Automotive manufacture: Five-axis machining allows high-performance engines to be completed using single-cycle production

摘要

By changing to five-axis machining methods on a horizontal machining centre, Daimler Chrysler has been able to use single-cycle production techniques to finish-machine its high-performance V-series Mercedes-AMG engines, which are produced at the company's Sirnau factory, just outside Stuttgart. Previously, the V-series engines were finished on a combination of transfer lines, special-purpose machines and machining centres, using processes that involved multiple clampings. These separate clampings could create geometric and tolerance errors between different features in the crankcase.