With every passing year, the global need for energy is going up. And so is the need to better our energy sector. This high energy production needs efficient technology to manufacture complex parts.
CNC machining is playing a huge role in developing the world’s energy sector. It offers many benefits like making complex parts, saving manufacturing costs, reducing labor, and decreasing carbon footprint.
Keep reading to find out how CNC machining contributes to solar power and hydropower plants and how it is changing the energy sector in general.
How Is CNC Machining Changing the Energy Sector?
The world’s energy sector is seeing a significant shift from using non-renewable resources to renewable energy resources. Much attention is now directed to the renewable energy sector, including solar power, wind, and hydropower.
CNC machining is highly prevalent in renewable energy sectors because of the following benefits:
- The parts produced in energy sectors need to be highly precise. Equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines, generators and turbines are complex and require high manufacturing accuracy. CNC machining is famous for its precision and accuracy.
- CNC machining offers flexibility in manufacturing both small and big parts.
- The products in bulk production are highly consistent.
- There is flexibility in manufacturing different volumes of products.
- CNC machines can be modified according to industry needs. The combination with a robot can boost production.
- CNC processing is entirely electronic. All the information from clients can be sent electronically, thus reducing movement and the carbon footprint
Renewable energy projects require effective technology that can produce equally effective parts. And CNC machines fulfill all the quality standards.
3 Things you MUST know about CNC Machines in the Energy sectors
Let us briefly describe how CNC machining in helping in different renewable energy projects.
1.How CNC Machines Aid in Solar Panel Manufacturing?
Solar panels industry extensively utilizes CNC machines to manufacture various steel profiles, frames, mounting equipment, etc.
Solar panel production requires various operations such as milling, drilling, extrusion, laser and hypertherm plasma cutting. CNC automation streamlines all the processes and retains high-quality standards throughout the process.
With CNC machines, you can easily calibrate dimensional tolerances. CNC robotics are further improving the process and eliminating the need for operators. This cuts down labor costs and improves production time.
2. How Do CNC Machines Help Build Better Hydro Plant Components?
Hydro Power plant is one the most eco-friendly and green energy sources we have today. These plants are gigantic and involve complex machinery to harvest energy from water.
Machinery used to utilize the mighty water includes high strength pipes, flood gates, valves, turbines, etc. Each is housed with components of various sizes. From peanut size parts to massive turbines, each component needs special attention.
Not to mention that projects like Hydro Power plants are meant to be built at an accelerated rate due to public demand for energy. Such precision and fast production can only be provided by CNC machining.
America is said to be the country with the highest number of “Dams.” The designers at Canyon, a leading hydro plant manufacturer in the USA, use “7-axis CNC milling machines” to craft complex and efficient power generation components. This is because some key benefits of CNC machining are “precision” and “flexibility.”
You may be surprised to know that CNC machines can produce parts with a tolerance of +-0.004 mm, which is pretty much standard for building hydro plant components like shafts, turbine blades, bushing, etc.
“Multi-Axis CNC Machines” can handle complex designs that were previously quite difficult to manage. With this flexibility, engineers have the opportunity to develop efficient designs without having to worry about their production.
Research and Prototyping
Renewable energies like solar, wind, hydro, etc., still have a lot of potential for research. Rapid prototyping and exploring new and complex designs is necessary to continue with innovation. CNC machining with its advanced machining capabilities is a building block for such research and development.
It may sound like CNC machining is only suitable for renewable energy applications, but that is not true. Let’s discuss CNC machining in conventional machinery.
3.CNC Machining for Conventional Generators and Turbines?
Similar to renewable energy plants- the conventional turbines and generators houses complex geometry and thousands of components. But that’s not all. Being conventional means, they either run on “Heat” or “Nuclear” energy. Both reach extreme environmental conditions.
Conventional machines like Generators and Turbines are often made of “Difficult-To-Machine Materials.” Why is that so? Consider a coal plant. The turbine blades have to withstand extreme temperatures thousands of degrees.
Materials that can withstand such harsh conditions have High Strengths, Thermal resistance, are Hard and extremely difficult to machine. To find such material is less of a hassle than machining it.
Conventional labor and machines always had a hard time manufacturing such components. These limitations often hindered the manufacturing process.
Some materials with suitable durability are Superalloys, High strength steel, Titanium, etc. Materials like these have poor machinability and chatter(self-excited vibration) during various machining processes.
CNC machining is above all these limitations, and fabrication of such “Difficult-To-Machine” components has become much smoother. Now machinists rely on the capability of CNC machines to build complex products. With the suitable Feed, Cutting Speed, Depth, RPM, etc. even the most challenging material can be machined.
In conclusion, CNC Machining is being adopted by the energy industry rapidly. Whether it’s the renewable sector or conventional energy productions like coal and nuclear, CNC machining is the first choice.
Top CNC Machining Specialist
With so many benefits CNC machining has to offer, no wonder it has become the leading manufacturing process these days. Having said that, here at QBH Technology, we offer high-performance CNC machining of Complex 3d Designs.
Our multi-axis CNC setup is excellent for Rapid Prototyping, and we work with tons of materials. Our expert engineers can help you with your project and deliver exceptional results.
Contact us NOW! and get you a FREE quote.
