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Global
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Machining centre 4.0
with innovative safety solution
Mandelli Sistemi
Mandelli Sistemi employs a 5-axis machining centre to process hard titanium alloys for the aerospace
industry. The company uses a safe solenoid interlock with Bowden cable from Schmersal to automate
and secure the closing process on the large sliding doors fitted to the titanium machine.
O
ver its 80-year history,
Mandelli Sistemi S.p.A.
has continuously focused
on innovation and custom-
made solutions. Based in
the northern Italian town
of Piacenza, this medium-
sized enterprise, now a part
of the Riello Sistemi Group,
has become one of the
leading Italian companies
for the manufacturer of
machine tools. Over the past
decade, Mandelli has turned
its focus to industries such
as aerospace and energy,
where difficult-to-machine
materials combined with
complex geometries require
demanding turning and
milling operations.
At the turn of the millennium, Mandelli
Sistemi completed the development
of a new series of five-axis machining
centres, the SPARK series-fast, high-
performance machining centres with
compact dimensions and outstanding
productivity. In 2015, Mandelli Sistemi
added a new version to the SPARK series
in the form of the Spark Ti (for titanium),
a five-axis horizontal machining centre,
with a fixed machine bench capable of
very precise machining, in spite of high
material volumes. The machine is able
to process very hard titanium, steel and
HRSA alloys that are typically used in
the aerospace industry. At the heart of
the Spark Ti is a continuously controlled
high-torque swivel head equipped with
an automatic mechanical backlash
recovery system, plus a dual-drive
rotary axis with 12,000 Nm of power
and a vibration damping system on
18 | may-june 2019
every machine axis. In addition, all
turning tables are highly dynamic,
allowing for high acceleration in the
complex machining phase for both the
workpiece geometries and the material
composition (titanium, HRSA - heat-
resistant super alloys).
A new generation of machining
centres for Industry 4.0
The new generation of machining
centres from Mandelli Sistemi is already
compatible with Industry 4.0 concepts,
with all machines incorporating a
complex system of anti-vibration,
noise and vibration sensors to be able
to detect critical conditions early on
and adapt machine parameters when
required. This helps to avoid machine
downtime and minimise production
waste. Mandelli Sistemi has also
developed the new iPum@Suite 4.0
software package for the ‘factory of
the future’. This software guarantees
that networked machines can be fully
monitored by a remote setup through
a series of sensors and an intelligent
vibration monitoring system — an
intelligent diagnostics system in which
the operating data from the machining
centre is transferred to a cloud
database where statistical calculations
are carried out to identify faults before
a malfunction occurs.
‘For our high-performance Spark Ti,
with its considerable size, we need to
have a robust safety system in place. If
a machine operator accidentally finds
himself trapped inside the accessible
part of the machine, the safety solution
needs to allow the operator to leave the
area as quickly as possible and needs
to block the system at the same time,’
explains Ing. Giuseppe Galbiati, Project
Manager at Mandelli Sistemi. The safety
Global MDA Journal