles Roboform 54), CNC Wirecut EDM (AGIE Cut Classic-III & Electronics),
4-Axis & 5-Axis High-Speed Machining Centres, Kellenberger CNC Cylindrical Grinding
Machine and 3D Coordinate Measuring Machine with Scanning and Digitization facilities.
The Institute is equipped with latest versions of EMCO Table Top CNC Turning and Milling
machines with dosed loop systems to impart training in CNC Programming. The Calibration
laboratory is set up in CITD with Universal Horizontal metroscope ULM OPAL 600 Carl
Zeiss Technology, Germany and Slip Gauge Measuring Unit 826 with Millitron 1240, Mahr,
Germany, to Calibrate Limit Gauges, Micrometers, Dial Indicators, etc. The Automation
Centre is equipped with various simulator training kits like Advanced Pneumatics Trainer,
Advanced Electro Pneumatics Trainer with PID Controls, Advanced Hydraulics Trainer,
Advanced Electro Hydraulics Trainer, Closed loop Hydraulics Trainer with PID Controls,
PLC Trainer, Sensors Technology Trainer, Modular Production System with Testing,
Processing, Handling and Sorting Stations, Cut Section models of various Elements,
Transparent working models of Hydraulics element etc.

The CAD/CAM Centre is equipped with latest hardware like Compaq workstations. IBM,
DELL Systems, Pentium IV Systems and software like AutoCAD, MDT Ideas NX11, Pro-E
wildfire, Catia V5, UG, Ansys, Nastran, Hypermesh, MasterCam, DelCam, SolidWork, Solid
edge etc. The Institute has a special Library with collection of technical books in Tool
Engineering field and subscribes to various International Journals like CIRP Annals,
American Machinist, Journal of Engineering Materials & Technology (ASME), Precision
Engineering (JAPAN) and Precision Tool Maker etc., The Documentation Centre collects
and organizes information and data useful for the technological advancement in Tool
Engineering. For the dissemination of information, the centre publishes a computerised
current awareness abstracting bulletin and provides technical enquiry service. The Institute
also extends its services to the developing countries by imparting knowledge and necessary
skills to their personnel in the field of Tool Design, CAD/CAM and Low Cost Automation
Techniques
MILLING MACHINES:
A milling machine (also see synonyms below) is a machine tool used to machine solid
materials. Milling machines are often classed in two basic forms, horizontal and vertical,
which refers to the orientation of the main spindle. Both types range in size from small,
bench-mounted devices to room-sized machines. Unlike a drill press, which holds the
workpiece stationary as the drill moves axially to penetrate the material, milling machines
also move the workpiece radially against the rotating milling cutter, which cuts on its sides as
well as its tip. Workpiece and cutter movement are precisely controlled to less than 0.001 in
(0.025 mm), usually by means of precision ground slides and leadscrews or analogous
technology. Milling machines may be manually operated, mechanically automated, or
digitally automated via computer numerical control (CNC).

Milling machines can perform a vast number of operations, from simple (e.g., slot and
keyway cutting, planing, drilling) to complex (e.g., contouring, diesinking). Cutting fluid is
often pumped to the cutting site to cool and lubricate the cut and to wash away the resulting
swarf.

History:
The history of milling cutters is intimately bound up with that of milling machines. Milling
evolved from rotary filing, so there is a continuum of development between the earliest
milling cutters known, such as that of Jacques de Vaucanson from about the 1760s or
1770s,[2][3] through the cutters of the milling pioneers of the 1810s through 1850s (Whitney,
North, Johnson, Nasmyth, and others), to the cutters developed by Joseph R. Brown of
Brown & Sharpe in the 1860s, which were regarded as a break from the past for their large
step forward in tooth coarseness and for the geometry that could take successive sharpenings
without losing the form of the cut. De Vries (1910) reported, "This revolution in the science
of milling cutters took place in the States about the year 1870, and became generally known
in Europe during the Exhibition in Vienna in 1873. However strange it may seem now that
this type of cutter has been universally adopted and its undeniable superiority to the old
European type is no longer doubted, it was regarded very distrustfully and European experts
were very reserved in expressing their judgment. Even we ourselves can remember that after
the coarse pitched cutter had been introduced, certain very clever and otherwise shrewd
experts and engineers regarded the new cutting tool with many a shake of the head. When[,]
however, the Worlds Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, exhibited to European experts a
universal and many-sided application of the coarse pitched milling cutter which exceeded
even the most sanguine expectations, the most far-seeing engineers were then convinced of
the immense advantages which the application of the new type opened up for the
metalworking industry, and from that time onwards the American type advanced, slowly at
first, but later on with rapid strides".

Woodbury provides citations of patents for various advances in milling cutter design,
including irregular spacing of teeth (1867), forms of inserted teeth (1872), spiral groove for
breaking up the cut (1881), and others. He also provides a citation on how the introduction of
vertical mills brought about wider use of the end mill and fly cutter types

Features of a milling cutter

An End Mill cutter with two flutes

Milling cutters come in several shapes and many sizes. There is also a choice of coatings, as
well as rake angle and number of cutting surfaces.
 Shape: Several standard shapes of milling cutter are used in industry today, which are
explained in more detail below.
Flutes / teeth: The flutes of the milling bit are the deep helical grooves running up the
cutter, while the sharp blade along the edge of the flute is known as the tooth. The
tooth cuts the material, and chips of this material are pulled up the flute by the
rotation of the cutter. There is almost always one tooth per flute, but some cutters
have two teeth per flute.[1] Often, the words flute and tooth are used interchangeably.
Milling cutters may have from one to many teeth, with 2, 3 and 4 being most
common. Typically, the more teeth a cutter has, the more rapidly it can remove
material. So, a 4-tooth cutter can remove material at twice the rate of a 2-tooth cutter.
Helix angle: The flutes of a milling cutter are almost always helical. If the flutes were
straight, the whole tooth would impact the material at once, causing vibration and
reducing accuracy and surface quality. Setting the flutes at an angle allows the tooth
to enter the material gradually, reducing vibration. Typically, finishing cutters have a
higher rake angle (tighter helix) to give a better finish.
Center cutting: Some milling cutters can drill straight down (plunge) through the
material, while others cannot. This is because the teeth of some cutters do not go all
the way to the centre of the end face. However, these cutters can cut downwards at an
angle of 45 degrees or so.
Roughing or Finishing: Different types of cutter are available for cutting away large
amounts of material, leaving a poor surface finish (roughing), or removing a smaller
amount of material, but leaving a good surface finish (finishing). A roughing cutter
may have serrated teeth for breaking the chips of material into smaller pieces. These
teeth leave a rough surface behind. A finishing cutter may have a large number (4 or
more) teeth for removing material carefully. However, the large number of flutes
leaves little room for efficient swarf removal, so they are less appropriate for
removing large amounts of material.
Coatings: The right tool coatings can have a great influence on the cutting process by
increasing cutting speed and tool life, and improving the surface finish.
Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) is an exceptionally hard coating used on cutters
which must withstand high abrasive wear. A PCD coated tool may last up to 100
times longer than an uncoated tool. However the coating cannot be used at
temperatures above 600 degrees C, or on ferrous metals. Tools for machining
aluminium are sometimes given a coating of TiAlN. Aluminium is a relatively sticky
metal, and can weld itself to the teeth of tools, causing them to appear blunt. However
it tends not to stick to TiAlN, allowing the tool to be used for much longer in
aluminium.

Shank: The shank is the cylindrical (non-fluted) part of the tool which is used to hold and
locate it in the tool holder. A shank may be perfectly round, and held by friction, or it may
have a Weldon Flat, where a grub screw makes contact for increased torque without the tool
slipping. The diameter may be different from the diameter of the cutting part of the tool, so
that it can be held by a standard tool holder.

Types and nomenclature

Mill orientation is the primary classification for milling machines. The two basic
configurations are vertical and horizontal. However, there are alternate classifications
according to method of control, size, purpose and power source.
Mill orientation

Vertical mill

Vertical milling machine. 1: milling cutter 2: spindle 3: top slide or overarm 4: column 5:
table 6: Y-axis slide 7: knee 8: base

In the vertical mill the spindle axis is vertically oriented. Milling cutters are held in the
spindle and rotate on its axis. The spindle can generally be extended (or the table can be
raised/lowered, giving the same effect), allowing plunge cuts and drilling. There are two
subcategories of vertical mills: the bed mill and the turret mill.

