Boehlerit Magazin 2016-EN

Boehlerit is all about carbides. The company based in the Aus- trian town of Kapfenberg operates two towers for the production of hard metal powder, most of which is refined directly on site. Boehlerit sup- plies machining companies and other toolmakers directly with carbide tools and indexable cutting inserts, either in the form of semi-finished products or fully finished tools – designed, engineered, manufactured and tested by Boehlerit. Roughly 60 carbide substrates are waiting in the wings, with 25 to 30 formulas just for indexable cutting inserts. “We manufacture 14 to 15 million indexable inserts per year, in addition to 25,000 different carbide components”, says Gerhard Melcher, machi- ning expert and Head of Marketing at Boehlerit. Overall, this makes Boehlerit one of the world’s metallurgical centres, explains Melcher. In total, Boehlerit offers roughly 6,000 dif- ferent indexable cutting inserts for a range of toolmakers and for the company’s own portfolio. “These inserts must be developed, designed, sampled and reworked, and of course the required press tools must be built and maintained ready for use at all times. Every single one of these steps must be monitored using measurement technology systems. That is the real challenge”, says Alfred Maier, Head of Quality and Environ- mental Management and Quality Assurance, to explain why Boehlerit is constantly searching for innovative measurement techniques. “We have been watching optical measurement systems for quite a while – this is an area where lots of things have happened in recent years. Last year, the Alicona measurement systems caught our eye – at the moment, we consider Alicona products the most precise optical surface measuring equipment available on the world market, at least where the practical measuring of tools is concerned.” As Alicona has its headquarters in the city of Graz, not far from Boehlerit, Alfred Maier found it easy to get in touch with the company. After several meetings, Boehlerit was convinced that one of the Alicona optical 3D micro coordinate measurement systems would greatly im- prove processes and quality at Boehlerit. Automated set/actual comparison In March 2015, Alicona supplied Boehlerit with a preliminary model prior to the agreed delivery date in May. “The Infinite Focus G4 was our opportunity to get used to the measurement technology, experiment a bit and, most importantly, develop a feel for the evaluation software, which is not exactly trivial to use”, says Alfred Maier. The jump to the latest G5 model was an eye-opener, also due to the significantly higher processing power compared to the predecessor model. “The new hard- ware and controller generation enables us to work much faster at any objective magnification. It is now also possible to scan our parts within reasonable time frames using the 10x, 20x and 50x objective.” This, Alfred Maier continues, means that Boehlerit can now create highly precise 3D images in a comparatively short period of time. Especially indexable cutting inserts are subjected to detailed scanning: “The focus lies in particular on the geometry, both with the indexable cutting inserts and the press tools that also need to be measured. In future, we also want to have the opportunity of scanning and measuring the full length of the cutting edges of the inserts. With our tactile 3D coordinate measurement machine (type Prismo Navigator), we have up to now been able to measure with a tolerance of 0.3μm; however, we could only check the dimensional accuracy of our inserts at selected points”, explains Alfred Maier. The great advantage now, he continues, lies in the fact that chamfers, undercuts, corners and even slanted edges that the measuring sensor couldn’t even reach, are measured precisely. “Tools are getting increasingly complex. Toolmakers now ask for full documentability, especially for complex geometries such as undercuts of tooth systems on tool holders that rely on the highest possible level of precision, not just during the manufacturing process, but also during the planning phase”, says Gerhard Melcher about the demands of his customers, some of which are highly creative and complex. “There is absolutely no leeway here when it comes to quality assurance. When you do measurements, you must be able to deliver the same results tomorrow as you do today. Reproducibility is key.” And based on the first experiences Alfred Maier has made with the Infinite Focus, the system is set to greatly facilitate this process, also for internal applications. Especially the almost fully automated set/actual comparison, where the actual measuring data of a cutting insert is compared to its construction data, has saved Boehlerit invaluable time. The software effectively puts two images on top of each other: the dxf file uploaded from the Catia CAD system and the image developed on the basis of the measuring data. “This may sound complicated, but it is actually quite simple. Over- sized or undersized areas are displayed visually and in a highly trans- parent manner, depending on the defined tolerance field. We therefore notice excess deviations straightaway”, says measurement technician Markus Peihser, who is primarily responsible for the application of image processing technology in the Boehlerit quality assurance process. “In terms of precision, we are not significantly better off than we were with our coordinate measuring system - but that is not the point. What is important is that we are now able to measure our under- cuts precisely and neatly.” Within minutes, an entire indexable cutting insert may be measured and evaluated in this way. 005 BOEHLERIT MAGAZINE

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