Aluminium structural parts for the aerospace industry such as wing parts and frame ribs are generally milled from solid material with up to 95 percent material removal. Fault-free machining with respect to dimensional accuracy and surface finish is critical. The part structure becomes more delicate with increasing material removal and decreasing wall thickness and this represents additional challenges. The reduction of cutting forces has a major effect on the quality of the part and thin walls and free-standing sections can be displaced by excessively high cutting forces.
MAPAL has now developed a new range of tools with polished indexable inserts for the rough and finish machining of these parts. The new tools complement the MAPAL SPM range for the machining of structural parts. For roughing, a special cutting edge profile has been developed that significantly reduces the cutting forces and also prevents heat from being introduced to the component.
The new finishing geometry prevents the pulling inwards of the tool during the finishing of deep pockets even with high wrapping. The tools in the OptiMill-SPM series are characterised by their conical neck. This ensures rigidity is guaranteed over the entire machining process. The highly positive cutting geometry and the optimised chip flutes ensure a significantly reduced cutting force.