A turret mill has a stationary spindle and the table is moved both perpendicular and
parallel to the spindle axis to accomplish cutting. The most common example of this
type is the Bridgeport, described below. Turret mills often have a quill which allows
the milling cutter to be raised and lowered in a manner similar to a drill press. This
type of machine provides two methods of cutting in the vertical (Z) direction:
byraising or lowering the quill, and by moving the knee.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MILLING MACHINES

In the bed mill, however, the table moves only perpendicular to the spindle's axis,
while the spindle itself moves parallel to its own axis.

Turret mills are generally considered by some to be more versatile of the two designs.
However, turret mills are only practical as long as the machine remains relatively small. As
machine size increases, moving the knee up and down requires considerable effort and it also
becomes difficult to reach the quill feed handle (if equipped). Therefore, larger milling
machines are usually of the bed type.

Also of note is a lighter machine, called a mill-drill. It is quite popular with hobbyists, due to
its small size and lower price. A mill-drill is similar to a small drill press but equipped with
an X-Y table. These are frequently of lower quality than other types of machines.

Horizontal mill

Horizontal milling machine. 1: base 2: column 3: knee 4 & 5: table (x-axis slide is integral)
6: overarm 7: arbor (attached to spindle)

A horizontal mill has the same sort of xy table, but the cutters are mounted on a horizontal
arbor (see Arbor milling) across the table. Many horizontal mills also feature a built-in rotary
table that allows milling at various angles; this feature is called a universal table. While
endmills and the other types of tools available to a vertical mill may be used in a horizontal
mill, their real advantage lies in arbor-mounted cutters, called side and face mills, which have
a cross section rather like a circular saw, but are generally wider and smaller in diameter.
Because the cutters have good support from the arbor and have a larger cross-sectional area
than an end mill, quite heavy cuts can be taken enabling rapid material removal rates. These
are used to mill grooves and slots. Plain mills are used to shape flat surfaces. Several cutters
may be ganged together on the arbor to mill a complex shape of slots and planes. Special
cutters can also cut grooves, bevels, radii, or indeed any section desired. These specialty
cutters tend to be expensive. Simplex mills have one spindle, and duplex mills have two. It is
also easier to cut gears on a horizontal mill. Some horizontal milling machines are equipped
with a power-take-off provision on the table. This allows the table feed to be synchronized to
a rotary fixture, enabling the milling of spiral features such as hypoid gears.

End mill

Slot, end mill, and ball nose cutters

End mills (middle row in image) are those tools which have cutting teeth at one end, as well
as on the sides. The words end mill are generally used to refer to flat bottomed cutters, but
also include rounded cutters (referred to as ball nosed) and radiased cutters (referred to as
bull nose, or torus). They are usually made from high speed steel (HSS) or carbide, and have
one or more flutes. They are the most common tool used in a vertical mill.

Slot drill

Slot drills (top row in image) are generally two (occasionally three or four) fluted cutters that
are designed to drill straight down into the material. This is possible because there is at least
one tooth at the centre of the end face. They are so named for their use in cutting key way
slots. The term slot drill is usually assumed to mean a two fluted, flat bottomed end mill if no
other information is given. Two fluted end mills are usually slot drills, three fluted sometimes
are not, and four fluted usually are not.
Roughing end mill

Roughing end mills quickly remove large amounts of material. This kind of end mill utilizes
a wavy tooth form cut on the periphery. These wavy teeth form many successive cutting
edges producing many small chips, resulting in a relatively rough surface finish. During
cutting, multiple teeth are in contact with the workpiece reducing chatter and vibration. Rapid
stock removal with heavy milling cuts is sometimes called hogging. Roughing end mills are
also sometimes known as ripping cutters.

Ball nose cutter

Ball nose cutters (lower row in image) are similar to slot drills, but the end of the cutters are
hemispherical. They are ideal for machining 3-dimensional contoured shapes in machining
centres, for example in moulds and dies. They are sometimes called ball mills in shop-floor
slang, despite the fact that that term also has another meaning. They are also used to add a
radius between perpendicular faces to reduce stress concentrations. There is also a term bull
nose cutter, which refers more to a cutter having a corner radius less than half the cutter
diameter; e.g. a 20 mm diameter cutter with a 1 mm radius corner.

Slab mill

HSS slab mill

Slab mills are used either by themselves or in gang milling operations on manual horizontal
or universal milling machines to machine large broad surfaces quickly. They have been
superseded by the use of carbide-tipped face mills which are then used in vertical mills or
machining centres.

Side-and-face cutter

Side and face cutter

The side-and-face cutter is designed with cutting teeth on its side as well as its circumference.
They are made in varying diameters and widths depending on the application. The teeth on

the side allow the cutter to make unbalanced cuts (cutting on one side only) without
deflecting the cutter as would happen with a slitting saw or slot cutter (no side teeth).

Cutters of this form factor were the earliest milling cutters developed. From the 1810s to at
least the 1880s, they were the most common form of milling cutter, whereas today that
distinction probably goes to end mills.
Involute gear cutter

Involute gear cutter number 4:

10 diametrical pitch cutter
Cuts gears from 26 through to 34 teeth
14.5 degree pressure angle

There are 8 cutters (excluding the rare half sizes) that will cut gears from 12 teeth through to
a rack (infinite diameter).

Hob

Hobbing cutter

Aluminium Chromium Titanium Nitride (AlCrTiN) coated Hob using Cathodic arc
deposition technique

These cutters are a type of form tool and are used in hobbing machines to generate gears. A
cross section of the cutters tooth will generate the required shape on the workpiece, once set
to the appropriate conditions (blank size). A hobbing machine is a specialised milling
machine.
Face mill

Carbide tipped face mill

A face mill consists of a cutter body (with the appropriate machine taper) that is designed to
hold multiple disposable carbide or ceramic tips or inserts, often golden in color. The tips are
not designed to be resharpened and are selected from a range of types that may be determined
by various criteria, some of which may be: tip shape, cutting action required, material being
cut. When the tips are blunt, they may be removed, rotated (indexed) and replaced to present
a fresh, sharp face to the workpiece, this increases the life of the tip and thus their economical
cutting life.

Fly cutter

A fly cutter is composed of a body into which one or two tool bits are inserted. As the entire
unit rotates, the tool bits take broad, shallow facing cuts. Fly cutters are analogous to face
mills in that their purpose is face milling and their individual cutters are replaceable. Face
mills are more ideal in various respects (e.g., rigidity, indexability of inserts without
disturbing effective cutter diameter or tool length offset, depth-of-cut capability), but tend to
be expensive, whereas fly cutters are very inexpensive.

Woodruff cutter

Woodruff key cutters and keys

Woodruff cutters are used to cut the keyway for a woodruff key.

Hollow mill

Hollow milling cutters, more often called simply hollow mills, are essentially "inside-out
endmills". They are shaped like a piece of pipe (but with thicker walls), with their cutting
edges on the inside surface. They are used on turret lathes and screw machines as an
alternative to turning with a box tool, or on milling machines or drill presses to finish a
cylindrical boss (such as a trunnion).

Dovetail cutter

A dovetail cutter is an endmill whose form leaves behind a dovetail slot.

Using a milling cutter

Chip formation

Although there are many different types of milling cutter, understanding chip formation is
fundamental to the use of any of them. As the milling cutter rotates, the material to be cut is
fed into it, and each tooth of the cutter cuts away small chip of material. Achieving the
correct size of chip is of critical importance. The size of this chip depends on several
variables.
 Surface cutting speed (Vc): This is the speed at which each tooth cuts through the
material as the tool spins. This is measured either in metres per minute in metric
countries, or surface feet per minute (SFM) in America. Typical values for cutting
speed are 10m/min to 60m/min for some steels, and 100m/min and 600m/min for
aluminum. This should not be confused with the feed rate.
Spindle speed (S): This is the rotation speed of the tool, and is measured in
revolutions per minute (rpm). Typical values are from hundreds of rpm, up to tens of
thousands of rpm.
Diameter of the tool (D):
Feed per tooth (Fz): This is the distance the material is fed into the cutter as each
tooth rotates. This value is the size of the deepest cut the tooth will make.
Feed rate (F): This is the speed at which the material is fed into the cutter. Typical
values are from 20mm/min to 5000mm/min.
Depth of cut: This is how deep the tool is under the surface of the material being cut
(not shown on the diagram). This will be the height of the chip produced. Typically,
the depth of cut will be less than or equal to the diameter of the cutting tool.

