Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPTResearch project "InnoFlex"
Products and Processes with Improved Efficiency
Given the increasing scarcity and rising prices of natural resources on the one hand, and the constant pressure to innovate and the demand for flexibility on the other, improving efficiency in production is increasingly becoming a central topic and a competitive factor for companies while designing ma-chines or to map out production processes.
Nowadays, companies must ensure their competitiveness by offering products with tailor-made functionality and, at the same time, meeting the requirements for increased performance and product life with undiminished functional reliability. According to this, the three-year public-funded project InnoFlex supports the following R&D activities:
- Flexible design of efficient manufacturing processes. The needs-based adaptation of production systems and the flexibilization of manufacturing process chains are influenced by the constantly increasing variety of products. Furthermore, different lot sizes are becoming fundamental for manufacturing companies.
- Analysis of production-related parameters on surface properties. Depending on the manufacturing process used, the surface properties of components often differ and influence the subsequent functional behaviour.
- Optimization and shortening of process chains. The research of efficient manufacturing processes should be inseparable from the development of the necessary machine and plant technology, as these ultimately can reduce the product processing times.
Automation of Manual Fine Machining Processes
The project "InnoFlex - Innovative, adaptive and flexible fine machining process for the automation of manual fine machining processes using the example of tool shapes" combines experience and knowledge in the field of CAM programming with model theories that are systematically developed in order to automate the fine machining process in a machine tool-integrated and robot-based manner. For this purpose, a force-controllable tooling system is used and controlled with enriched path data in an automated process in an application-oriented, model-based force and path adaptive way.
This approach is based on the principles of fine machining and allows the path adaptation on the basis of a wear model and not as conventionally on the basis of an object penetration model. With this CAM-supported approach and the use of an intelligent and dynamic tool system with grinding and polishing tools specially developed for fine machining, a holistic solution is developed which allows even free-formed surfaces to be systematically machined with homogeneous grinding profile depth and reproducible results.
Project partners
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (Project management)
- Grunewald GmbH & Co. KG
Funding
The "InnoFlex" project is funded by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE) 2014-2020 as part of the "Lead Market Competition, Production.NRW".
Project organizer
Project Management Jülich, Research Centre Jülich GmbH