Machining mechanical components - Application to sintered parts

The cost and quality of mechanical components are constantly evolving to meet the demands of users of mechanical products. This progress is underpinned by developments in mechanical engineering tools and methods. Since the 1970s, the focus has been on flexible production systems. In the 1980s, a large number of software programs were introduced to support the trades. In the following period, telecommunications and data exchange became the main focus. Methods for parallel organization of activities or simultaneous engineering were developed. At the same time, in the technical and scientific fields of mechanics, new processes for obtaining shape, such as high-speed machining, forged, molded or pressed blanks ("net to shape"), etc., were developed and contributed to the progress made. Today, the challenge is to integrate these developments into the world of production technicians, engineers and managers. The aim of this article is to present methods and tools for moving forward in this direction, based on an application involving the finish machining of semi-finished mechanical components by sintering.

First of all, in paragraph 1 , we will specify the technical links and the types of engineering tools used to communicate in a space that considers management, product and production as a whole.

Paragraph 2 describes the production conditions for sintered and machined mechanical components, and explains the poor machinability of these powder-metallurgy materials.

A general methodology for quantifying the various aspects of a material's machinability using the industrial Tool-Material Couple (COM) approach is outlined in paragraph