Selecting a milling cutter

Selecting a milling cutter is not a simple task. There are many variables, opinions and lore to
consider, but essentially the machinist is trying to choose a tool which will cut the material to
the required specification for the least cost. The cost of the job is a combination of the price
of the tool, the time taken by the milling machine, and the time taken by the machinist. Often,
for jobs of a large number of parts, and days of machining time, the cost of the tool is lowest
of the three costs.

Material: High speed steel (HSS) cutters are the least-expensive and shortest-lived
cutters. Cobalt steel is an improvement on HSS and generally can be run 10% faster.
Carbide tools are more expensive than steel, but last longer, and can be run much
faster, so prove more economical in the long run. HSS tools are perfectly adequate for
many applications. The progression from HSS to cobalt steel to carbide could be
viewed as very good, even better, and the best.
Diameter: Larger tools can remove material faster than small ones, therefore the
largest possible cutter that will fit in the job is usually chosen. When milling an
internal contour, or concave external contours, the diameter is limited by the size of
internal curves. The radius of the cutter must be less than or equal to the radius of the
smallest arc.
Flutes: More flutes allows a higher feed rate, because there is less material removed
per flute. But because the core diameter increases, there is less room for swarf, so a
balance must be chosen.
Coating: Coatings, such as Titanium nitride, also increase initial cost but reduce wear
and increase tool life.

Helix angle: High helix angles are typically best for soft metals, and low helix angles for
hard or tough metals.
Cutting fluid

Thin-wall milling of aluminum using a water-based cutting fluid on the milling cutter.

Cutting fluid is a type of coolant and lubricant designed specifically for metalworking and
machining processes. There are various kinds of cutting fluids, which include oils, oil-water
emulsions, pastes, gels, aerosols (mists), and air or other gases. They may be made from
petroleum distillates, animal fats, plant oils, water and air, or other raw ingredients.
Depending on context and on which type of cutting fluid is being considered, it may be
referred to as cutting fluid, cutting oil, cutting compound, coolant, or lubricant.

Most metalworking and machining processes can benefit from the use of cutting fluid,
depending on workpiece material. A common exception to this is machining cast iron or
brass, which are machined dry.

The properties that are sought after in a good cutting fluid are the ability to:

keep the workpiece at a stable temperature (critical when working to close

tolerances). Very warm is OK, but extremely hot or alternating hot-and-cold are
avoided.
maximize the life of the cutting tip by lubricating the working edge and reducing tip
welding.
ensure safety for the people handling it (toxicity, bacteria, fungi) and for the
environment upon disposal.

prevent rust on machine parts and cutters.

Grinding machine
A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is a machine tool used for
grinding, which is a type of machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain
of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the workpiece via shear
deformation.

Introduction
The grinding machine consists of a power driven grinding wheel spinning at the required
speed (which is determined by the wheels diameter and manufacturers rating, usually by a
formula) and a bed with a fixture to guide and hold the work-piece. The grinding head can be
controlled to travel across a fixed work piece or the workpiece can be moved whilst the grind
head stays in a fixed position. Very fine control of the grinding head or tables position is
possible using a vernier calibrated hand wheel, or using the features of numerical controls.

Grinding machines remove material from the workpiece by abrasion, which can generate
substantial amounts of heat; they therefore incorporate a coolant to cool the workpiece so that
it does not overheat and go outside its tolerance. The coolant also benefits the machinist as
the heat generated may cause burns in some cases. In very high-precision grinding machines
(most cylindrical and surface grinders) the final grinding stages are usually set up so that they
remove about 200 nm (less than 1/100000 in) per pass - this generates so little heat that even
with no coolant, the temperature rise is negligible.

Types
These machines include the:

Belt grinder, which is usually used as a machining method to process metals and other
materials, with the aid of coated abrasives. Sanding is the machining of wood; grinding
is the common name for machining metals. Belt grinding is a versatile process suitable
for all kind of applications like finishing, deburring, and stock removal.
Bench grinder, which usually has two wheels of different grain sizes for roughing and
finishing operations and is secured to a workbench. It is used for shaping tool bits or
various tools that need to be made or repaired. Bench grinders are manually operated.
Cylindrical grinder which includes the centerless grinder. A cylindrical grinder may
have multiple grinding wheels. The workpiece is rotated and fed past the wheel/s to
form a cylinder. It is used to make precision rods.
 Surface grinder which includes the wash grinder. A surface grinder has a "head" which
is lowered, and the workpiece is moved back and forth past the grinding wheel on a table
that has a permanent magnet for use with magnetic stock. Surface grinders can be
manually operated or have CNC controls.
Tool and cutter grinder and the D-bit grinder. These usually can perform the minor
function of the drill bit grinder, or other specialist toolroom grinding operations.
Jig grinder, which as the name implies, has a variety of uses when finishing jigs, dies, and
fixtures. Its primary function is in the realm of grinding holes and pins. It can also be
used for complex surface grinding to finish work started on a mill.
Gear grinder, which is usually employed as the final machining process when
manufacturing a high precision gear. The primary function of these machines is to
remove the remaining few thousandths of an inch of material left by other Harvey, James
A.. Machine Shop Trade Secrets.

Metalworking
Machining and computing
Computer-aided engineering
Drilling and threading
Grinding and lapping
Machining and milling
Machine tooling
Terminology
2.5D CAD CAM G-code Numerical control (NC
and CNC) Stewart platform
Die head Drill Drill bit Drill bit shank Drill bit
sizes Drill and tap size chart Drilling Jig borer Tap
and die Tap wrench Threading
Abrasive Angle grinder Bench grinder Coated
abrasives Cylindrical grinder Diamond plate Flick
grinder Dresser Grinding Grinding machine
Grinding wheel Jig grinder Lapping Sanding
Sharpening stone Spark testing Surface grinder Tool
and cutter grinder
Electrical discharge machining Electrochemical
machining Endmill Engraving Hobbing Lathe
Machine tool Machining Milling cutter Milling
machine Planer Pantograph Shaper
Angle plate Chuck Collet Jig Fixture Indexing
head Lathe center Machine taper Magnetic base
Mandrel Rotary table Wiggler
Chatter Cutting fluid Speeds and feeds Swarf
(chips) Tolerance Tramp oil

Processes
Selecting which of the following grinding operations to be used is determined by the size,
shape, features and the desired production rate.

Surface grinding

Surface grinding uses a rotating abrasive wheel to smooth the flat surface of metallic or
nonmetallic materials to give them a more refined look or to attain a desired surface for a
functional purpose. The tolerances that are normally achieved with grinding are 2
104inches for a grinding a flat material, and 3 104inches for a parallel surface. (in metric
units : 5 um for flat material and 8 um for parallel surface).
The surface grinder is composed of an abrasive wheel, a workholding device known as a
chuck, either electromagnetic or vacuum, and a reciprocating table.

Typical workpiece materials include cast iron and minor steel. These two materials don't tend
to clog the grinding wheel while being processed. Other materials are aluminum, stainless
steel, brass and some plastics.

Cylindrical grinding

Cylindrical grinding (also called center-type grinding) is used in the removing the cylindrical
surfaces and shoulders of the workpiece. The workpiece is mounted and rotated by a
workpiece holder, also known as a grinding dog or center driver. Both the tool and the
workpiece are rotated by separate motors and at different speeds. The axes of rotation tool
can be adjusted to produce a variety of shapes.

