Zimmermann six-axis gantry milling machine FZ100 helps aircraft fly high

The world's first six-axis gantry milling machine FZ 100 launched by German company Zimmermann has been fully verified by practice since it was delivered to the customer in March this year. Kegelmann Technik has achieved the innovation of aircraft manufacturing process. This milling machine is suitable for the machining of large-volume models made of synthetic materials, as well as large aluminum alloy frame components required in the field of aircraft construction. The M3 ABCFZ 100 gantry milling machine equipped with a three-axis milling head enables Zimmermann to realize the six-axis machining concept. The new milling head shows the incomparable advantages of the traditional two-axis fork milling head in the five-axis linkage, large cutting amount machining of aluminum alloys, synthetic materials, model materials, and HSC high-speed machining of steel and cast iron materials. The introduction of the B-axis can significantly reduce machining time when machining typically conical box-shaped workpieces such as aircraft frame components. Likewise, tandem machining with the M3 ABC milling head results in a significant increase in productivity when machining any other shape. With the help of Sescoi's CAD/CAM-system WorkNC G3, the machine operator can easily program the FZ 100 in six axes. Like the three-axis and five-axis machining, Sescoi has developed a new set of algorithms that allow users to generate collision-free six-axis linkage programs with just a few keys. The company has built intelligent programming into WorkNC G3 to avoid pole problems with the C-axis. In order to make six-axis machining more effective, Siemens has developed a three-dimensional compensation system - VCS for the FZ 100, which can further improve the accuracy of the equipment. It has been verified that the stereo accuracy of FZ100 can reach 150 µm without compensation, and it can reach 50 µm after VCS compensation. 'It is definitely a pioneering work to achieve such precision in a huge working space of 6.5 x 3 x 1.5m.' Dr. Jochen Bretschneider of Siemens Value Added Services predicts that the VCS compensation system will be widely used in the field of aircraft manufacturing.