The term CNC stands for “Computer Numerical Control.” CNC machines are generally electro-mechanical devices. CNC machining is a manufacturing process/method in which computerized controls and machine tools are employed on a piece of stock to eliminate the layers of material, making possible the production of a product with a customized design. The CNC machining process proves effective for producing high-precision parts with excellent tolerance.

There are a few materials for which CNC machining is suitable. These include wood, composites, glass, metals, and foam. CNC (computer numerical control) machining also has many applications in different industries, including large CNC machining, telecommunications, and machining aerospace parts that need relatively higher tolerances than other industries.

CNC machining makes possible the production of the simplest parts with higher precision, higher accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. Although, when we talk about manufacturing processes, CNC machining has a significant advantage over other manufacturing processes, the CNC machining process has certain limitations in manufacturing complex or intricate products.

History of CNC Machining

In the 1940s or 1950s, the first CNC machines were made based on common telecommunication data storage technologies. These technologies were known as “punched tape” or “perforated paper tape.” With advancements in technology and improved digital processing power, CNC machines continued to improve their efficiency and improvement.

What is Large CNC Machining?

When we talk about manufacturing products of large diameter, large CNC machining can consider a subclass of CNC machining process. Large CNC machining has a lot of benefits in the industry because of the high precision and accuracy it provides. This fact makes it applicable and highly demanding for industrial work. Large CNC machining knows as Large Diameter Machining.

Structure of Large CNC Machining

Large CNC machining can classify as a subclass of CNC machining method that is involved in the making of large parts. Large CNC machining is also a subtractive manufacturing process like CNC machining. Thus, the parts of a very large workpiece can be removed by various machine tools controlled by a computer. Large CNC machining is a difficult method and process. It can prove very helpful to understand the whole procedure of manufacturing large CNC machining parts. Let’s try to understand some basic steps of this process.

Applications of Large CNC Machining

CNC machining is the demand of many industries for making the parts used in their tools, products, or machines. But because of size, large CNC machining is employed by only a few industries. It is not possible to use this machining at a small level. Following are the industries that use large CNC machining processes in their manufacturing:

1: Automotive

Automotive industries use small sized CNC machining to manufacture their prototype vehicles. Although, when it comes to production, automotive industries also employ large CNC machining used in making parts used in their engine, shaft, and machined components.

CNC machining has many advantages, such as CNC machining makes the production fast and makes possible the production of many products quickly. Large CNC machining reduces the cost of production, thus making possible the production of high-quality products that are cost-effective as well.

The computerized process of CNC minimizes the labor cost as it needs less human supervision. Only one person can control the whole operation if you want to decrease the overall cost of a project. CNC machining can reduce production errors to a great extent so increasing precision and accuracy.

2: Aviation

Because of the precision and accuracy of large CNC machining, the aviation industry relies on CNC machining to a great extent. Large CNC machining offers replacement and upgraded parts of the aviation industry. These characteristics make large CNC machining a more suitable method for the aviation industry.

Aviation components CNC machining is the most critical for the industry. Precision machining is regarded as an essential aspect of the aviation industry; CNC machining has a lot to do for the aviation industry.

3: Mining &Power Industry

The products generally used in mining are larger and should be quite strong because of the pressure and power created in mining. That is why large diameter machining is the most suitable method for mining and power industries. You can manufacture gearboxes, and ranging arms, etc.

4: Oil and gas  

Large CNC machining is essential for the designing and fabricating of oil and gas parts and equipment. Common examples of such parts may include connecting rods, gearboxes, etc. Large CNC machining ensures stability, precision and accuracy in the oil and gas industry.

Considerations for Large Part CNC Machining

As large diameter CNC machining is not a straightforward process, we need to consider certain things while adopting this procedure. These considerations are explained in detail below:

1: Design

If you want to make products of high quality and tight tolerance, you need to understand the process and conditions that can affect the design of the products. There may be various factors that can affect the design of your parts. These conditions are given below:

➔  Temperature

When we employ large part machining, the temperature is vital to consider. Heat is produced in the process of CNC machining. Heat can create in CNC machining, and if variation occurs in temperature, a change in the dimensions of the workpiece occurs.

➔ Stress and Distortion

When we are working on large parts CNC machining, there may be a chance that you may encounter stress in the process. Because of the pressure, the manufacturing process can become distorted, which leads to the workpiece distortion.

➔ Work Zone

When starting your project with large CNC machines, ensure you have a more extensive work zone and a higher reach.

Preparation for Large Part Machining Process

You need to understand the conditions for the equipment required while preparing for large part machining. One important thing is to accommodate those parts of machines that are large and heavy.