The five types of cylindrical grinding are: outside diameter (OD) grinding, inside diameter
(ID) grinding, plunge grinding, creep feed grinding, and centerless grinding.[1]

A cylindrical grinder has a grinding (abrasive) wheel, two centers that hold the workpiece,
and a chuck, grinding dog, or other mechanism to drive the machine. Most cylindrical
grinding machines include a swivel to allow for the forming of tapered pieces. The wheel and
workpiece move parallel to one another in both the radial and longitudinal directions. The
abrasive wheel can have many shapes. Standard disk shaped wheels can be used to create a
tapered or straight workpiece geometry while formed wheels are used to create a shaped
workpiece. The process using a formed wheel creates less vibration than using a regular disk
shaped wheel.Tolerances for cylindrical grinding are held within five ten-thousandths of an
inch (+/- 0.0005) (metric: +/- 13 um) for diameter and one ten-thousandth of an inch(+/-
0.0001) (metric: 2.5 um) for roundness. Precision work can reach tolerances as high as five
hundred-thousandths of an inch (+/- 0.00005) (metric: 1.3 um) for diameter and one hundred-
thousandth of an inch (+/- 0.00001) (metric: 0.25 um) for roundness. Surface finishes can
range from 2 to 125 microinches (metric: 50 nm to 3 um), with typical finishes ranging from
8-32 microinches. (metric: 0.2 um to 0.8 um)

Creep-feed grinding

Creep-feed grinding (CFG) was invented in Germany in the late 1950s by Edmund and
Gerhard Lang. Unlike normal grinding, which is used primarily to finish surfaces, CFG is
used for high rates of material removal, competing with milling and turning as a
manufacturing process choice. Depths of cut of up to 6 mm (0.25 inches) are used along with
low workpiece speed. Surfaces with a softer-grade resin bond are used to keep workpiece
temperature low and an improved surface finish up to 1.6 micrometres Rmax
With CFG it takes 117 sec to remove 1 in.3 of material, whereas precision grinding would
take more than 200 sec to do the same. CFG has the disadvantage of a wheel that is
constantly degrading, and requires high spindle power, 51 hp (38 kW), and is limited in the
length of part it can machine.[2]

To address the problem of wheel sharpness, continuous-dress creep-feed grinding (CDCF)

was developed in the 1970s. It dresses the wheel constantly during machining, keeping it in a
state of specified sharpness. It takes only 17 sec. to remove 1 in3 of material, a huge gain in
productivity. 38 hp (28 kW) spindle power is required, and runs at low to conventional
spindle speeds. The limit on part length was erased.

High-efficiency deep grinding

(HEDG) uses plated superabrasive wheels, which never need dressing and last longer than
other wheels. This reduces capital equipment investment costs. HEDG can be used on long
part lengths, and removes material at a rate of 1 in3 in 83 sec. It requires high spindle power
and high spindle speeds.[2]

Peel grinding,

patented under the name of Quickpoint in 1985 by Erwin Junker Maschinenfabrik, GmbH in
Nordrach, Germany, uses a tool with a with superabrasive nose and can machine cylindrical
parts.[2]

VIPER

(Very Impressive Performance Extreme Removal), 1999, is a process patented by Rolls-

Royce and is used in aerospace manufacturing to produce turbine blades. It uses a
continuously dressed aluminum oxide grinding wheel running at high speed. CNC-controlled
nozzles apply refrigerated grinding fluid during the cut. VIPER is performed on equipment
similar to a CNC machining center, and uses special wheels.[2]

Ultra-high speed grinding

(UHSG) can run at speeds higher than 40,000 fpm (200 m/s), taking 41 sec to remove 1 in.3
of material, but is still in the R&D stage. It also requires high spindle power and high spindle
speeds.[2]

Others

Form grinding is a specialized type of cylindrical grinding where the grinding wheel has the
exact shape of the final product. The grinding wheel does not traverse the workpiece.[3]

Internal grinding is used to grind the internal diameter of the workpiece. Tapered holes can
be ground with the use of internal grinders that can swivel on the horizontal.

Centerless grinding is when the workpiece is supported by a blade instead of by centers or

chucks. Two wheels are used. The larger one is used to grind the surface of the workpiece
and the smaller wheel is used to regulate the axial movement of the workpiece. Types of
centerless grinding include through-feed grinding, in-feed/plunge grinding, and internal
centerless grinding.
Pre-grinding When a new tool has been built and has been heat-treated, it is pre-ground
before welding or hardfacing commences. This usually involves grinding the OD slightly
higher than the finish grind OD to ensure the correct finish size.

Electrochemical grinding is a type of grinding in which a positively charged workpiece in a

conductive fluid is eroded by a negatively charged grinding wheel. The pieces from the
workpiece are dissolved into the conductive fluid.

A schematic of ELID grinding

Electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) grinding is one of the most accurate grinding
methods. In this ultra precision grinding technology the grinding wheel is dressed
electrochemically and in-process to maintain the accuracy of the grinding. An ELID cell
comprises of a metal bonded grinding wheel, a cathode electrode, a pulsed DC power supply
and electrolyte. The wheel is connected to the positive terminal of the DC power supply
through a carbon brush whereas the electrode is connected to the negative pole of the power
supply. Usually alkaline liquids are used as both electrolytes and coolant for grinding. A
nozzle is used to inject the electrolyte into the gap between wheel and electrode. The gap is
usually maintained to be approximately 0.1mm to 0.3 mm. During the grinding operation one
side of the wheel takes part in the grinding operation whereas the other side of the wheel is
being dressed by electrochemical reaction. The dissolution of the metallic bond material is
caused by the dressing which in turns results continuous protrusion of new sharp grits.[4]

Grinding wheel
The following text needs to be harmonized with text in Grinding wheel.
Main article: Grinding wheel

A grinding wheel is an expendable wheel used for various grinding and abrasive machining
operations. It is generally made from a matrix of coarse abrasive particles pressed and bonded
together to form a solid, circular shape, various profiles and cross sections are available
depending on the intended usage for the wheel. Grinding wheels may also be made from a
solid steel or aluminium disc with particles bonded to the surface.

Lubrication
The use of fluids in a grinding process is necessary to cool and lubricate the wheel and
workpiece as well as remove the chips produced in the grinding process. The most common
grinding fluids are water-soluble chemical fluids, water-soluble oils, synthetic oils, and
petroleum-based oils. It is imperative that the fluid be applied directly to the cutting area to
prevent the fluid being blown away from the piece due to rapid rotation of the wheel.
 Application
Work Cutting Fluid
Material
Aluminum Light duty oil Flood
Brass Light duty oil Flood
Cast Iron Heavy duty emulsifiable oil, light duty chemical oil, synthetic oil Flood
Mild Steel Heavy duty water soluble oil Flood
Stainless Heavy duty emulsifiable oil, heavy duty chemical oil, synthetic
Flood
Steel oil
Water soluble oil, dry, heavy duty emulsifiable oil, dry, light
Plastics Flood
duty chemical oil, synthetic oil
 Lathe Machine
INTRODUCTION:
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the work piece on its axis to perform various
operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are
applied to the work piece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.

Lathes are used in wood turning, metal working, metal spinning, and glass working. Lathes
can be used to shape pottery, the best-known design being the potter's wheel. Most suitably
equipped metalworking lathes can also be used to produce most solids of revolution, plane
surfaces and screw threads or helices. Ornamental lathes can produce three-dimensional
solids of incredible complexity. The material can be held in place by either one or two
centers, at least one of which can be moved horizontally to accommodate varying material
lengths. Other work holding methods include clamping the work about the axis of rotation
using a chuck or collet, or to a faceplate, using clamps or dogs.

Examples of objects that can be produced on a lathe include candlestick holders, cue sticks,
table legs, bowls, baseball bats, musical instruments (especially woodwind instruments),
crankshafts and camshafts.

Effects on Workpiece Materials

Mechanical properties will change due to stresses put on the part during finishing. High
grinding temperatures may cause a thin martensitic layer to form on the part, which will lead
to reduced material strength from microcracks.

Physical property changes include the possible loss of magnetic properties on ferromagnetic
materials.

Chemical property changes include an increased susceptibility to corrosion because of high

surface stress.

History
The lathe is an ancient tool, dating at least to ancient Egypt and known and used in Assyria,
ancient Greece, and the Roman and Byzantine Empires.

The origin of turning dates to around 1300 BC when the Egyptians first developed a two-
person lathe. One person would turn the wood work piece with a rope while the other used a
sharp tool to cut shapes in the wood. The Romans improved the Egyptian design with the
addition of a turning bow. Early bow lathes were also developed and used in Germany,
France and Britain.[1] In the Middle Ages a pedal replaced hand-operated turning, freeing
both the craftsman's hands to hold the woodturning tools. The pedal was usually connected to
a pole, often a straight-grained sapling. The system today is called the "spring pole" lathe (see
Polelathe). Spring pole lathes were in common use into the early 20th century. A two-person
lathe, called a "great lathe", allowed a piece to turn continuously (like today's power lathes).
A master would cut the wood while an apprentice turned the crank.

