In Search of the Special Tool The Challenges for Metal Cutting in the Automotive Industry

 

 

By 2035, the number of cars worldwide is expected to increase by 600 million, reaching a total of 1.8 billion. This rapid growth in vehicle numbers is matched by an equally fast-growing set of demands, such as fuel efficiency, e-mobility, and the use of new materials. To keep pace with the rapid changes in the market, car manufacturers and suppliers must frequently revamp their designs. Despite these shifts, the need for superior machining solutions remains unchanged. Optimising processes at the component level is essential, and having a partner like Walter who can implement these practices is crucial.

 

 

Walter offers a combination of cost-effective tool solutions and dependable service for its customers. Their primary goal is to always find the solution that offers the best cost-effectiveness. The challenges that Walter is thereby facing are usually structurally very similar, often differing only in minor details. Consequently, the company focuses on developing very specialised applications. However, if possible, Walter attempts to group components with similar features to achieve standardised solutions.

 

Reducing the Amount of Tools

 

One of the most significant challenges currently facing the automotive industry is the necessity to reduce the number of tools required to machine specific components. This may result in an excessively high sum of tolerances, for example. The solution, therefore, is to integrate as many tools as possible. Walter’s approach to addressing this challenge is to develop new specialised tools or provide new solutions for existing applications. This involves combining several functions in one tool. One illustrative example of this challenge is the machining of the crankshaft, which is a central component of the engine. The necessity of achieving high tolerances and surface quality standards renders the machining of these components a particularly challenging endeavour. As a result, solutions need to be tailored to the specific needs of individual customers and continually developed to meet their evolving requirements. This allows costs and tolerances to be cut.

 

 

In the automotive sector, in contrast to aerospace machining, cost considerations play a pivotal role. Integrated tools, which are also straightforward to set up and can be commissioned using the ‘Plug’n’Play’ principle, reduce the amount of time and manpower required, which then, in turn, has an impact on costs and overall sustainability. Consequently, the necessity for specialized tools is more pronounced in the automotive sector than in the aerospace sector, where standardised tools are employed with greater frequency. A further illustration of the necessity for specialized tools in automotive machining is the difficulty encountered when machining the gear shaft. This crucial component of the automotive transmission system necessitates the utilisation of tools that have been individually adapted to the specific application. The number of gear and shaft geometries is as great as the number of strategies for machining them.

 

 

The Impact of Progress in E-Mobility

 

Walter is regularly confronted with machining strategies that share a lot of similarities, yet the ongoing advances in e-mobility present the Walter experts with major and exciting new challenges. While many companies in the automotive industry are still in the first generation of e-mobility, others have already reached the second generation and are starting to learn from the experiences of recent years. Initially, the components of e-cars were kept simple, but as experience in this area grows, companies are striving to equip a component with more functionality. This will create more functionality in one component and reduce the number of components overall. However, the tools required for machining these parts are correspondingly more complex. We are currently still in the exploratory phase of e-motors. Nevertheless, if, as is foreseeable, an increasing number of engineers worldwide will be focusing on the further development of e-motors, it can be reasonably expected that significant progress will be made in this area in the coming years. This, in turn, poses new challenges for us in the tool industry.

 

Author: Rolf Buob, Component Manager at Walter