Solutions for Sustainable Machining

The manufacturing industry contributes over 19% to the world's greenhouse gas emissions (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2008, “Rep: Annual Energy Review 2008,” Report No. DOE/EIA-0384; Diaz et al., 2010, “Environmental Analysis of Milling Machine Tool Use in Various Manufacturing Environments,” 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology.) and 31% of the total energy consumed annually in the U.S. (Herzog, T., 2005, “World Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2005,” World Resources Institute, Washington, DC ²; Diaz et al., 2010, “Environmental Analysis of Milling Machine Tool Use in Various Manufacturing Environments,” 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology.). There is therefore an increasing demand for sustainable solutions for the production technology industry. At the Technische Universitat (TU) Berlin, Germany, a collaborative research center (CRC) is focusing on new solutions for the sustainable machining of high performance alloys, with developments from machine tool frames to cutting tool technology being undertaken. An innovative machine tool concept with a modular frame, which allows a high level of flexibility, has been developed. Furthermore, add-on upgrading systems for older machine tools, which are particularly relevant for developing countries, have been developed. These systems allow the accuracy of outdated machine tools to be increased, thus making the machine tools comparable to modern systems. Finally the cutting process also requires solutions for dry machining, as the use of cooling lubricant is environmentally damaging and a significant cost contributor in machining processes. Two solutions are being developed at the TU Berlin: an internally cooled cutting tool and a heating concept for ceramic tools to allow dry machining of high temperature alloys, for example, for the aerospace industry.