Between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, individual electric motors at each lathe
replaced line shafting as the power source. Beginning in the 1950s, servomechanisms were
applied to the control of lathes and other machine tools via numerical control (NC), which
often was coupled with computers to yield computerized numerical control (CNC). Today
manually controlled and CNC lathes coexist in the manufacturing industries.
Description
Parts

Parts of a wood lathe

A lathe may or may not have a stand (or legs), which sits on the floor and elevates the lathe
bed to a working height. Some lathes are small and sit on a workbench or table, and do not
have a stand.

Almost all lathes have a bed, which is (almost always) a horizontal beam (although some
CNC lathes have a vertical beam for a bed to ensure that swarf, or chips, falls free of the bed).
A notable exception is the Hegner VB36 Master Bowlturner, a woodturning lathe designed
for turning large bowls, which in its basic configuration is little more than a very large floor-
standing headstock.

At one end of the bed (almost always the left, as the operator faces the lathe) is a headstock.
The headstock contains high-precision spinning bearings. Rotating within the bearings is a
horizontal axle, with an axis parallel to the bed, called the spindle. Spindles are often hollow,
and have exterior threads and/or an interior Morse taper on the "inboard" (i.e., facing to the
right / towards the bed) by which workholding accessories may be mounted to the spindle.
Spindles may also have exterior threads and/or an interior taper at their "outboard" (i.e.,
facing away from the bed) end, and/or may have a handwheel or other accessory mechanism
on their outboard end. Spindles are powered, and impart motion to the workpiece.

The spindle is driven, either by foot power from a treadle and flywheel or by a belt or gear
drive to a power source. In most modern lathes this power source is an integral electric
motor, often either in the headstock, to the left of the headstock, or beneath the headstock,
concealed in the stand.

In addition to the spindle and its bearings, the headstock often contains parts to convert the
motor speed into various spindle speeds. Various types of speed-changing mechanism
achieve this, from a cone pulley or step pulley, to a cone pulley with back gear (which is
essentially a low range, similar in net effect to the two-speed rear of a truck), to an entire gear
train similar to that of a manual-shift auto transmission. Some motors have electronic
rheostat-type speed controls, which obviates cone pulleys or gears.

The counterpoint to the headstock is the tailstock, sometimes referred to as the loose head, as
it can be positioned at any convenient point on the bed, by undoing a locking nut, sliding it to
the required area, and then relocking it. The tailstock contains a barrel which does not rotate,
but can slide in and out parallel to the axis of the bed, and directly in line with the headstock
spindle. The barrel is hollow, and usually contains a taper to facilitate the gripping of various
type of tooling. Its most common uses are to hold a hardened steel centre, which is used to
support long thin shafts while turning, or to hold drill bits for drilling axial holes in the work
piece. Many other uses are possible.

Metalworking lathes have a carriage (comprising a saddle and apron) topped with a cross-
slide, which is a flat piece that sits crosswise on the bed, and can be cranked at right angles to
the bed. Sitting atop the cross slide is usually another slide called a compound rest, which
provides 2 additional axes of motion, rotary and linear. Atop that sits a tool post, which holds
a cutting tool which removes material from the work piece. There may or may not be a
leadscrew, which moves the cross-slide along the bed.
COMPUTER NUMERICAL CONTROL (CNC)
History
Earlier forms of automation

The automation of machine tool control began in the 19th century with cams that "played" a
machine tool in the way that cams had long been playing musical boxes or operating
elaborate cuckoo clocks. Thomas Blanchard built his gun-stock-copying lathes (1820s-30s),
and the work of people such as Christopher Miner Spencer developed the turret lathe into the
screw machine (1870s). Cam-based automation had already reached a highly advanced state
by World War I (1910s).

However, automation via cams is fundamentally different from numerical control because it
cannot be abstractly programmed. Cams can encode information, but getting the information
from the abstract level of an engineering drawing into the cam is a manual process that
requires sculpting and/or machining and filing.

Various forms of abstractly programmable control had existed during the 19th century: those
of the Jacquard loom, player pianos, and mechanical computers pioneered by Charles
Babbage and others. These developments had the potential for convergence with the
automation of machine tool control starting in that century, but the convergence did not
happen until many decades later.

The application of hydraulics to cam-based automation resulted in tracing machines that used
a stylus to trace a template, such as the enormous Pratt & Whitney "Keller Machine", which
could copy templates several feet across.[1] Another approach was "record and playback",
pioneered at General Motors (GM) in the 1950s, which used a storage system to record the
movements of a human machinist, and then play them back on demand. Analogous systems
are common even today, notably the "teaching lathe" which gives new machinists a hands-on
feel for the process. None of these were numerically programmable, however, and required a
master machinist at some point in the process, because the "programming" was physical
rather than numerical.

Today
Although modern data storage techniques have moved on from punch tape in almost every
other role, tapes are still relatively common in CNC systems. Several reasons explain this.
One is easy backward compatibility of existing programs. Companies were spared the trouble
of re-writing existing tapes into a new format. Another is the principle, mentioned earlier,
that individual firms tend to stick with whatever is profitable, and their time and money for
trying out alternatives is limited. A small firm that has found a profitable niche may keep
older equipment in service for years because "if it ain't broke [profitability-wise], don't fix it."
Competition places natural limits on that approach, as some amount of innovation and
continuous improvement eventually becomes necessary, lest competitors be the ones who
find the way to the "better mousetrap".

One change that was implemented fairly widely was the switch from paper to mylar tapes,
which are much more mechanically robust. Floppy disks, USB flash drives and local area
networking have replaced the tapes to some degree, especially in larger environments that are
highly integrated.
The proliferation of CNC led to the need for new CNC standards that were not encumbered
by licensing or particular design concepts, like APT. A number of different "standards"
proliferated for a time, often based around vector graphics markup languages supported by
plotters. One such standard has since become very common, the "G-code" that was originally
used on Gerber Scientific plotters and then adapted for CNC use. The file format became so
widely used that it has been embodied in an EIA standard. In turn, while G-code is the
predominant language used by CNC machines today, there is a push to supplant it with
STEP-NC, a system that was deliberately designed for CNC, rather than grown from an
existing plotter standard.

While G-code is the most common method of programming, some machine-tool/control

manufacturers also have invented their own proprietary "conversational" methods of
programming, trying to make it easier to program simple parts and make set-up and
modifications at the machine easier (such as Mazak's Mazatrol and Hurco). These have met
with varying success.

Since about 2006, the idea has been suggested and pursued to foster the convergence with
CNC and DNC of several trends elsewhere in the world of information technology that have
not yet much affected CNC and DNC. One of these trends is the combination of greater data
collection (more sensors), greater and more automated data exchange (via building new, open
industry-standard XML schemas), and data mining to yield a new level of business
intelligence and workflow automation in manufacturing. Another of these trends is the
emergence of widely published APIs together with the aforementioned open data standards to
encourage an ecosystem of user-generated apps and mashups, which can be both open and
commercialin other words, taking the new IT culture of app marketplaces that began in
web development and smartphone app development and spreading it to CNC, DNC, and the
other factory automation systems that are networked with the CNC/DNC. MTConnect is a
leading effort to bring these ideas into successful implementation.

Description
Modern CNC mills differ little in concept from the original model built at MIT in 1952. Mills
typically consist of a table that moves in the X and Y axes, and a tool spindle that moves in
the Z (depth). The position of the tool is driven by motors through a series of step-down gears
in order to provide highly accurate movements, or in modern designs, direct-drive stepper
motors. Closed-loop control is not mandatory today, as open-loop control works as long as
the forces are kept small enough.

