May MMT Digital Edition Available

May's cover from .Böhler Uddeholm Corp shows a still-glowing, newly solidified electroslag remelted (ESR) ingot being transported within one of Böhler’s state-of-the-art tool steel mills. The ESR process helps remove undesirable elements which may lead to the formation of non-metallic inclusions. These brittle particles within the mold steel’s matrix will degrade polishability and act as initiation sites for cracking.  Therefore, this additional refining procedure helps increase toughness and overall mold steel performance. Further processing will include re-heating the ingot and mechanically working it by means of forging and/or rolling to further homogenize the material and bring it to its final dimension. See related story on page 12 of our digital edition.

Here are five great tips from this month's issue:

1  The slag bath of electroslag remelting will extract tramp elements such as sulfur from the melt, as each molten droplet of steel passes through it, reducing sulfur levels to 0.003 percent or lower. 

2 Use a surface-based CAD/CAM to maintain an even stepover and maximum tool engagement throughout the whole tool path. 

3 An emerging trend in the metrology world is the entry of automated commercial-off-the-shelf systems that integrate 3D measurement technologies with sensors, software, and robotics 

4  In EDM corner wear is the most critical wear issue because the contours of a final cut are determined by the electrode’s ability to resist the erosion of its corners and edges.

5  Software that networks CNC machines, robots, PLCs and part markers, while managing CNC programs, offsets and parameters, enables drip-feeding, or spoon-feeding, large programs.