You can prepare for the process in the following ways.

● Removal of the collisions

As the size of the parts increases, collisions become higher. Thus, it would help if you reduced the possibility of any collisions. Optimization of the CAD file is one of the methods of eliminating collisions in the process. You need further optimization of the CAD file if there are chances of a crash.

● Supporting the Weight

When we talk about machining the larger parts, then it means that we are talking about the work with a larger weight. Therefore, we must prepare against the weight by using weight support.

● CNC Router Use

Large parts machining is similar to working with more significant parts with CNC machining. You can add a CNC router during the preparation phase because of the bigger work envelopes. CNC routers are measured best for the process.

● Preparation of loading equipment

Loading equipment is one of its core tools for large part machining methods. But they have some importance due to their specific features, such as they help in loading and unloading large and heavier parts that are not easy to carry.

Large Part Machining

For the effective usage of large part machining, we must go for a proper setup and consider the essential tools for the process. This importance is because the large part machining process targets the large parts.

1: Setup

A few Setup tricks that work for a straightforward operation are given below.

● Open the machine

Without a temperature rise, the opening up of a machine allows you to work on significant parts. A cooling period can incorporate between the operations to cool down the heat, ensuring the integrity of a machine part.

● Breaking up the operations into segments

The operation process of large CNC machining can help and make your work easy if you break the operation into small segments. It can perform during the designing procedure.

● Sliding and spinning the significant parts

Working and handling large parts are challenging, so you can use an impromptu. It can allow you to work independently on various parts of the workpiece when you slide the machined parts on the impromptu.

Tools

The tools used in large diameter machining are different from standard CNC machine tools.

Although these tools work the same way as normal CNC machining, we need to adapt these tools to large diameter machining. Because of this reason, we will have standard extensive diameter machining tools, which include large CNC mills, large boring machines, etc.

Below are the tools that are used in the process.

● Layout and moveable equipment such as overhead, cranes, and forklifts.

● Shapers

● Planers

● Grinding machines

● Power saws

Summary

The large CNC machining process is briefly described here to provide you with an outlook on this machining process. It can help you select the best and most reliable Large CNC machining manufacturer for your business. The proper understanding and knowledge of the large CNC machining process can save your time and money.

Are you looking for machining companies to become a partner with them? To get quality CNC machining and the best sheet metal products, contact QBH Technology.

Understanding the steel industry may be hard at times because the component this industry works on has 36 million variants. In general, we see a number of steel items back at home or other places as utensils. usually, they look the same but in many cases, you can point out the difference just by looking at it. At times, looking at alloy steel, you may feel that it is different from other steel. So, in the context of comparison with carbon steel, it can be stated that carbon steel has carbon with iron, while alloy steel has many components to produce the material.

Carbon steel

Considering carbon steel is purely made of carbon and iron atoms would be a mistake. It has and will have impurities. However, there are excess elements, which do not make the list because they do not change much of the texture and nature of the steel. On the other hand, steel is an alloy that contains iron. The properties can change to meet specific requirements. Saying so, it can be stated that the prime difference between carbon steel and alloy steel is the higher carbon content in the carbon steel.

Carbon steel is composed of iron and carbon, while alloy elements may be found in trace elements. There you can find silicon, manganese, sulfur, as well as phosphorus. There are two groups of carbon steel – high carbon steel and low carbon steel.

A higher amount of carbon in carbon steel makes it hard with lesser ductility, reduced welding requirements, as well as low melting points. The component is known as “Mild Steel” is one kind of low carbon steel. It has about 0.05% to 0.25% carbon. High iron content leaves it more corrosive. On the other hand, high carbon steels have 0.6% to 1.0% of carbon, which naturally makes them strong enough to be building materials.

Alloy Steel

Alloy steel is the type of steel that bears a mixed presence of multiple components other than just carbon and iron. The elementary particles also include boron, chromium, vanadium, and nickel, apart from silicon. The quantity of these external items depends on the quality or the grade (decided according to its utility) of alloy steel. Usually, it is made to get the desired physical characteristics for the steel to meet certain purposes.

Like carbon steel, alloy steel also has two different grades. Low alloy steel is common in the industry. High alloy steels are those, which have over 8 elements in them. The addition of elements makes the alloy steel more durable. Considering this factor, alloy steel items are produced to support those parts, where stability or durability matters most.

Credibility over utility – Alloy Steel

Alloy steel items are commonly known as the most effective and useful for the construction industry. For gas and oil pipelines, structural sections, rails, roads, and wires are produced from alloy steel. There are as many as 3500 different grades of steel for alloy steels. Over time, there have been around 75% of modern steel has been developed or upgraded.