As the controller hardware evolved, the mills themselves also evolved. One change has been
to enclose the entire mechanism in a large box as a safety measure, often with additional
safety interlocks to ensure the operator is far enough from the working piece for safe
operation. Most new CNC systems built today are completely electronically controlled.CNC-
like systems are now used for any process that can be described as a series of movements and
operations. These include laser cutting, welding, friction stir welding, ultrasonic welding,
flame and plasma cutting, bending, spinning, pinning, gluing, fabric cutting, sewing, tape and
fiber placement, routing, picking and placing (PnP), and sawing.
Tools with CNC variants

Drills
EDMs
Lathes
Milling machines
Wood routers
Sheet metal works (Turret Punch)
Wire bending machines
Hot-wire foam cutters
Plasma cuttings
Water jet cutters
Laser cutting
Oxy-fuel
Surface grinders
Cylindrical grinders
3D Printing
Induction hardening machines[citation needed]

Numerical control

A CNC Turning Center.

Siemens CNC panel.

Numerical control (NC) refers to the automation of machine tools that are operated by
abstractly programmed commands encoded on a storage medium, as opposed to manually
controlled via handwheels or levers, or mechanically automated via cams alone. The first NC
machines were built in the 1940s and 1950s, based on existing tools that were modified with
motors that moved the controls to follow points fed into the system on punched tape. These
early servomechanisms were rapidly augmented with analog and digital computers, creating
the modern computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools that have revolutionized the
machining processes.

In modern CNC systems, end-to-end component design is highly automated using computer-
aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs. The programs
produce a computer file that is interpreted to extract the commands needed to operate a
particular machine via a postprocessor, and then loaded into the CNC machines for
production. Since any particular component might require the use of a number of different
tools-drills, saws, etc., modern machines often combine multiple tools into a single "cell". In
other cases, a number of different machines are used with an external controller and human or
robotic operators that move the component from machine to machine. In either case, the
complex series of steps needed to produce any part is highly automated and produces a part
that closely matches the original CAD design.
 Electrical discharge machining

An electrical discharge machine

Electric discharge machining (EDM), sometimes colloquially also referred to as spark

machining, spark eroding, burning, die sinking or wire erosion,[1] is a manufacturing
process whereby a desired shape is obtained using electrical discharges (sparks). Material is
removed from the workpiece by a series of rapidly recurring current discharges between two
electrodes, separated by a dielectric liquid and subject to an electric voltage. One of the
electrodes is called the tool-electrode, or simply the tool or electrode, while the other is
called the workpiece-electrode, or workpiece.

When the distance between the two electrodes is reduced, the intensity of the electric field in
the volume between the electrodes becomes greater than the strength of the dielectric (at least
in some point(s)), which breaks, allowing current to flow between the two electrodes. This
phenomenon is the same as the breakdown of a capacitor (condenser) (see also breakdown
voltage). As a result, material is removed from both the electrodes. Once the current flow
stops (or it is stopped - depending on the type of generator), new liquid dielectric is usually
conveyed into the inter-electrode volume enabling the solid particles (debris) to be carried
away and the insulating proprieties of the dielectric to be restored. Adding new liquid
dielectric in the inter-electrode volume is commonly referred to as flushing. Also, after a
current flow, a difference of potential between the two electrodes is restored to what it was
before the breakdown, so that a new liquid dielectric breakdown can occur.

Generalities
Electrical discharge machining is a machining method primarily used for hard metals or those
that would be very difficult to machine with traditional techniques. EDM typically works
with materials that are electrically conductive, although methods for machining insulating
ceramics with EDM have also been proposed. EDM can cut intricate contours or cavities in
pre-hardened steel without the need for heat treatment to soften and re-harden them. This
method can be used with any other metal or metal alloy such as titanium, hastelloy, kovar,
and inconel. Also, applications of this process to shape polycrystalline diamond tools have
been reported.

Ideally, EDM can be seen as a series of breakdown and restoration of the liquid dielectric in-
between the electrodes. However, caution should be exerted in considering such a statement
because it is an idealized model of the process, introduced to describe the fundamental ideas
underlying the process.
To obtain a specific geometry, the EDM tool is guided along the desired path very close to
the work, ideally it should not touch the workpiece, although in reality this may happen due
to the performance of the specific motion control in use. In this way a large number of current
discharges (colloquially also called sparks) happen, each contributing to the removal of
material from both tool and workpiece, where small craters are formed. The size of the
craters is a function of the technological parameters set for the specific job at hand. They can
be with typical dimensions ranging from the nanoscale (in micro-EDM operations) to some
hundreds of micrometers in roughing conditions.

If the final geometry is obtained using a usually simple shaped electrode which is moved
along several directions and is possibly also subject to rotations often the term EDM milling
is used.

In any case, the severity of the wear is strictly dependent on the technological parameters
used in the operation (for instance: polarity, maximum current, open circuit voltage). For
example, in micro-EDM, also known as -EDM, these parameters are usually set at values
which generates severe wear. Therefore, wear is a major problem in that area.

The problem of wear to graphite electrodes is being addressed. In one approach a digital
generator, controllable within milliseconds, reverses polarity as electro-erosion takes place.
That produces an effect similar to electroplating that continuously deposits the eroded
graphite back on the electrode. In another method, a so-called "Zero Wear" circuit reduces
how often the discharge starts and stops, keeping it on for as long a time as possible.[12]

Definition of the technological parameters

Difficulties have been encountered in the definition of the technological parameters that drive
the process.

Two broad categories of generators, also known as power supplies, are in use on EDM
machines commercially available: the group based on RC circuits and the group based on
transistor controlled pulses.

In the first category, the main parameters to choose from at setup time are the resistance(s) of
the resistor(s) and the capacitance(s) of the capacitor(s). In an ideal condition these quantities
would affect the maximum current delivered in a discharge which is expected to be
associated with the charge accumulated on the capacitors at a certain moment in time

A framework to define and measure the electrical parameters during an EDM operation
directly on inter-electrode volume with an oscilloscope external to the machine has been
recently proposed by Ferri et al.[14] These authors conducted their research in the field of -
EDM, but the same approach can be used in any EDM operation. This would enable the user
to estimate directly the electrical parameter that affect their operations without relying upon
machine manufacturer's claims. Finally, it is worth mentioning that when machining different
materials in the same setup conditions, the actual electrical parameters of the process are
significantly different
Material removal mechanism
The first serious attempt of providing a physical explanation of the material removal during
electric discharge machining is perhaps that of Van Dijk.[15] Van Dijk presented a thermal
model together with a computational simulation to explain the phenomena between the
electrodes during electric discharge machining. However, as Van Dijk himself admitted in his
study, the number of assumptions made to overcome the lack of experimental data at that
time was quite significant.

Further models of what occurs during electric discharge machining in terms of heat transfer
were developed in the late eighties and early nineties, including an investigation at Texas
A&M University with the support of AGIE, now Agiecharmilles. It resulted in three
scholarly papers: the first presenting a thermal model of material removal on the cathode,[16]
the second presenting a thermal model for the erosion occurring on the anode[17] and the third
introducing a model describing the plasma channel formed during the passage of the
discharge current through the dielectric liquid.[18] Validation of these models is supported by
experimental data provided by AGIE.

These models give the most authoritative support for the claim that EDM is a thermal
process, removing material from the two electrodes because of melting and/or vaporization,
along with pressure dynamics established in the spark-gap by the collapsing of the plasma
channel. However, for small discharge energies the models are inadequate to explain the
experimental data. All these models hinge on a number of assumptions from such disparate
research areas as submarine explosions, discharges in gases, and failure of transformers, so it
is not surprising that alternative models have been proposed more recently in the literature
trying to explain the EDM process.

Among these, the model from Singh and Ghosh[19] reconnects the removal of material from
the electrode to the presence of an electrical force on the surface of the electrode that could
mechanically remove material and create the craters. This would be possible because the
material on the surface has altered mechanical properties due to an increased temperature
caused by the passage of electric current. The authors' simulations showed how they might
explain EDM better than a thermal model (melting and/or evaporation), especially for small
discharge energies, which are typically used in -EDM and in finishing operations.

Given the many available models, it appears that the material removal mechanism in EDM is
not yet well understood and that further investigation is necessary to clarify it,[14] especially
considering the lack of experimental scientific evidence to build and validate the current
EDM models.[14] This explains an increased current research effort in related experimental
techniques.[9]
Types
Sinker EDM

Sinker EDM allowed quick production of 614 uniform injectors for the J-2 rocket engine, six
of which were needed for each trip to the moon.[20]

Sinker EDM, also called cavity type EDM or volume EDM, consists of an electrode and
workpiece submerged in an insulating liquid such as, more typically,[21] oil or, less
frequently, other dielectric fluids. The electrode and workpiece are connected to a suitable
power supply. The power supply generates an electrical potential between the two parts. As
the electrode approaches the workpiece, dielectric breakdown occurs in the fluid, forming a
plasma channel,[9][16][17][18] and a small spark jumps.

