Project seeks to improve machining accuracy

The funding comprises £4.7 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) plus £3 million from a consortium of leading UK firms and organisations, including Rolls-Royce, Cummins Turbo Technologies, Taylor Hobson and David Brown. At the end of the project, companies will be able to fit existing machine tools with devices that ensure highest accuracy. "When you make something in a conventional factory, you normally have to take it off the machine during the process and measure it and make sure it's the right size and quality. But with our new technology, the quality checks of the part are done within the machine tool, so you don't have to remove it at all," said Professor Liam Blunt. "All the manufacturing control, in fact all the elements that you have in a big factory, will be squeezed down so that everything is done in the machine. You basically put a piece of metal in at the beginning and out of it comes the part, finished, measured and complete with quality documentation," he added. The result will be a big saving in time and costs because it will be possible to fit the "factory on a machine" device to an existing machine tool. Industries expected to benefit include aerospace and optics, it is said. Image: L to R - Professor Jane Jiang, Professor Liam Blunt and Professor Alan Myers