Three-Axis Grinder Machines Fully-Sintered Ceramics

Tratech Corp. has unveiled its Advanced Grinding System (AGS), a three-axis CNC grinding machine designed specifically for machining fully-sintered ceramics. It includes integrated coolant filtration; temperature control; mist control; an ultra-high accuracy, 42,000-rpm coolant-through spindle; and a 500 × 500 × 500-mm working envelope. The machine also has a stationary bed using an XYZ gantry design that the company says keeps the motion control components safely protected from abrasive ceramic particles. Isolated from the machine frame, the bed and motion components are said to mitigate environmental impacts on the machining process. 

The company’s intelligent process force detection system automatically stops the machining process and lifts the tool out of the workpiece when it detects overload and tool failure conditions. A 16-tool automatic toolchanger features an on-the-fly tool tray system that keeps 256 tools in process storage so that tools and trays can easily be swapped and loaded without interrupting the machining process.

According to Tratech, the machine has demonstrated performance gains in various materials like high-purity quartz glass, sapphire, boron carbide, alumina oxide and zirconia nitride, and in various applications like precision 3D shapes, heavy stock removal and delicate thin-wall features.