These sparks usually strike one at a time[21] because it is very unlikely that different locations
in the inter-electrode space have the identical local electrical characteristics which would
enable a spark to occur simultaneously in all such locations. These sparks happen in huge
numbers at seemingly random locations between the electrode and the workpiece. As the base
metal is eroded, and the spark gap subsequently increased, the electrode is lowered
automatically by the machine so that the process can continue uninterrupted. Several hundred
thousand sparks occur per second, with the actual duty cycle carefully controlled by the setup
parameters. These controlling cycles are sometimes known as "on time" and "off time",
which are more formally defined in the literature.[9][14][22]

The on time setting determines the length or duration of the spark. Hence, a longer on time
produces a deeper cavity for that spark and all subsequent sparks for that cycle, creating a
rougher finish on the workpiece. The reverse is true for a shorter on time. Off time is the
period of time that one spark is replaced by another. A longer off time, for example, allows
the flushing of dielectric fluid through a nozzle to clean out the eroded debris, thereby
avoiding a short circuit. These settings can be maintained in micro seconds. The typical part
geometry is a complex 3D shape,[21] often with small or odd shaped angles. Vertical, orbital,
vectorial, directional, helical, conical, rotational, spin and indexing machining cycles are also
used.
Wire EDM

In wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM), also known as wire-cut EDM and wire
cutting,[23] a thin single-strand metal wire, usually brass, is fed through the workpiece,
submerged in a tank of dielectric fluid, typically deionized water.[21] Wire-cut EDM is
typically used to cut plates as thick as 300mm and to make punches, tools, and dies from hard
metals that are difficult to machine with other methods.

The wire, which is constantly fed from a spool, is held between upper and lower diamond
guides. The guides, usually CNC-controlled, move in the xy plane. On most machines, the
upper guide can also move independently in the zuv axis, giving rise to the ability to cut
tapered and transitioning shapes (circle on the bottom square at the top for example). The
upper guide can control axis movements in xyuvijkl. This allows the wire-cut EDM
to be programmed to cut very intricate and delicate shapes.

The upper and lower diamond guides are usually accurate to 0.004 mm, and can have a
cutting path or kerf as small as 0.12 mm using 0.1 mm wire, though the average cutting
kerf that achieves the best economic cost and machining time is 0.335 mm using 0.25 brass
wire. The reason that the cutting width is greater than the width of the wire is because
sparking occurs from the sides of the wire to the work piece, causing erosion.[21] This
"overcut" is necessary, for many applications it is adequately predictable and therefore can be
compensated for (for instance in micro-EDM this is not often the case). Spools of wire are
longan 8 kg spool of 0.25 mm wire is just over 19 kilometers in length. Wire diameter can
be as small as 20 micrometres and the geometry precision is not far from +/- 1 micrometre.

The wire-cut process uses water as its dielectric fluid, controlling its resistivity and other
electrical properties with filters and de-ionizer units. The water flushes the cut debris away
from the cutting zone. Flushing is an important factor in determining the maximum feed rate
for a given material thickness.

Along with tighter tolerances, multiaxis EDM wire-cutting machining center have added
features such as multiheads for cutting two parts at the same time, controls for preventing
wire breakage, automatic self-threading features in case of wire breakage, and programmable
machining strategies to optimize the operation.

Wire-cutting EDM is commonly used when low residual stresses are desired, because it does
not require high cutting forces for removal of material. If the energy/power per pulse is
relatively low (as in finishing operations), little change in the mechanical properties of a
material is expected due to these low residual stresses, although material that hasn't been
stress-relieved can distort in the machining process.

The workpiece may undergo a significant thermal cycle, its severity depending on the
technological parameters used. Such thermal cycles may cause formation of a recast layer on
the part and residual tensile stresses on the workpiece.
Applications
Prototype production

The EDM process is most widely used by the mould-making tool and die industries, but is
becoming a common method of making prototype and production parts,[24] especially in the
aerospace, automobile and electronics industries in which production quantities are relatively
low. In Sinker EDM, a graphite, copper tungsten or pure copper electrode is machined into
the desired (negative) shape and fed into the workpiece on the end of a vertical ram.

Coinage die making

For the creation of dies for producing jewelry and badges by the coinage (stamping) process,
the positive master may be made from sterling silver, since (with appropriate machine
settings) the master is significantly eroded and is used only once. The resultant negative die is
then hardened and used in a drop hammer to produce stamped flats from cutout sheet blanks
of bronze, silver, or low proof gold alloy. For badges these flats may be further shaped to a
curved surface by another die. This type of EDM is usually performed submerged in an oil-
based dielectric. The finished object may be further refined by hard (glass) or soft (paint)
enameling and/or electroplated with pure gold or nickel. Softer materials such as silver may
be hand engraved as a refinement.

EDM control panel (Hansvedt machine). Machine may be adjusted for a refined surface
(electropolish) at end of process.

Master at top, badge die workpiece at bottom, oil jets at left (oil has been drained). Initial flat
stamping will be "dapped" to give a curved surface.

Small hole drilling

A turbine blade with internal cooling as applied in the high-pressure turbine.

Small hole drilling EDM is used in a variety of applications.

On wire-cut EDM machines, small hole drilling EDM is used to make a through hole in a
workpiece in through which to thread the wire for the wire-cut EDM operation. A separate
EDM head specifically for small hole drilling is mounted on a wire-cut machine and allows
large hardened plates to have finished parts eroded from them as needed and without pre-
drilling.
Small hole EDM is used to drill rows of holes into the leading and trailing edges of turbine
blades used in jet engines. Gas flow through these small holes allows the engines to use
higher temperatures than otherwise possible. The high-temperature, very hard, single crystal
alloys employed in these blades makes conventional machining of these holes with high
aspect ratio extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Small hole EDM is also used to create microscopic orifices for fuel system components,
spinnerets for synthetic fibers such as rayon, and other applications.

There are also stand-alone small hole drilling EDM machines with an xy axis also known as
a super drill or hole popper that can machine blind or through holes. EDM drills bore holes
with a long brass or copper tube electrode that rotates in a chuck with a constant flow of
distilled or deionized water flowing through the electrode as a flushing agent and dielectric.
The electrode tubes operate like the wire in wire-cut EDM machines, having a spark gap and
wear rate. Some small-hole drilling EDMs are able to drill through 100 mm of soft or through
hardened steel in less than 10 seconds, averaging 50% to 80% wear rate. Holes of 0.3 mm to
6.1 mm can be achieved in this drilling operation. Brass electrodes are easier to machine but
are not recommended for wire-cut operations due to eroded brass particles causing "brass on
brass" wire breakage, therefore copper is recommended.

Metal disintegration machining

Several manufacturers produce EDM machines for the specific purpose of removing broken
tools (drill bits or taps) from work pieces. In this application, the process is termed "metal
disintegration machining".

Advantages and disadvantages

Some of the advantages of EDM include machining of:

Complex shapes that would otherwise be difficult to produce with conventional

cutting tools
Extremely hard material to very close tolerances
Very small work pieces where conventional cutting tools may damage the part from
excess cutting tool pressure.
There is no direct contact between tool and work piece. Therefore delicate sections
and weak materials can be machined without any distortion.
A good surface finish can be obtained.
Very fine holes can be easily drilled.

Some of the disadvantages of EDM include:

The slow rate of material removal.

The additional time and cost used for creating electrodes for ram/sinker EDM.
Reproducing sharp corners on the workpiece is difficult due to electrode wear.
Specific power consumption is very high.
Power consumption is high.
"Overcut" is formed.
Excessive tool wear occurs during machining.
Electrically non-conductive materials can be machined only with specific set-up of
the process.[25]
 AUTOMATION & ROBOTICS
Automata-Based Programming is a programming technology (Nepeyvoda 2005). Its
defining characteristic is the use of finite state machines to describe program behavior. The
transition graphs of a state machines are used in all stages of software development
(specification, implementation, debugging and documentation). Automata-Based
Programming technology was introduced by Anatoly Shalyto in 1991 (Shalyto 1991).
Switch-technology (Shalyto 1998) was developed to support automata-based programming.
Automata-Based Programming is considered to be rather general purpose program
development methodology than just another one finite state machine implementation.

