ROBBI?S APPLICATION EXPERTISE IN GRINDING

There has been a distinct shift towards highly specialised cylindrical grinding applications in the UK requiring bespoke solutions for large, high value, and growing complexity of components in difficult and unusual materials. Users, due to the high risk often associated with the type of component, are also demanding ever higher orders of production consistency over size, geometry and surface finish with an increasing requirement for machine and process reliability over extended periods of production life. Dick Aldrich, Sales Director of RK International based in Erith, has been involved for some 12 years in meeting the progressive change in the demands of industry towards more challenging grinding solutions through RK’s relationship with Robbi, the Italian specialist in cylindrical and internal grinding: “To be successful in providing a viable grinding solution you have to be able to respond with ever-higher application-specific solutions particularly for aerospace and defence,” he said. He follows on to say: “Due to the level of application expertise and problem solving capability available through Robbi, this has opened doors to successful installations as diverse as wind turbine, rollers for the food industry and machine tool bearings.” He follows on to say: “Due to the level of application expertise and problem solving capability available through Robbi, this has opened doors to successful installations as diverse as wind turbine, rollers for the food industry and machine tool bearings.” Here Robbi’s expertise generated from worldwide applications means full advantage can be taken to create higher productivity solutions. Evermore on the agenda is the application of electronic support to the process with the likes of in-process gauging, automatic wheel balancing and programmable dressing – all vital ingredients to ensure customer requirements can be met. Mr Aldrich recounts aerospace applications in the UK where RK and Robbi have engineered solutions such as the grinding of stellite bearings, ceramic materials, highly demanding gearbox motor shafts destined for helicopters and meeting the increasing requirement for the grinding of carbide wear parts. RK recently installed a Robbi internal grinder for producing highly specialised aerospace bearings up to 300 mm dia by just 30 mm deep that had to be concentric within 0.0003 mm TIR. As Mr Aldrich confirms, to achieve this level of component geometry requires a matched set of quality of mechanical build with an ability for higher than normal production application technology expertise. But it is not only aerospace applications in the UK that are setting the challenge to RK and Robbi engineers. Other project areas are becoming equally demanding especially the food related sector where a recent project involved a Robbi machine grinding 400 mm dia cast iron rolls. The machine, installed in a purpose-designed temperature controlled environment had to maintain 0.0002 mm on size over a 3,000 mm part length aided by highly specialised closed-loop measurement and process control. Machines for producing multi-diameter pump shafts for both the water and the nuclear industry between 300 mm and 400 mm dia by up to 2,000 mm long have been recently installed and a gas project required a special cylindrical Robbi grinder to produce 1,200 mm dia components that were 5,000 mm long. Robbi, based in Veronella, Italy, was originally founded in 1936 as a specialist reconditioning company for crankshaft grinding machines. Now in the third generation of private family ownership it specialises in application engineering using its range of Omicron modular-based cylindrical and sliding-gap machines having a swing over table up to 995 mm and up to 6,000 mm between centres. Its internal IGR-250 grinding machine can be programmed to produce up to eight diameters in the same part up to a maximum diameter of 355 mm. Robbi also produces a range of complementary

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