Alloying offers stronger micro-structures, heat treatment benefits, and mechanical properties for the steel components. In short, high-speed commuters of modern days can oversee the micro-structure steel elements when they are cold-formed and heat-treated, hot rolled in alloy formations. The high strength of steel needs high weldability that alloy steel serves perfectly. On the contrary, carbon’s inherent brittle nature would not possess the same in the carbon steel formations.

Utility – Carbon Steel

The use of carbon steel is common in household items. Carbon steel is not as hard as alloy steel, which makes it ideal for blades or knives, car interiors, gears, fridges, and many more. It is mild steel but used to maintain a balanced propensity for various items at the industrial level. For making car bodies or vehicle bodies, shipbuilding, fencing, railings, and more domestic appliances see the use of carbon steel. It is good for the machinery (even welding machines) that help fix or build alloy steel items.

It is a fact that all carbon steel items are prone to be corrosive. The use of greases and oil, as well as common exposure to moisture, may damage carbon steel. However, there are core machinery gears that are not exposed to moisture. Therefore, instead of using stainless steel for gears in machinery and cars, using carbon steel would be ideal. Carbon steel is more able to withstand more force than any stainless steel gear. Bolts, cables, ball bearing, and airplane components are manufactured with carbon steel.

Cost impact for the two steel components

The cost impacts for the two kinds of steel vary from time to time. Overall, carbon steel costs lesser than stainless steel. This is because both carbon and iron are available vividly. As chromium is a rare mineral, it appears that stainless steel items or alloy steel items would cost more than carbon steel. At the same time, sourcing and manufacturing with carbon steel are easier and more cost-effective than alloy steel items. Using alloy steel may increase cost, while carbon steel manufacturing appears to be cost-effective.

High Carbon Steel Vs Alloy Steel

High carbon steel has 0.55% to 0.95% carbon, while manganese content in it is 0.30% to 0.90%. This is a strong content than the average carbon steel or mild steel. They do not get plastic deformation. The same you can see in knives, as high carbon steel is used to produce knives. Popular larger knives contain about 0.75% carbon. The high-end knives have 0.95 carbon that gives them a greater edge. Hard carbon steels are hard to machine or weld. However, it is also true that very high carbon steel is super hard but super brittle.

Alloy steel is different and special due to the components in it. Unlike carbon still, it is generally hard (according to the utility, it can be super hard as well) but not brittle. Just consider iron or steel beams of bridges. They sustain weather and other adversities year after year. Above 8% total alloying is high alloy steel. As the toughness is adjusted in alloy steel, it would be hard to say what would be the outcome of the hardest alloy steel. But it is true that working with alloy steel appears to be very hard, as the alloying components and their ratios differ from one alloy item to the other.

In terms of alloy steel, you need to know that if you put it under a microscope, the grains may appear bigger or smaller. The difference is that the bigger the grains are, the softer the metal would be. It means the opposite or smaller grains signify harder metals. Therefore, for alloy steel items, it can be summarized by saying that the bigger and stronger constructions would observe the use of harder metals for assuring stability.

Alloying elements

Manganese – A4 tool steel uses 1.8% to 2.2% of manganese and comes with a slower cooling rate.

Chromium – Over 11% chromium would observe the transformation into stainless steel with less corrosion. 309 (Grade) stainless steel has 23% chromium and is created for high-temperature resistance. D2 is tool-steel and comes with 11% to 13% of chromium in it, and is considered semi-stainless.

Molybdenum – It increases corrosion resistance up to one point. It works with manganese to reduce the quench rate. A4 tool-steel holds about 0.9% to 1.4% molybdenum. It is mostly used for heavy gears, large shafts, and various tools in the steel industries.

Vanadium – Heat treating of material or material’s stability in terms of heat treating is decided with the use of vanadium in alloy steel.

Nickel – All common stainless steel items have nickel (304-grade steel) to boost corrosion resistance and increase toughness. It would not rust and sustain a long run.

Endnote

You can see both sorts of steel items, carbon steel and alloy steel all around you. All of the items serve their purposes accordingly. Therefore, there can never be a proper comparison. Alloy steel has the ingredients present in carbon steel. Carbon steel is viewed with its impurities, while alloying allow steel to be more prominent in approach according to the requirements. But again, as has been mentioned before, it is easy to work with carbon steel than alloy steel due to the customization in it. However, the world of steel observes the utilization of carbon steel with a more cost-effective approach than alloy steel.