Automata-Based Programming
The main idea of suggested approach is to construct computer programs the same way the
automation of technological processes (and other kinds of processes too) is done.

For all that on the basis of data domain analysis the sources of input events, the control
system (the system of interacting finite state machines) and the control objects implementing
output actions are singled out. These control objects can also form yet another type of input
actions that are transmitted through a feedback from control objects back to the finite state
machines.

Main Features
In recent years great attention has been paid to the development of the technology of
programming for embedded systems and real-time systems. These systems have special
requirements for the quality of software. One of the best known approaches for this field of
tasks is synchronous programming (Benveniste 2003) (Shopyrin 2004).

Simultaneously with the advance of synchronous programming in Europe, an approach to

software development for crucial systems called automata-based programming or state-
based programming (Shalyto 1998) was being created in Russia.

The term event is being used more and more widely in programming; recently it has become
one of the most commonly-used terms in software development. As opposed to it, the offered
approach is based on the term state (State-Driven Architecture). After introduction of the
term input action, which could denote an input variable or an event, the term automaton
without outputs might be brought in. After adding the term output action, the term
automaton might be used. It is the finite deterministic automaton.

That is why, the sort of programming, which is based on this term, was called automata-
based programming. So the process of software creation could be named automata software
design (Shalyto 2000).

The feature of this approach is that automata used for development are defined with the help
of transition graphs. In order to distinguish the nodes of these graphs the term state coding
has been introduced. With multivalued state coding a single variable can be used to
distinguish states of automaton, the number of states is equal to the number of values this
variable can take on. This allowed introducing of the term program observability (that is, the
value of the state variable can be checked).Using the concept of state in contrast to the
concepts of events and variables, allows one to understand and to specify the task and its
parts (subtasks) more clearly.
It is necessary to note that using automata-based programming implies debugging by drawing
up the protocols (logging) in terms of automata.

For this approach there is a formal and isomorphic method of transforming from the
transition graph to the software source code. So when using high-level programming
languages, the simplest way is to use a construct which is similar to the switch construct of
the C programming language. That is why the first implementation of automata-based
programming was called Switch-Technology. Additional information about automata-
based programming can be found in the Switch-technology article.

Nowadays automata-based programming has been developed in several ways, for different
types of task to be solved and for various type of computing devices.

Russian registration certificate was issued for the Automata-based programming core and for
the Automata-based programming plug-in for Eclipse IDE.

Logical Control
In 1996 Russian Foundation for Basic Research[1] in the context of publishing project #96-01-
14066 had supported publishing of a book (Shalyto 1998), in which the offered technology
was described in application to the logical control systems.

In such systems there are no events, but input and output actions are binary variables and
operating system is working in the scanning mode. Systems of this class are usually to be
implemented on programmable logic controllers, which have relatively small amount of
memory and programming is to be performed using specialized languages (for example, the
language of ladder schemes or functional blocks). Methods of formal source code generation
for such languages were developed for the cases in which the specification of the project
being developed is represented by a system of transition graphs of interacting automata
(Shalyto 1998).
Robot

A robot is a mechanical intelligent agent which can perform tasks on its own, or with
guidance. The term robot can also apply to a virtual agent. In practice it is usually an electro-
mechanical machine which is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can
be autonomous or semi-autonomous and come in those two basic types: those which are used
for research into human-like systems, such as ASIMO and TOPIO, as well as those into more
defined and specific roles, such as Nano robots and Swarm robots; and helper robots which
are used to make or move things or perform menial or dangerous tasks, such as Industrial
robots or mobile or servicing robots. Another common characteristic is that, by its appearance
or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.

When societies began developing nearly all production and effort was the result of human
labour. As mechanical means of performing functions were discovered, and mechanics and
complex mechanisms were developed, the need for human labour was reduced. Machinery
was initially used for repetitive functions, such as lifting water and grinding grain. With
technological advances more complex machines were slowly developed, such as those
invented by Hero of Alexandria in the 4th century BC, and the first half of the second
millennium AD, such as the Automata of Al Jazari in the 12th century AD. They were not
widely adopted as human labour, particularly slave labour, was still inexpensive compared to
the capital-intensive machines.

Men such as Leonardo Da Vinci in 1495 through to Jacques de Vaucanson in 1739, as well as
rediscovering the Greek engineering methods, have made plans for and built automata and
robots leading to books of designs such as the Japanese Karakuri zui (Illustrated Machinery)
in 1796. As mechanical techniques developed through the Industrial age we find more
practical applications such as Nikola Tesla in 1898, who designed a radio-controlled torpedo,
and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation creation of Televox in 1926. From here we also
find a more android development as designers tried to mimic more human-like features
including designs such as those of biologist Makoto Nishimura in 1929 and his creation
Gakutensoku, which cried and changed its facial expressions, and the more crude Elektro
from Westinghouse in 1938.
Electronics then became the driving force of development instead of mechanics, with the
advent of the first electronic autonomous robots created by William Grey Walter in Bristol,
England, in 1948. The first digital and programmable robot was invented by George Devol in
1954 and was ultimately called the Unimate. Devol sold the first Unimate to General Motors
in 1960 where it was used to lift pieces of hot metal from die casting machines in a plant in
Trenton, New Jersey. Since then we have seen robots finally reach a more true assimilation of
all technologies to produce robots such as ASIMO which can walk and move like a human.
Robots have replaced slaves in the assistance of performing those repetitive and dangerous
tasks which humans prefer not to do, or are unable to do due to size limitations, or even
thosesuch as in outer space or at the bottom of the sea where humans could not survive the
extreme environments.

Present
Due to the huge cost of having two separate machines to place parts, the speed limitations of
the chip shooters, and the inflexibility of the machines, the electronic component machine
manufacturers abandoned the technique. To overcome these limitations they moved to an all-
in-one modular, multi-headed, and multi-gantry machines that could have heads quickly
swapped on different modules depending on the product being built to machines with
multiple mini turrets capable of placing the whole spectrum of components with theoretical
speeds of 136,000 components an hour.[2]

FUTURE
There is a big difference in the needs of SMT users. For many, the high speed machines
are not suitable due to cost and speed. With recent changes in the economic climate the
requirement for SMT placement becomes focused on the machine's versatility to deal
with short runs and fast changeover. This means that lower cost machines with vision
systems provide an affordable option for SMT users.[ There are more users of low end
and mid-range machines than the ultra fast placement systems. Modern robots

A laparoscopic robotic surgery machine

Mobile robot

Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to
one physical location. An example of a mobile robot that is in common use today is the
automated guided vehicle or automatic guided vehicle (AGV). An AGV is a mobile robot
that follows markers or wires in the floor, or uses vision or lasers. AGVs are discussed later
in this article.

Mobile robots are also found in industry, military and security environments. They also
appear as consumer products, for entertainment or to perform certain tasks like vacuum
cleaning. Mobile robots are the focus of a great deal of current research and almost every
major university has one or more labs that focus on mobile robot research.

Modern robots are usually used in tightly controlled environments such as on assembly lines
because they have difficulty responding to unexpected interference. Because of this most
humans rarely encounter robots. However domestic robots for cleaning and maintenance are
increasingly common in and around homes in developed countries. Robots can also be found
in military applications.

Industrial robots (manipulating)

Main articles: Industrial robot and Manipulator

Industrial robots usually consist of a jointed arm (multi-linked manipulator) and end effector
that is attached to a fixed surface. One of the most common type of end effector is a gripper
assembly.

The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of a manipulating

industrial robot in ISO 8373:

"an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in

three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial
automation applications."[35]

This definition is used by the International Federation of Robotics, the European Robotics
Research Network (EURON) and many national standards committees.[36]

A Pick and Place robot in a factory

Service robot

Most commonly industrial robots are fixed robotic arms and manipulators used primarily for
production and distribution of goods. The term "service robot" is less well-defined. IFR has
proposed a tentative definition, "A service robot is a robot which operates semi- or fully-
autonomously to perform services useful to the well-being of humans and equipment,
excluding manufacturing operations."

In South Africa robot is an informal and commonly used term for a set of traffic lights.