Cutting tools for wind energy component machining

According to the European Wind Energy Association, in 2008 the value of wind turbines installed in Europe was €11 billion. By 2020, this is expected to top €17 billion. Helping to increase productivity and component quality, Sandvik Coromant has a number of cutting tool solutions that are proven in comparable high value sectors.

Cost savings

Among them is CoroDrill® 880, an indexable insert drill that allows substantially improved productivity in holemaking and offers strong cost saving potential to wind sector manufacturers due to the large number of short-holes drilled in components including connector rings, hubs and rotor blades. CoroDrill 880 incorporates Sandvik Coromant’s Step Technology into its uniquely shaped centre insert to facilitate smooth entry into the workpiece through perfectly balanced cutting forces, enabling impressive feed rate increases of up to 100 per cent.

Drilling is also a key operation when producing main shafts. Here, tools such as CoroDrill 800 and T-Max® represent indexable drills offering excellent deep-hole straightness and surface finish.

High surface finish

Maintaining the drilling theme, Sandvik Coromant’s CoroBore® 825 offers superb performance in the finishing of holes with tight tolerances and surface finish requirements. It provides the potential for highly stable and reliable performance when finishing wind industry parts such as planetary carriers and main frames.

CoroBore 825 features a coupling design that integrates an elliptical interface to absorb tangential and radial forces. To achieve maximum flexibility, CoroBore 825 accommodates three cartridge sizes, each with its own slide extension. The slide extensions are placed between the cartridge and cross-slide to allow for back boring and to extend the maximum diameter when push boring.

Maximum performance

Moving to milling operations, CoroMill® 345 is an advanced tool concept that provides high performance face cutting with both small and large depths of cut in steel, stainless steel and cast iron. It offers particular value in applications ranging from rough milling of raw forgings and castings, through to finishing operations requiring extremely close tolerances.

Other established milling solutions, such as CoroMill 331 and CoroMill 390 can offer optimized machining when performing operations such as the back facing of hubs or helical interpolation on planetary carriers.

Increased productivity

Sandvik Coromant’s T-Max® P concept features geometries designed purposely for effective chip breaking. It allows metal removal at high feed in dry conditions, making it suitable for turning applications on wind energy parts such as connecting rings and planetary carriers. The latter is typically manufactured from nodular cast iron, where T-Max P is first choice for wear resistance thanks to its innovative substrate and coating technologies.

The industry-famous Sandvik Coromant yellow coat is far more than simply a guarantee of quality. It also represents a promise that there will always be a specialist nearby who understands the customer’s production, business and industry.