This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Ahorro en mecanizado mediante Lubricación en Cantidades Mínimas (MQL)

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They can be reduced production by up to 78 percent times

Savings in machining through lubrication in minimum quantities (MQL)

Drafting MU01/06/2006

In this article we will see how Willy Vogel AG cut the time of machining in its own production department dramatically and got many more benefits to customers. In two years of testing with MQL, they discovered that the time of production was reduced between 24 percent and 78 percent on the basis of the work piece.

Many claims about the value of the lubrication in minimum quantities (MQL) systems and, in particular on the possibility to reduce machining times have been. But in Willy Vogel AG, subsidiary acquired by SKF, knew that what the potential users of the MQL require above all, are a reliable in saving machining time to change from wet machining to the MQL. Thus, Vogel, a distributor of MQL systems with extensive experience, decided to gather evidence through the installation of MQL on its own production department.

In addition to the details of machining which are explained later, Vogel showed that if they are installed and correctly optimize your systems MQL LubriLean or Vectolub, the client may experience an impressive number of benefits such as the following:

They do not need coolant
No required filters for lubricants or conditioning
There is no provision for chips and lubricants costs
It is not necessary to clean up the work piece
Greater efficiency of cut
The useful life of the tools is increased by 300 per cent
It is possible to use wet machining and machining dry at the same time
It is not necessary to make any changes in the design of the spindles
Better surface finishes

The conversion of wet machining to MQL

In the first phase, became current machine tools (for drilling, milling, turning, escariado) of the production department in pure MQL systems or combined wet/MQL systems.

After a year, was achieved the following results;

They saved 2,350 hours of production time. It corresponds to an average of savings of 42 %
The useful life of the tools has increased by 300 per cent. This more than offset the extra costs of the modification of the designs of existing tools.
145 Pieces of eight different materials were produced (eg.: X10CrNiS189, AlMgSi1, St73k, GG25)
Required purchase and dispose of much less lubricant.

The second phase was more transformations of existing equipment as well as the acquisition of three new machines. For new machines (a Centre for machining and two centres of turning) Vogel saw an opportunity to prepare a new specification in such a way that the manufacturer of machine tools could fully equip three machine tools with Vogel MQL systems. The overall purpose was to equip all their places of work keys in the field of mechanical engineering with MQL.

After two years, Vogel engineers examined once again their achievements. On this occasion, they discovered that more than 600 pieces of the traditional wet machining had passed to the MQL system and that the time of production was reduced between 24 percent and 78 percent on the basis of the work piece. See examples below. Which means an average of 40 per cent decline; clear evidence that significant savings could be passing the MQL system.

An important point to remember is that were not obtained good results only with "normal" types of steel, but they also managed materials difficult to mechanise as stainless steel or aluminium with a high content of Silicon. A significant example was the manufacture of a M12x1 piquera on steel cemented with a stepped avellanadora. Using a tool optimized for MQL it was possible to shorten the time of production by a factor of 12.

An additional benefit of Vogel was that the company had acquired a high degree of competition in equipment, system and advice during this trial period. They were a first-hand knowledge and experience and reliable that could be used to further develop their systems LubriLean and Vectolub as well as to advise and assist clients who wish to install the MQL Vogel system...

Below are four examples of work pieces carved in the converted production department:

One of the first customers to benefit from the amplified system and competition from advice of Vogel was EADS Deutschland GmbH, a manufacturer of military aircraft of Augsburg. EADS a user who had much time with the MQL Vogel system, planned to buy two large machining centers equipped with MQL.

To benefit what Vogel had learned from the implementation of MQL on its own production department, they wasted no time in weighing if install a system from one or two channels because Vogel had discovered that the installation of an only through offered numerous advantages:

MQL equipment of an only through requires much less maintenance than the installation of double duct, and does not wear away.
The components of machine tools long-lasting and sophisticated as the spindles and revolving necks may be retained; There is a great interference with a design of a machine tool (unlike the systems of two channels)
By providing small amounts of oil ensures a high quality of spray to meet the needs

Principles of one and two duct systems

System of an only through: spray occurs in the reserve of equipment and is fed through the rotating spindle tool. The supplied oil is used completely without leaving any residue when using the optimum setting.
Double duct system: the oil and air sprayer are transported separately through coaxial lines to the the spray nozzle, where the mixture is formed lubricant (spray =). The flow of concentrated oil/air as a result of this special design prevents that the Jet ensanche and makes that spray reaches the place of the process with millimeter precision.

After talking with the manufacturer of the machine tool, DS-Technologie Mönchengladbach, recommended the installation of a software/hardware Profibus MQL LubriLean Digital System. It is a system that allows adjustment of numerical control of the volume of air and oil.

The system was incorporated into the machine tool in the DS-Technologie plant with the help of the engineers of Vogel. Preliminary tests done for the machine tool showed that from the outset be freed enough spray to ensure a reliable cut.

During installation, the following measurements were taken to ensure transport to the position of court with almost no loss of the required quantities of oil:

The line of spray was placed without screw joints, constraints, and expansions
The rotating collar is axial, i.e., avoided additional variants
The interfaces between the spindle, the tool and the tool is optimized.

Aerosol line was kept as short as possible because the more long line, older spray and pressure losses. Response times also increase.

In this application in particular, it was not possible to carry out a reduced power of unity MQL revolving neck. But as a tool change times were clearly higher than the response time of the MQL equipment, there was no need for action. After sunset, MQL parameters adapted to the aircraft factory machining processes. From this moment, approach focused on achieving the potential total of MQL system in terms of reduced machining times and longer service life of the tools.

The application of MQL on EADS Deutschland GmbH has significant additional benefits more important than the increase in production. There is no need for equipment or activities related to the conditioning and disposed of refrigerants. That is very important for EADS since its factory is located next to a pool of water. The original machining technology made it necessary to manage large amounts of emulsions that had be discarded as hazardous waste. The MQL system meant a saving of costs in this task and made an important contribution to its environment management programme.

These extensive evidence of Vogel and applications in EADS (and since then many other clients) have demonstrated the clear benefits of MQL compared to conventional wet machining. MQL LubriLean and Vogel Vectolub systems are designed in a variety of machine tools (for drilling, milling, turning, escariado) to well-known manufacturers such as Heckert, Gildemeister, Stama, Brother, Traub and Okuma.

The same types of equipment, systems and ability for installations containing Vogel are available for customers of SKF now that Willy Vogel AG is part of the SKF Group.