After the industrial revolution, electric power systems expanded quickly, became more refined, and required more complex parts and components. Therefore, it was more difficult for businesses to meet the demands of the industry up until CNC technology was invented in the early 1950s.
In today’s article, we’ll discuss CNC machining usage in the energy sector. We’ll review the four most notable uses of CNC machining and how they fit into the current energy landscape.
CNC Machining and Hydropower
The enormous turbines and generators used in hydropower have thousands of parts that come in various shapes and sizes, some small and others big. And these parts need to be machined precisely. In addition to turbines, dam and hydropower plant gates also rely on CNC milling and other CNC machining techniques. Many times, only CNC machines with the ability to turn and mill larger pieces of various sizes can be used to create the components. So, we can see that CNC is one of the most critical machining techniques product designers use.
The reasons behind the high reliance on CNC machines are obvious. First, many components and parts used in hydropower may be manufactured to acceptable machining tolerances. Second, creating exceedingly huge and intricate geometries is also a specialty of CNC machines, especially multi-axes ones.
CNC Machining and Challenging-To-Fabricate Metals
Traditional turbines and generators that use natural gasses to produce electricity are made of thousands of parts. Contrary to renewable electric power systems, however, traditional generator components must withstand extremely hot temperatures, which forces engineers to use materials with excellent thermal resistance and strength.
For product designers, locating a matter with great intensity and heat resistance isn’t challenging. Instead, finding a practical way to manufacture these metals is the problem. High-strength materials have average or even poor machinability and are prone to chattering when cutting metal. Manufacturers employ CNC machines to construct metals that are challenging to fabricate in traditional turbines and generators because of their compatibility with various materials.
CNC Machining and Wind Systems
Wind energy generation requires parts that can withstand extreme stress while preserving accuracy. Manufacturers must craft precision blades with the least amount of wear and tear possible when handling wind pressure. Machining is considered to be crucial for the blades, as well as for manufacturing other components like the enormous bearings that control the angle, metal, and carbon fiber.
CNC allows for producing massive bearings with precision typically only found in smaller parts, such as the adjustment mechanism for wind turbines. Like the blades of an airplane engine, they are significant elements whose movement significantly impacts how well they perform.
Gears, rotors, and gearbox housings are usually produced on multi-purpose CNC machines. Given the scale of the wind turbine, metal cutting accounts for the major part of the gear wheel production. Consequently, milling of gear with the utilization of a disc and hob cutters is predominantly used and CNC machines for drilling are employed in this procedure.
For windmills and turbines, CNC machines that produce carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers or glass-reinforced plastic are needed. The rotor blades can be made of lightweight wood, aluminum, or fiberglass with hollow bits as far as materials go.
CNC Machining and Solar Systems
In addition to the panels, other components, including frames and rails, require precise construction. For such operations, drilling and milling machines are perfect, and several businesses advertise CNC machines as specially designed for creating pats for the solar panel. Even big production lines for solar panels include a variety of CNC operations, such as drilling and cutting. Still, they also need several non-CNC functions and multiple operators working at once.
Companies have been providing adjustable mechanical arms which can deal with geometries flexibly and workspace economy because production lines can be vast and garish. Similar to this, some businesses offer software specifically designed to manufacture solar panels, simplifying the process by requiring just one person to use it. This is one way CNC reduces the need for physical labor and space.
Solar panel makers frequently use wire cutters and turning centers for housing and frames. In addition, solar panel production frequently uses fiber laser cutting devices and the panels are often divided utilizing a variety of lasers. Similarly, other businesses use CNC machining to create solar-powered products.
Final Reflections
Processes such as CNC milling, turning, five-axis machining, and others enable advanced machining for the renewable energy sector. Advanced CNC machining improves the quality and efficiency of power generation through highly accurate parts, which is why it is frequently considered and used to generate several essential elements of green energy.
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